Professional Development

Professional Development in Innovation for Multinational Corporation with a Previous Focus on Tobacco Products (2019-2020)

Lib · Dec 7, 2021 ·

Challenge:

A multinational corporation with considerable resources sought to diversify away from its traditional focus upon selling cigarettes and other tobacco-based products into selling non-combustible nicotine-based solutions and other consumer products. As a key element of this initiative, Oxford Oracle was asked to provide its Marketing and Human Resources teams in both the UK and the US with professional development in innovation.

The Oracle’s Solution:

The Oracle commenced this project by undertaking an interview-based scoping exercise with key stakeholders within the organisation to understand their current familiarity with innovation processes, intellectual property, R&D, and legal and practical routes for protecting proprietary materials. Subsequently, detailed four-day workshops were held face-to-face in both the UK and the US. The following key topics were covered and investigated in detail:

Innovation Capture	Innovation Roadmapping	Innovation Champions
Intellectual Property Rights	Freedom to Operate Exercises	Market Assessments
Open Innovation	Cross-Licensing	Portfolio Management

Action plans for immediate and ongoing execution were created by participants during the workshop and, over the ensuing 12 months, these innovation professionals enjoyed routine access to designated mentors within the Oracle.

Consequential Impact:

Recipients of the professional development and mentorship rated these as excellent (4.8/5) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, reported that the most critical sessions were those in which they created timebound action plans to implement their newly acquired skills and knowledge. Both mid-term and longer term surveys indicate that the information embedded during the Oracle’s sessions has led to positive changes in organisational processes, to recruitment attitudes and outcomes, to innovation management, to R&D priorities and, indeed, to the products which are now at market.

Pre-Incubator Programme to Improve Venture Capital Outcomes (2020-21)

Lib · Jun 18, 2021 ·

Challenge:

A large venture capital fund with a focus on patient capital approaches sought to establish a pre-incubator programme for new founders and managers who are drawn from university environments. The client was concerned that entrants into its established incubator programme tended to face two key challenges:

They struggled to articulate the customer problem that their business solves.
They were insufficiently prepared to optimise their profitability whilst in the incubator.

The Oracle’s Solution:

The Oracle undertook an interview-based scoping exercise with key stakeholders. Three workshops were then held for both managers within the client organisation as well as by representatives of current incubatee companies. The outcome of these workshops was agreement on ten half-day pre-incubator sessions which were tailored to the priority needs of the start-ups most likely to be admitted into the generously-funded full incubator programme. The pre-incubator programme was then delivered over a three-month period, being adaptively refined over the delivery period in line with beneficiaries’ needs. The base structure for the programme was anchored to the following priorities:

Business Models	Customer Conversations
Technology Push vs Market Pull	Protecting Intellectual Property
Kinetic Execution	Data Commercialisation
Demonstrating Market Potential	Raising Finance
Planning for Pitching	Exit Opportunities

Consequential Impact:

The pre-incubator programme was conducted for 38 beneficiaries representing 17 start-ups and the feedback was unanimously positive. Several technologies were submitted to the Oracle for Freedom-to-Operate analyses and to obtain IP protections. The client noted in particular that participant interaction during the programme was excellent and that optional post-session clinic sessions were heavily over-subscribed. It was agreed that the programme, as adapted in line with changing needs, is to be delivered annually on a repeat basis.

Innovation Intervention and Professional Development for Corporation in Shenzhen, China (2018)

Lib · Apr 29, 2019 ·

Challenge:

A corporation from the semiconductor industry sought to provide its key R&D staff in best practice in innovation identification, capture, IP protection, road-mapping and project management, and market exploitation.

The Oracle’s Solution:

The Oracle drew on a hybrid professional development delivery model to train over 60 individuals from within this organisation. Two weeks of on-the-ground training in Shenzhen were followed by ten day-long online follow-up workshops which were run on a monthly basis. This enable the Oracle’s fellows to provide individual mentorship to innovation professionals such that they could benefit from real-world practice of innovation road-mapping, IP protection strategy, market assessment, and practical advice on complementary technologies and product/service design. Advice to corporate leadership was also provided on optimal structures to maximise innovative practice.

Consequential Impact:

The R&D structure within the corporation has been transformed such that each disciplinary R&D team includes at least one innovation champion who is responsible for communicating both current and pending successes to colleagues in different teams as well as to those generally outside of the R&D apparatus. Innovation capture (as measured by innovation disclosures) has increased by 320%. The annual number of costly patent applications was reduced by 15% while the patented technologies classified as “active” increased (from just under 10% before the Oracle’s involvement) to 40%. The relationship between this organisation and the Oracle is ongoing.

Instructional Negotiation Workshops for an Independent (UK) National Research Institute (2018)

Lib · Mar 3, 2019 ·

Challenge:

A leading UK national research institute which focusses on the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) sought to actively exploit its nascent innovation portfolio for the first time in its history. It acknowledged that its staff had limited experience of negotiating positive commercial outcomes (in general) and in concluding favour licence agreements (in particular).

The Oracle’s Solution:

The institute identified Oxford Oracle as its preferred partner to provide its staff with instruction and exercises based on real-life scenarios. The Oracle’s specialist AHSS fellows designed extensive materials to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges that are available (and sometimes unique to) the sub-disciplines of Economics, Social Wellbeing, and Education. Via a series of three two-day workshops which leveraged scenarios-planning frameworks, we provided practical insights into the opportunities and challenges associated with commercial negotiations in the AHSS.

Consequential Impact:

Immediate feedback from the client was that the workshops were engaging and fun and, just as importantly, their outcomes were actionable. Feedback after nine months was that the template documents provided by the Oracle as well as the pivot points identified in the bespoke scenarios had been deployed and had resulted in the conclusion of favourable deals. The client has gone on to enlist our counsel in subsequent projects.

University Rankings Enhancement and Degree Accreditation for Emerging Middle East Institution (2016–2018)

Lib · Apr 28, 2018 ·

Challenge:

An excellent Middle Eastern university that had recently attained its 30 year milestone sought to further improve its standing within the international university rankings. Furthermore, it sought to diversify its offerings by establishing new, internationally-recognised degree programmes in Biology. The client university had the particular aim of entering the top 10 within the QS Arab Region University Rankings.

The Oracle’s Solution:

The Oracle advised that it would be most efficient to seek to concomitantly ascend all three of the three most renowned university rankings:

Times Higher Education Rankings
Shanghai Rankings (ARWU; Academic Ranking of World Universities)
QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings.

Eight of the Oracle’s fellows presented to the client institution during an intensive two-day workshop in which the characteristics of the three rankings systems were elaborated in detail. The university subsequently agreed that its resources would be best spent by focusing on improvements to three key elements of quality:

Teaching Quality
Research Quality
Student Recruitment

Over a two-year period, the Oracle’s expert HE practitioners then went about devising and implementing action plans to persistently improve teaching provision. Improved incentives were simultaneously embedded within university procedures to encourage excellent research and commensurate publications of international standard. Successful recruitment of 12 high-profile research experts was also undertaken. Rigorous systems for Foundation programmes and for direct-access admissions to undergraduate programmes were also designed to ensure initial student quality.

Working with international accreditation organisations including the Royal Society of Biology, two degree programmes in the biological sciences were designed and five initial members of academic staff were appointed from a large, global pool of applicants. The curricula were validated internally and by the Ministry of Education and were primed for International Degree Accreditation after three years.

Consequential Impact:

As a result of this initiative, the client was successful in entering the top 10 of the QS Arab Region University Rankings and, happily, it has remained there ever since. Marked and sustained improvements (in excess of 90 positions) were also recorded in the ARWU and THE leagues tables. A virtuous circle of HE quality was thus set in motion.

The degree offerings in biology were oversubscribed in their first year and they continue from strength to strength. They have been incorporated into a department of Bioengineering and student cohorts continue to increase in size.