Since time immemorial, man has been planting crop and breeding his own livestock. It is accurate to mention that ever since he got to know how to perform these activities, he unknowingly was taking part in biotechnology. This was made clearer with the discovery that milk could somehow be turned to yoghurt or cheese.
Animal breeders who were mainly the farmers also discovered that various physical animal traits could either be improved. This was the basis of bio technology studies across the world. For over three decades, the biologists have used various subjects in order to further understand the whole process.
For instance, they have been using combinations of such subjects as math, chemistry and physics. Therefore, biotechnology simply be defined as the “controlled and deliberate manipulation of biological systems for the efficient manufacture or processing of useful products”.
Over the years, there have been companies that have risen to the top globally as the leaders in biotechnology. Some of these companies include, Actelion, Amgen and Biogen Idec. One of the important reasons why these companies are considered to be among the best is that they have been doing well sales wise. All three have been able to maintain a sales index of over One billion dollars each.
As Nicholson, Danzon and McCoullough (2002) mention, the costs of research and development in any Biotechnological company are high which amounts to high expenditures. Therefore, these companies need the funding from the pharmaceutical companies. Although there can be other sources of funding, a huge percentage is normally generated from the pharmaceutical companies ( p12).
More often than not, alliances are formed when there is comparative advantage experienced by other firms in various functions. For instance given those pharmaceutical companies majorly concentrate on chemistry, when a bio tech company is out to discover a new drug it may require the expertise of the pharmaceutical company. In addition to this, such a partnership is very crucial given that pharmaceutical companies have so much more experience and economies of scale to say the least.
These alliances also create value in the long run. Given for instance a huge pharmaceutical alliance getting into a partnership with a biotechnology company, the pharmaceutical company is guarantee that its drug pipelines are in constant supply. This therefore illustrates a good business relationship where the pharmaceutical company is not just involved so it can provide a source of funding since this is a win-win situation.
In the event where and alliance has taken place, the management becomes crucial if success is to be attained. The entry level manager should have such traits as great interpersonal skills that will reveal just how sensitive they are to the environment they are in supposing they are dealing with people of a diverse culture. These skills should also reveal that they are strong and assertive meaning that they should be able to stand their ground in whatever circumstances.
More importantly, blending their strategic thinking with an optimistic can-do mentality may eventually ensure the success of such partnerships. This should be combined with practical visions for the success of the partnership and the establishment of business plans that clearly illustrate the big picture of the whole collaboration.
In summation, the management of the whole partnership is what makes it count as successful or not. Therefore, a good entry level manager should possess the necessary skills for a business partnership.
Work Cited
Nicholson, Sean., Danzon, Patricia., & McCullough, Jeffery. Biotech-
Pharmaceutical Alliances as a signal of asset and firm quality. 2002.