Abstract
This report explains the technology called Camera Pill. The company taken for report is called Synthes. Synthes has been the leader for Metallic Internal fixation devices. This technology was almost saturated, so do they were looking for a new technology product to move on. Synthes started developing Camera pill, which turned to a big success.
Introduction
Synthes has been a major player and market leader in the Internal Fixation devices. Industry has been growing and the need for bio-resorbable internal fixation devices is of high demand. In the following sections we will analyse the strategy of Synthes whether to invest more in the development of Bio-resorbable or just to carry on with the development on Metallic internal fixation devices. As far as Synthes is concerned this is a key decision, whether to invest in the Bio-resorbable internal fixation devices or not. We will be analysing following points with reference to this case:
- Is camera pill technology a technology pull or science push
- If you were in charge of this project, will you go-ahead with this project or not
- Internal Fixation devices technology life cycle
- As a manager what are options in front of you, considering this project
- How synthesis as an organisation influenced the internal fixation devices industry
- How will you go-ahead launching Camera pill to the market, considering the situation of the industry in 2002.
- How Synthesis as an organisation benefited from a project like Camera Pill?
- Role of Iddan in developing the camera pill and your recommendations.
Bio-resorbable a Technology Pull or Science Push
As we have analysed in the Camera Pill case, there is a room for improvisation and the industry is looking for a more efficient Internal Fixation devices. So many people has been working on the same thing but not succeeding in getting the right combination needed for the Bio-resorbable internal fixation device. Also majority of the ortho specialists where asking for a Bio-resorbable internal fixation device that they depend on. All the above points suggest that it is a technology pull, but the development of a perfect combination is still far from reality.
Should we develop “bio-resorbable internal fixation devices”?
The industry is demanding more quality products when compared to the existing available bio-resorbable internal fixation devices. Synthes has not been focused in investing in bio-resorbable internal fixation devices, it’s the time for Synthes to start thinking of investing in bio-resorbable or not. To some extend this is a strategic decision from the company as well. Up to the date of the case, even though there was a demand for the bio-resorbable internal fixation devices, the main suppliers of bio-resorbable devices were not getting enough returns from these devices, this was pulling Synthes back from investing in bio-resorbable technology. Also if Synthes are not investing and playing the waiting game it will be difficult for them to catch up later and their market share might come down drastically as well.
So they must start investing on Bio-resorbable and be ready to deliver when there is a shift in the requirements from the industry. But the most important thing is that, R&D should consider the fact why bio-resorbable technology was not growing at the pace pundits expected? The answer to this question has been addressed in the case itself, such as, 1) Strength, 2) healing time, 3) cost issue, etc. So the product Synthes comes up should address all these issues. All ready Synthes has got a reputation and goodwill among surgeons, this will help them reaching more customers. And in fact all the surgeons were ready to try out the bio-resorbable devices.
So I would suggest Synthes that, this is the right time to invest in bio-resorbable technology. As I mentioned earlier, since so many companies doing vast research on this technology, there will be an improvement in the quality of the bio-resorbable devices in the market, this will result in a shift to bio-resorbable devices, rather than the metallic devices. And if they don’t see this, then Synthes will face the same situation Microsoft faced with the Internet Issue, but it won’t be easy for Synthes to catch up as Microsoft did when they were late entering the Internet world.
Synthes & Technology life cycle
Synthes also consider the fact that they have been using the same technology for some time. And sooner or later this technology is going to die out. And since the demand for bio-resorbable is high, this is the right time to invest in a new technology, if that technology is in the same business line and that will move the business forward. If they don’t identify this shift or paradigm in technology, their position won’t be much similar to what happened with Sony in the music industry.
Figure 1: Lecture 1, Prof. J Bernard, 23/11/2009
This move will be a kind of technological innovation in their product as well. So Synthes should address the following questions: 1) What level of innovation is needed? 2) Whether industry needs such innovation? 3) Whether they have the expertise to bring this technological innovation?
Answers to the first two questions compliment each other. For the third question, with the proven track record in similar kind of technology, it shouldn’t be a big problem for Synthes to handle this technological innovation. Moreover, with the good relations with AO & one of their sister companies already working on the same domain, Synthes has the resource & technical capability to handle changes in the technology.
Tradeoffs between the 4 options
The four options the Synthes managers could have considered are:
- Ignoring Bio-resorbables
- Wait and see approach to bio-resorbable market
- Quickly develop and market a line of bio-resorbable products
- R&D on the next generation of bio-resorbable products
Out of the four options discussed by the Synthes managers, ignoring bio-resorbables will be the worst scenario. Because sooner or later the industry is going to turn to bio-resorbables, so if they ignore completely they will be completely laid back, when the switching of technology happens. As mentioned in the above section, if they are playing the wait & see approach, it will be really difficult for the company to catch up with other organisations which are already investing a lot in bio-resorbable technology and a major player in the current bio-resorbable market.
With respect to the third option, quickly develop and market a line of bio-resorbable products, this kind of move will have an impact with quality of the bio-resorbable products, and this in turn will affect the image of the company. And also this kind of move affects their current line of products. So a sudden change to bio-resorbable product completely will do more harm to company than good.
On the fourth option, they should start the R&D for the third generation, by the same time they should start setting up the production process for the development of bio-resorbable devices. So they could be prepared for the coming of new generation internal fixation devices.
How Synthes’s Influence on the development of the bio-resorbable market?
Synthes could influence on the development of the bio-resorbable market. As the market leaders in the metallic internal fixation devices, the surgeons were more than satisfied with the Synthes products. Moreover their proven track record and their subsidiary companies specialisation in different areas will also favour their shift to the new technology.
The main attraction will be goodwill they acquired over the years, as a company they worked hard and all their previous products had that quality to be the market leaders. So the industry will also expect the same quality for the new generation products coming out of the company. More than that, their after sales customer service & the sales teams knowledge about their products also helped them to be in the position they are now. So the customers will also expect the same kind of service for the new generation products as well. And it was their after sales service that helped Synthes to gain the trust of the surgeons, which is an important factor for any business these days.
If Synthes are able to develop a quality bio-resorbable device and provide the same kind of after sale service they were providing to other products, this will have a huge shift in the internal fixation device industry, moving the metallic phase to the bio-resorbable era.
Launching Camera Pill
With the proven R&D Synthes should convince the surgeons that a change in technology could give them better result. To enter the market, they should give option to the surgeons asking them, do they want to try the new product (bio-resorbable) which could give them improved results. There are two advantages of this method, if the doctors/surgeons don’t feel confident about your new product, you are not losing your customer, and you could still supply him with your metallic internal fixation devices which they were satisfied with.
The second advantage is that, if the product is good, then this will result in the industry turning to bio-resorbable over the metallic internal fixation devices. By this way the Synthes is not doing any harm to the company image. Mean while, they could ask their R&D to concentrate more on the third generation bio-resorbable devices so they can address the current issues of their bio-resorbables by working closely with the surgeons.
Also the sales team should continue working closer with the surgeons, then only they could get the better results from their products, advicing the surgeons how to use the products to get better results. As mentioned earlier, this will help the sales team to identify the issues associated with the current version of bio-resorbables.
How Synthes benefited from this project?
There was always a demand for this technology. And the good thing with Synthes is that, they already had a brand image on the metallic internal fixation device industry. Synthes identified the competition was getting stronger in the metallic internal fixation device industry and they need a more innovative and technologically advanced product to be on top of the industry again. With Camera Pill Synthes took a huge step forward and it was quite known that, if this product proved successful, then Synthes will start a new revolution in this industry. And with the expertise of Iddan and his team, it turned out to be a success story for Synthes.
Being the first to introduce such a product to introduce such a product to the market, they always have the first mover advantage in the industry. Also by the time other companies develop such a product, Synthes will be able to acquire a larger market share, which will be difficult for such companies to get back from Synthes proven their track record. The starting few years of this product it will more like a monopoly of synthes in the industry, enjoying the benefits of the lone player in the industry is the best any company can dream off.
Moreover, by the time other competitors develop this product, with the proven R&D record they will be able to develop much more advanced and technologically innovative product.
Role of Iddan in developing the camera pill and your recommendations
Iddan noticed that the Technology used to view the Interior lining of the digestive system was still the same, there wasn’t much technological advancement in this particular area of Medical science. And the need for an improved technology for the analysis & curing of intestinal related disorders was very demanding. This was the push behind Iddan, to lead the development of Wireless Endoscopy.
Not just this, as a student of Science & Technology, Iddan was very aware of what were the Technological & scientific progress happening around him. And coupling his knowledge with the Scapa’s thought, Iddan was pretty sure that he could contribute something, which will benefit the medical field in developing an Improved Technology for viewing the Interior lining of Small Intestine.
Iddan’s last project for the Defence department of his home country also was a factor in his decision, even though he was working in a completely different project, his contribution was mainly developing the “Eye” of the missile, the missile to its target. This was almost similar with the issue Scapa was raising. This made him think how to apply his knowledge in one domain to another domain, which eventually led to the development of Wireless Endoscopy. In more technical terms, Iddan applied concept of guided missile concept to problem of viewing small intestine.
Morethan this, Iddan taken the initiative to merge with a UK research team, to develop a much more advanced product. That added to the success of the product. It was key decision to merge as his experience was not in the field of medical field, so do this decision should be considered as a key factor to the success of Camera Pill.
This shows how good a leader Iddan was and his ability to think out of the box, and his risk taking mentallity to take up project that is out of scope should be appreciated. This can be considered as a role model to all the brooming managers, think out of the box. Idenfying the right resource to develop an excellent product.
Conclusion
In short it’s time for Synthes to consider investing in bio-resorbables. They should start the R&D for the bio-resorbables, especially the third generation ones. Meanwhile they should also introduce a second generation bio-resorbable device which addresses all the current issues. They should never consider shutting down the development of metallic internal fixation devices, development of bio-resorbable should be done parallely with the traditional internal fixation devices. This way they will able to keep up, if there is a sudden switch in the internal fixation devices from the traditional to the new bio-resorbable technology. Also should address the issue with innovation that too much innovation could damage the whole line of new products, but innovation is necessary to a certain extent.