1. What is your first reaction to Glaxo’s approach to finding a cure for malaria? Is it a legitimate initiative or simply a smoke-and-mirrors marketing ploy to get the public to believe that it cares about so-called neglected diseases in third-world countries?
Honestly speaking, my first
reaction to Glaxo's approach to find a cure for malaria was not positive.
Although the company has corporate social responsibilities to be fulfilled, but
it could harm the company's customer base and does not bring good return to the
shareholders. As a pharmaceutical company, it is always profitable to research
and come up with a cure, formulate a product and recover the expenses with
profits from the market. With regards to legal grounds, the company will not be
questioned since sharing the data for research is not a problem until and unless
there are prohibitions or rights against publicizing the data.
Besides, Glaxo’s approach could be a marketing ploy to show that the company cares and it's helping the researchers find a cure for it. However, personally I think that this approach would not be successful because I think that Glaxo is lacking on its social responsibilities that will harm the company's position in the market.
2.
What role could a social media tool like
Facebook play in supporting this initiative?
What information could Glaxo and the volunteer researchers share on
Facebook to speed up the process of finding a cure for
malaria?
Social media has made its growth to a level that everyone
changed the way of businesses operation. As a successful organization, each
business wants to get it noticed and develop a better understanding of its
consumers. Social media have changed the marketing, advertising, PR, promotion
and research dynamics for businesses. It has an impact on business processes,
systems and communication. Social media presence has become mandatory, and more
companies are convinced of the benefits accrued from it.
In
GSK, the CDD web service combines elements of a Facebook-like social network
with an Oracle-style database. Any researcher who registers on the CDD site will
be able to see graphical depictions of Glaxo's compounds and relevant chemical
and biological data. The database will allow them to upload their own data to be
viewed by other researchers. By having social media in applying in
pharmaceutical company, the researchers may share their ideas or constraints so
that others could have brainstorming in reaching improvements or solutions. Two
heads are better than one; ideas are circulated thru discussion and information
sharing so that process to find a cure for malaria could be
expedited.
The
service is free of charge. If a researcher wants to combine the data with
proprietary information, CDD also offers a fee-based, secure version of its site
that allows researchers to lock up information they want to keep
secret.
3.
Search
the Web and find at least two sites at which you can participate in “saving the
world” through some sort of crowdsourcing initiative. What sites did you find? Who sponsors the site? What is the “save the world”
focus?
UNICEF “Innovate for
Children”
The
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched its Innovate for Children
platform, underscoring the agency’s commitment to innovation for social
change. The site allows users to offer comments and feedback to challenges that
UNICEF staff members submit to the public. Users can also apply to get involved
in projects that the agency is currently working on.
This
project is sponsored by the members who are mainly the public’s donation.
UNICEF’s work focuses on improving lives for children and their families in a
number of ways, including better education, protection and development. This
platform aims to enhance UNICEF’s innovation process by encouraging dialogue and co-development to support the
successful delivery of end-user driven and innovative services, products and
systems.
Toyota Ideas for Good
This is a
unique initiative centered on what Toyota has been doing for many
years—repurposing its innovative automotive technology to benefit society in the
non-automotive space. The campaign builds upon Toyota’s DNA of quality,
reliability and durability, as well as its commitment to innovation, by inviting
consumers to share their own ideas to improve quality of life beyond the
automotive world.
The “Ideas for Good” initiative empowers people to
imagine new possibilities for Toyota technologies. The public is invited to
share ideas on how to repurpose Toyota technology through the “Ideas for Good”
program sponsored by Toyota. Consumers are challenged to find new,
non-automotive applications for five distinct Toyota technologies to ultimately
benefit society. The public can learn about Toyota’s technologies and how to
share their ideas at their website.
The online hub will also host case studies and
videos that highlight organizations leveraging Toyota technologies to improve
consumer experience and well being. These organizations include NASCAR,
Yellowstone National Park and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical
Center.
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