Courses

Students in the MA in Biotechnology Program at Columbia commonly go on to pursue careers in the biopharmaceutical industry.  The departmental training focus is technical.  However, a basic understanding of management principles can be highly beneficial for optimizing job performance as well as for job advancement, and is commonly a challenging new skill to be mastered by new technical hires in the biopharmaceutical industry. 

This course has two components: 1) a survey of the basic elements of management education and 2) a series of actual cases taken from the biopharmaceutical industry which will allow students to see how the basic management principles they have learned are applied. 

The cases cover a range of business areas with an emphasis on the effects of business decisions on R&D operations and productivity.   Cases will involve strategies for R&D management, strategies for business operation/expansion, issues of licensing /acquisition versus in house discovery of new products, generics versus brand name proprietary drug businesses, managing mergers and acquisitions and entrepreneurship. 

Cases will be rigorously discussed and debated in class.  There is no single route to good management practice or corporate success, so in many instances diametrically opposed opinions will both have merit.  As some students will have had workplace exposure, students should bring such experience and knowledge to case discussions.  The course will thus be in good part taught using the Socratic Method.