(MOD003463) Strategic management assignment about Cancer Research UK and the strategic issues witnessed by it
Question
Task: Choose one of the organisations for your strategic management assignment. Mention the Strategic Issues, Challenges, solutions and implementation of a plan of action. Write about the general problems that confront society or the sector, the impact of the general problems on the organisation, an organisation level solution to the impacts of these challenges, and a plan to put a solution into practice.
Answer
Introduction
Cancer is a disease which is life threatening. Once a person is diagnosed with cancer, the treatment process starts and it is relentless. It is found in this strategic management assignmentthat there are many organisations across the globe who is working on cancer. Cancer Research UK is one such organisation which provides every detail about the disease, the symptoms, the screening, the mechanism or process of coping with the treatment, etc. (Cancer Research UK, 2022). In UK, if someone is suffering from cancer, the organisation, Cancer Research UK is where they should contact for assistance. As per the strategic management assignmentthis organisation works as relentlessly as the disease itself. The organisation reaches out to the people for help. They seek for funds through public contributions. Their fundraiser projects are crucial for carrying out their operations. Many people pledge a gift or donate towards the cause of the organisation. The organisation indulges in life saving study and research. The organisation, Cancer Research UK, is trying to beat cancer with the help of others. As per Berns(2019), Cancer Research UK is the largest cancer research organisation in the world which operates independently. The organisation has been registered as a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man was founded in February, 2002(Cancer Research UK, 2022). This foundation was the outcome of the merger of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the Cancer Research Campaign. The Cancer Research UK carries out research using both the grant funded researchers and their own staff. They try to provide the relevant and required information on cancer as well as runs campaigns which aim to raise awareness about the disease, cancer and its various forms, required tests for diagnosis and symptoms. It is found in this strategic management assignmentthat the organisation also tries to influence the public policy in favour of cancer research and treatment for the ones suffering from it. The organisation is able to conduct their operations because of the public funds and donations. The Cancer Research UK raises their operational money from events, community fundraising programs, legacies, donations, corporate and retail partnerships. The organisation has almost forty thousand or more individuals as regular volunteers. Even after completion of twenty successful years, the organisation and the scientists working for it are at the forefront of research related to cancer. The organisation reaps the benefit of almost 120 years of research in the field of cancer. The organisation tries to be available for the public in their crisis period after being diagnosed or having someone close diagnosed with cancer. The organisation has been efficiently and effectively working for the welfare of the cancer patients during the pandemic. The strategic management assignmentprovides an overview about the challenges that are witnessed by the Cancer Research UK along with probable solutions to those challenges.
Cancer Research discussed in the strategic management assignment
Strategic Issuesmentioned in the strategic management assignment
There are various problems which an organisation dealing with cancer faces. Not only Cancer Research UK but many other similar organisations that are engaged in the research of cancer or dealing with cancer cases face several strategic issues while operating. The organisation, Cancer Research UK discussed in this strategic management assignment, puts their strategy at the heart of the vision and mission. Their discovery research aims for nothing but excellence (Grant, 2021). They try to understand the mechanism of development of cancer, the progression of the disease, the measures to prevent, early detect and treat the disease, etc. However, the major drawbacks of cancer research and cancer treatment are lack of awareness. It is found in this strategic management assignmentthat most of the people do not take the initiative of getting thorough check up and tests done from time to time to detect slightest symptoms of cancer. If detected in the early stages, cancer could be cured through various innovative forms of treatment. The challenge of cancer research, diagnosis and treatment also include scarcity of funds, expensive treatment process and insufficient free screening. Cancer Research UK aims at achieving the four objectives through their work. These include discovery, detection, prevention and treatment (Britt etal, 2020). The organisation tries to conduct innovative research and provide assistance to public through comprehensive study of the biology of cancer. As per the strategic management assignmentthey face strategic issue related to fund raising which hampers their operations like innovation of new prevention measures, carrying out advanced tests and new treatments.
Cancer Research UK like various other organisations involved in cancer research and treatment is facing failures in cancer therapeutics. The cancer therapeutics as per Zhanget al(2020), have presently attained lowest success in clinical trials as compared to other fatal diseases. Due to the paucity of the tested and proven anti-cancer drugs, soon cancer would be the major cause of mortality in the first world or developed nations (Shang et al, 2019). It is found in this strategic management assignmentcancer research and treatment faces several strategic challenges which may not be organisation specific. Most of the challenges are accrued to the society and general conception about cancer among public. Dealing with cancer itself possess certain challenges. These challenges could be overcome by bringing the scientists and experts from across the globe in one common platform. Uniting these experts would facilitate better tackling of the disease. The organisation, Cancer Research UK, needs to initiate programs which would raise funds from the public and use it for the required purposes. To overcome the strategic issues of lack of awareness mentioned in the strategic management assignmentthe organisation needs to tie up with other global organisations. This would facilitate conducting awareness campaigns. The free screening for cancer could also be done. The strategic issues are affecting the doctors, scientists, and other stakeholders of cancer research and treatment. The strategic issues once resolved could facilitate prevention of unwanted breast cancer, better understanding if the treatment of cancer could be made better and easier with the use of bacteria in human gut, etc. Bringing the people suffering from cancer and the people researching on cancer should be brought on the same page. This does not happen which leads to strategic issues. As per the strategic management assignmentthe major issues pertaining to cancer is its prevention. The primary preventive measures suggest that the people should stay away from being exposed to carcinogens. The people should follow a lifestyle which minimises the risk of cancer, i.e., avoid smoking, and take available anti-cancer vaccinations (Augustine et al, 2021). The Cancer Research UK tries to ensure that the society and public is made aware of these and they imbibe such preventive measures in their life. However, this seldom happens which makes the risk of cancer consistent. The researchers and scientists recommend secondary level of prevention for cancer, which the organisation is trying to convey and implement. They suggest blocking, slowing or reversing the carcinogenesis progression as well as invasive cancer, considering the significance of molecular biomarkers’ endpoint along with their respective validation. These are challenging to implement as people only realise the severity of cancer once they or their close ones are affected by the disease. The tertiary prevention is also challenging to incorporate. The lack of timely tests and diagnosis makes the suppression or removal of precancerous lesions like adenomatous polyps difficult. To make the people accept and adapt to the treatment implication of chemoprevention and chemotherapy is another strategic issue faced by Cancer Research UK (Pantziarkaet al, 2021). During the pandemic, the cancer services were highly affected and the cancer patients needed assistance which was neglected. However, though Cancer Chat, the organisation tried to reach out to people. It is found in the strategic management assignmentthat due to the pandemic and lockdown situation, the backlog for suspension of cancer screening in UK was increased. The figure below provides the relevant statistics.
(Source: Cancer Research UK, 2022)
Through effective and strategic planning and resolution of strategic issues pertaining to cancer, the cancer level can be controlled by Cancer Research UK. As per the strategic management assignmentthe proportion of cancer affected persons varies across the nations in UK and their prevention rates also vary. The prevention level can be controlled by Cancer Research UK.
(Source: Cancer Research UK, 2022)
The above image in the strategic management assignmentshows the ratio of cancer across UK countries that could be prevented. It shows that tobacco smoking is the major cancer cause that is followed by obesity as well as UV rays. On the other hand, alcohol has been regarded as the least major reason that causes cancer.The aspects like repurposed benign drugs, dietary manipulation and natural products should be added to the bucket of chemoprevention. To summarise the strategic issues of Cancer Research UK, it can be said in the strategic management assignmentthat they face issues related to:
• Improvement in Initial and Early Detection of the disease
• Accessing better resources for dealing with the disease
• Developing better and innovative prevention models
• Raising sufficient funds for cancer research and treatment
Challengesaddressed in the strategic management assignment
Coping with cancer can lead to several challenges for Cancer Research UK. NCI (2022) stated challenges as any issue that is pertinent to prevention, comprehending as well as detecting and treating cancer. It is found in the strategic management assignmentthat the issue goes to the extent where it cannot be addressed through a proper funding mechanism. The challenges that have impacted the Cancer Research UK are as follows:
Cancer cachexia will be viewed as a tumour-driven syndrome by the CACAN team. In other words, cachexia is regarded as an incapacitating muscle wasting condition that imposed a major challenge for the organization. This in turn intensely disturbs quality of life and existence for many individuals with advanced cancer. The focus of this challenge as per the strategic management assignmentis mostly on dealing with the unpremeditated mechanisms related to cancer cachexia as well as diminishing performance status as well as exhausted independent of therapy (NCI, 2022). Cancer leads to metabolic stress that distracts nutrients from patients to meet its high energy requirements. The CACAN team believes in the fact that cancer cachexia is caused due to metabolic imbalance. As a result, the key is to find fruitful therapy in order to eradicate cachexia that causes metabolic imbalance.
The eDyNAmiC team of the Cancer Research UK looks forward to comprehend the formation as well as action of extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) that poses a major challenge. This in turn helps tumours change and avoid treatment. As per the strategic management assignmentthe challenge is to develop innovative ways to target mechanisms that could cure cancer. The model of collaborative science is aimed to be built by the eDyNAmiC team (NCI, 2022). This model will help to get an insight into a complete new treatment for individuals dealing with some hardest type of incurable cancers.
Another challenge has been for the NexTGen team to work to develop engineered T-cell treatments for childhood cancer. The challenge would be to discover the fact that whether altering the tumour surrounding can initiate effectual treatments or not. As per the strategic management assignmentdeveloping an in-depth concept regarding the development of solid cancers in children is a challenge for the organization. Standard treatments lead to extreme longstanding health problems, that includes learning complications, irregular growth as well as infertility (NCI, 2022). There are several hindrances that exists while treating children with solid tumours.
The PROMINENT team however, finds it challenging to explore that whether normal cells are triggered to turn cancerous to apprise prevention. They would discover the way carcinogens and other mutation-forming aspects help turn a normal cell into a tumour cell (NCI, 2022). The prominent team as per the strategic management assignmentmostly seeks to provide answer to imperative questions regarding tumorigenesis and look for new ways to avert the disease. The challenges that have impacted the Cancer Research UK also includes proper diagnosis as well as treatments of patients that gets interfered with their social life through psychological as well as physical complaints. The psychological challenges that patients in the organization witnesses are related to missing out several social incidents as well as losing their jobs(NCI, 2022). It is analysed in the strategic management assignmentthat many individuals suffering from the disease complains regarding their struggle with restricted life expectations while other individuals rushing.
Solutions
The solution at the organization level will be provided through Cancer Grand challenges. This will support a diverse as well as global research community to come jointly. The National Cancer Institute along with Cancer Research UK has partnered to launch the Cancer Grand challenges that will provide solutions to all the above-mentioned challenges. As per the strategic management assignment the Cancer Grand challenges looks forward to initiate several rounds related financial support for multidisciplinary research teams.
In order to reduce cachexia, the CACAN team will utilise preclinical models that will map the way metabolism as well as distribution of nutrients change with progression in cachexia(Cancer Grand Challenges, 2022a). The genes driving these changes will also be recognised by the team as well. Through the preclinical models, the CACAN team will be able to recognise the several different subtypes with varied biomedical aspects that causes cancer. The largest multi-centred cohort study will be performed by the team dealing with elevated risk of cachexia. As per the strategic management assignment the team through this cohort will be able to recognizeas well as authenticate different cachexia subtypes and eventually develop personalized therapeutic approaches for every disease subtype(Cancer Grand Challenges, 2022a). The CACAN team comprises of a team with different as well as complementary expertise that has been believed to develop the area that causes cachexia.
On the other hand, the prominent team will utilise the alternative model related to carcinogenesis. It is regarded as a promoter hypothesis that exposes cells to mutagenic carcinogens. After getting exposed to a promoting stimulus, the initiated cells via an unidentified mechanism, accomplish a discriminatory benefit allowing them to experience clonal expansion and development to malignancy. By merging all throughout limitations, the PROMINENT team anticipates to initiate a new viewpoint to essential questions surrounding primary tumour growth and recognize novel routes to stoppage (Cancer Grand Challenges, 2022b). The PROMINENT teamas per the strategic management assignmentwill evaluate the endogenous risk aspects that cause cancer. It will analyse which cells carry initiating alterations and their locations. It will also promote the early symptoms that cause neoplastic development as well as the methods to intervene to deal with most primitive stage of neoplastic selection of cells.
The challenge that is related to extrachromosomal DNA, could be solved by the eDyNAmiC team through model systems as well as human samples. The team will aim to comprehend the mechanisms that generateecDNA. The ecDNAhubs require to be comprehended in a better way by the team to solve the challenge in a better way.It is found in the strategic management assignmentthat the eDyNAmiC team under the Cancer Grand challenges looks forward to grow courageous partnerships and innovative resolutions to cross-examine this important characteristic of cancer biology and possibly launch a new arena of cancer therapeutics (Cancer Grand Challenges, 2022c). The recognition of mechanisms that generates ecDNA will work as a major solution. The team utilises model systems as well as human samples to comprehend the mechanisms that generates ecDNA.
The solution related to T-cell treatments for childhood cancer involves preclinical models that is regarded as an existing model of paediatric cancer. The NexTGen team requires to test cell therapies. It must optimise novel modelling methods. This includes tumour-on-a-chip, patient-derived immune xenografts along with mathematical models of cells’ dynamics. (Cancer Grand Challenges, 2022e) stated that clinical testing is also a type of solution that requires to be adapted by the NexTGen team. As per the strategic management assignmentthe iterative refinement will be supported through preclinical research. The highly incorporated approach by the NexTGen team will make it easier for clinical observations to notify lab studies. The findings by the team will be then decoded into clinical studies as well as novel preclinical studies. The solution that could be provided to patients struggling with proper diagnosis includesearly detection. This reduces the mortality rates if the patients are able to recognise their symptoms and opt for early diagnosis. Palliative care has been regarded as an effective solution to the issue that provides relieve rather than providing 100 percent cure. This care helps patients to live in a more comfortable way. According to the strategic management assignment palliative care is required in areas with a high rate of individuals going through advanced stages of cancer that has a little chance to get cured.
Implementation
The implementation plan would be a blueprint that is operational for guiding the way in which the Cancer Research UK will be delivering their overall goal of fighting cancer together (Lai et al, 2020). The implementation plan considers the challenges and solutions and suggests the best way of executing the solutions. As per the strategic management assignment the implementation plan for Cancer Research UK has feasible and clear course of actions and operations which will take them closer to their objective. Cancer Research UK has realistic and ambitious, time bound, clear and measurable objectives.
The implementation plan would include the creation of a common platform by Cancer Research UK, which would be operated digitally and share the high standard research works and data from researchers all across the globe. This data will be fully secured and its privacy terms will not be violated. It is found in the strategic management assignment that the platform will simply ensure the reutilisation andinteroperability of the data. The organisation further requires funds which are dedicated for the coordinated and supportive action plan tackling the strategic issues of cancer research, its awareness and treatment. The Cancer Research UK can have seminars, online as well as offline and post videos across social media platforms along with their website based on healthy vs the cancer cells at the population as well as individual level. These videos or information would convey to the public how the cancer cells grow and interact with the healthy cells due to the exposure to risky factors. The public should be made aware to avoid the risk factors which could increase the probability of having cancer. It is found in the strategic management assignment that the exposure to pollution on roads, obesity, lack of physical activity, lifestyle, etc. is the factors which the people should take care of to reduce the incidence of cancer. The Cancer Research UK could collaborate with workplaces to ensure that they promote physical activity and encourage the employees to plan their nutrition, diet and lifestyle systematically. The workplaces should also ensure least exposure to cancer risk factors by controlling their work environment (Espinaet al, 2018). The Cancer Research UK should include the citizens, patients, academicians, charitable organisations, SMEs and other industries, in their fight and struggle against cancer. This could be done through coordinated and interactive health care programs and campaigns. The Cancer Research UK needs to involve the doctors and medical professionals into their programs. As per the strategic management assignment findings, the stakeholders dealing with cancer have to understand the cell, organismal interactions, organ, cancer-patient molecules, etc. The tumour-patient interactions need to be studied. The focus of the organisation should be on researching about childhood as well as adult cancers. This would help in reducing the potential cases of cancer. The organisation should collaborate with pharma and health care organisations to take advantage of the biomarkers, the novel models and the technologies. The organisation has to work and determine the significance of genetics in cancer. They need to find out and work with the polygenic risk scores by assessing the individuals’ cancer risk. As per the strategic management assignment the clinical trials need to be handled strategically for making them successful. Cancer Research UK would generate information on the evasion of the immune system of the patient caused by cancer, help people understand the microbial and viral infections, know the rare and common cancer subtypes during different ages, the impact of inflammation, genetic changes in disease outcome, significance of healthy patient tissue and individual’s risk of cancer over time, etc. through this implementation plan (Bailey et al, 2021).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the strategic management assignmentthat the work of Cancer Research UK is challenging as they are dealing with one of the most dangerous and fatal diseases. There are various strategic issues which Cancer Research UK faces. These issues are pertaining to availability of funds, awareness among public about the disease, innovations in drugs and medication and supporting infrastructure, new research in the field, etc. For overcoming these issues coordinated efforts are required. To create a clinical impact, the experts from clinical spheres as well as the researchers from cancer related multiple fields need to come together for better outcomes. The clinical trials have been failing for cancer treatment. This could be improved through better knowledge of the path towards the clinical trials of cancer. As per the strategic management assignmentthe challenge of cancer research, diagnosis and treatment include scarcity of funds, expensive treatment process and insufficient free screening. Cancer Research UK needs to collaborate with other similar organisations working towards improvement of world health for accessing better resources, more funds and greater infrastructural support. There are various sophisticated models for treating and detecting cancer.
The number of cancer cases in UK as well as around the globe could be reduced through early detection and effective prevention. The exploitation of systems biology approaches and genomics along with other technologies could improve the health outcomes for cancer patients. The major challenges and strategic issues posed by the fatal disease, cancer requires swift as well as easily field-specific innovations. These actions could foster better clinical environment. The latest technologies are being developed for thriving in the interdisciplinary cancer environment. The pressing and increasing challenges of cancer and its research need collaboration across the medical and health care industry along with the academia. The entire cancer research, assistance and treatment operations undertaken by Cancer Research UK, requires the removal or minimisation of the intellectual barriers as well as financial obstacles. It could be concluded from the strategic management assignmentthat there are five types of challenges that has impacted the Cancer Research UK. This could be solved through Cancer Grand challenges. It could be inferred from the strategic management assignmentthat cancer leads to metabolic stress that distracts nutrients from patients to meet its high energy requirements.
Recommendation
The work of Cancer Research UK can be developed and improved through certain recommendations. These include:
• The development of the strategies for preventive intervention of cancer implementing the chemoprevention compounds for the persons who have genetic risk, substantial secondary risk or environmental exposures, should be dealt with carefully. The measures could involve restoration of the estimated deficiency to its normal levels. The preventive measures could include the usage of the natural products or the derivatives of the same. The repurposed pharma compounds as per the strategic management assignmentcould be used for the prevention of cancer. The benefit and risk evaluation of the treatment process must be guided by the benefit and risk scales which are relevant to the targeted recipients.
• There is a need for development of new and innovative chemopreventive compounds which are assessed quite early during the process. During the phase O/I type settings, they should have the required pharmacodynamics properties, before moving to the clinical trials phases II or III.
• To overcome the challenges of dealing with cancer, the Cancer Research UK, should focus on the lifestyle aspects of the people. As per the strategic management assignmentthe lifestyle aspects would include the food choice, intake, physical activity and certain other aspects of environmental exposures which contribute towards risk of cancer in the prevention setting which is primary. The individual factors related to lifestyle have a significant role to play in cancer and must be assessed on the aggregate basis. The validated risk scores are developed and the overall intervention lifestyle approach is developed for the individual persons.
• The prevention of the cancer is subject to research that must lead towards discoveries which enhance the quantity as well as quality of life. As per the strategic management assignmentfor the effectiveness of assessment, both of these are legitimate. The outcome of the early detection research and screening also impacts the application of the cancer related recommendations. The screening appointments for cancer must also expand the goals. They provide the information regarding the cancer risk and further advice on the ways of reducing the risk of cancer. The prevention as well as screening should be made more integrated into the clinical care, directly. It is found in the strategic management assignmentthat the screening appointment is also a teachable for providing the advice on cancer prevention. The limitations for the surrogate biomarkers should also be acknowledged in the prevention process.
References
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