Can Science Be a Business? Lessons from Biotechnology

 INO joint with MPP - Spring Seminar I

Seminar by:

Gary Pisano, Harvard Business School

Abstract

In this seminar, I will talk about my research on biotechnology and pharmaceuticals that explores the complex relationship between science and business. I focus on the question: can science be a business? Using the case of biotechnology as a frame of reference, I argue that science-based businesses face three challenges: 1) the need to manage persistent and pervasive uncertainty 2) the need to integrate across diverse knowledge bases and 3) the need to learn from cumulative experience. I argue that existing organizational structures and institutional arrangements struggle when all three are present, and this helps to explain the challenges of the biotech sector. I will then present some preliminary thinking about how these three dimensions may be useful as a way to distinguish innovation challenges across a broad array of sectors.

For more information contact:

Christoph Hienerth, Tlf: 38 15 2589 or Robert D. Austin, Tlf.: 3815 6010