Discussion

Discussion Topic:

In creating your response to this DB, think back to 1985 and the state of medical treatment for patients with spinal cord

injuries.

The assignment this week is to discuss the context of The Miami Project through examining their mission and main strategic

goal. Think about these questions as you formulate your response. Do not respond to these questions in Q & A format for this

week’s DB, rather integrate your thinking to all of the DB questions into one response.

Consider that you are a business consultant hired by the founders of ‘The Miami Project’ during the initial steps of creating

the organization. Discuss your thinking of the founders’ rationale for selecting the mission for ‘The Miami Project’ by

synthesizing your responses to these questions below into one or more paragraphs.

Do you think it was in the best interest for this organization to state a ‘cure’ as the central focus for the organizational

mission? Why or why not.

What suggestions or comments would you give the founders regarding the selection of their mission for their new non-profit

clinical research organization?

Student #1 – Kristina

This discussion is very interesting to me because I have a spinal cord injury as a result of an automobile accident. I spent

months recovering at a great spinal cord and brain injury center. So I might be a little bias in my response. As a business

consultant, I would understand how important it is to quickly grab the attention of financial donors. When an organization is

formed, I think it has to present a central focus to get people excited. People want to be involved in a worthy and focused

cause. People who are unable to walk want someone to find a cure. They know it will take time and a lot of research. The cure

might take longer than we want, but the new therapies are the step in the right direction. My main therapy consisted of

electrical stimulation, which assisted, tremendously in my recovery. The Miami Project researchers confirmed through articles

that electrical stimulation was beneficial to spinal cord injuries (Kaplan, Marquis, & Kazan, 2008). By having a cure as the

central focus for the Miami Project, gives researchers pride. Their focus is validated by their efforts when new therapies

such as electrical stimulation and the reducing body temperature techniques are developed.

In starting a new non-profit clinical research organization, the organization’s idea or focus usually originates from

personal experiences. The organization’s focus should have a purpose. However, change is unavoidable, so the mission might be

modified for many reasons in the future. If the organization is in financial trouble similar to the Miami Project, including

other traumas such as brain injuries in the organization’s focus would be beneficial to both issues (Kaplan, Marquis, &

Kazan, 2008). This will assist the organization in getting more recognition. The main suggestion for founders is not to be

too rigid and be opened to new ideas. Another suggestion would be to partner with a medical device company that sale wheel

chairs or crutches. The organization can form a partnership with the company to receive a certain percentage of sales on

medical equipment.

Kaplan, R., Marquis, C. & Kazan, B. (2008). The Miami project to cure paralysis. Harvard business school. Retrieved from

http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/9818273, on August 29, 2012

Student #2 – Genea

The primary mission of the Miami Project is to find a cure for spinal cord injury. From a business standpoint, this mission

aroused several unanswered questions: Ho w will the organization “cure” spinal cord injury, and what are the organization’s

expectations? I think of an organization’s mission as a concise statement of business strategy. Similarly, in a large

organization such as this one, I would think that individual branches/departments will have their own specific mission which

will further build on the overall strategic goals of the Miami Project. As a business consultant, I would suggest revising

the mission so that ancillary departments will have a better understanding of the overall direction of the organizational

goal which encompasses several areas: research, treatment, quality of life (coping with paralysis), resources/support, and

education. For example, the Miami Project is committed to finding a cure for spinal cord injury through education, improving

quality of life, and funding innovative research.

Also, with research being one of the major aspects of the Miami Project, it is important that the founders understand that

research may involve including other neurological disabilities. Dr Pascal Goldschmidt noted that as physicians and scientists

we know that the solution to a problem can often come from an esoteric domain that may or may not be recognized as linked to

the problem at stake (Kaplan, Marquis & Kazan, 2008). Contrarily, the founder was concerned that the organization may lose

focus with expanding research to other neurological conditions. If components are incongruent with the critical tasks or with

each other, these inconsistencies are likely to be the root of performance gaps (Tushman& O’Reilly, 2002). Managers must

ensure that their people are aligned with critical tasks and work processes.

Kaplan, R. S., Marquis, C., & Kazan, B. (2008). The Miami project to cure paralysis. Harvard Business School, p. 1-22.

Tushman, M. L., & O’Reilly, C. A. (2002). Managerial problem solving: A congruence approach. Harvard Business School Press,

p. 1-44.

Student #3 – Tahitian

When Mark and Nick Buoniconti established “The Miami Project” in 1985, the mission of the program was to find a “cure” to

spinal cord injuries. By the time the time the article was published in 2008, and up to today, a cure to spinal cord injuries

has still not been found. Although a cure has not been found, I feel that the mission of the establishment is good one. It is

highly ambitious, it is clear, “fluff” free, and without confusion.

The simple fact that there was very little established research in the field of spinal cord injuries means that they were an

extreme long way from a “cure”,however that does not mean that such a mission cannot be accomplished. It may also be a good

idea to include in their mission statement that they are going to strive to find a cure rather than say find a cure. It may

be helpful to indicate in some way how they plan on striving toward it – for instance, through extensive research. Overtime I

believe that a “tune-up” of a mission is very important, or at least the mission should be re-evaluated. This does not mean

that one has to completely change the original mission, but rather incorporate additional ideas that will help reach the

original mission.

Kaplan, R. S., Marquis, C., & Kazan, B. (2008). The Miami project to cure paralysis. Harvard Business School, p. 1-22.

Student #4– my paper

The main objective of Miami project is to promote research on the cure of paralysis and spinal cord injuries through

recruiting scientists and training new ones to continue conducting human clinical trials. The organization clearly states

that its main objective is to find the cure for paralysis while the secondary objective is to improve the life of people with

spinal cord injuries (Kaplan, Marquis & Kazan, 2008). As a consultant, I would like to agree with the organizational mission

of the Miami project to focus on the ‘cure’ rather any other strategic objective. This is mainly because even if the

organization may not attain the overall objective of curing paralysis in the near future, it will come up with findings that

will give a deeper insight in the long-term goal of finding the cure. Secondly, by stating the mission of the organization,

the founders defined the reason for its existence and the objectives that will guide all those who will come after them. The

mission also guides all the staffs of the organization and gives them a reason to continue striving until they achieve its

overall objective (Tushman& O’Reilly III, 2012). In the absence of this guiding mission, the leaders of the organization may

diverse their goals especially after striving for many years without finding the cure for paralysis thus abandoning their

search for the cure. In addition, the mission of the organization came as result of the painful experiences that agitated

founders to come up with the project to ensure that other people will not go through the same in future. This is very

important approach to use when establishing the mission of an organization since it ensure that it will never divert from its

intended mission. Furthermore, the mission will enable the leaders of the organization to use broad perspective in order to

achieve the intended goal (Spilker, 2009).

Being a non-profit research organization, it is in the best interest of the Miami project to clearly state that their overall

objective is to enable people with spinal cord injuries walk again through finding cure for paralysis. This statement has

given donors a lot of confidence in the project which has continued to attract support from all corners. This could not be

happening if the organization does not clearly define its mission the way it does today which can affect the support it

receive from both governmental and non-governmental organizations. Through stating its mission clearly, the organization

communicate to the world that it has a drive, knowledge and expertise to conduct clinical trials that will eventually lead to

the cure of paralysis.

However, the mission of the project may consider both the short term and long term benefits in order to maximize its outcome.

According to Farris (1996), leaders should be able to balance between what will be achieved in both short and long term.

Short term goals may focus on the ways of improving lives of people living with spinal cord injuries through conducting

research on how they can live better lives. This can be achieved through information, advocacy and fundraisers. On the other

hand, the long term goal can focus on finding a cure through re-establishing function. It will therefore be important for the

organization to clearly differentiate between goals that are achievable in the short term and those that are achievable in

the long run. For instance, recruiting and training new scientists and educating people may be classified as short term goals

whiles conducting endless clinical trials with an aim of finding the cure for paralysis may be the long term goal of the

project.

Please answer the following question:

Very well written and a very convincing argument. Nevertheless, I have several questions. Since this project is a major

undertaking, do you think that with the current levels of revenues the organization will be be able to reach their goal?

Another point is that somewhere down the line, maybe 10 or 20 years, contributors will become disillusioned and simply stop

their contributions or lower their contributions drastically. This downturn will possibly come about despite reaching various

short-term goals. Another question is can the organization stick to the current mission and drastically increase

contributions and revenues?

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