This course is positioned at the intersection of two truisms. The first is that change in the business environment is unrelenting. However, although firms are usually able to address the normal ebbs and flows, some changes are of such a magnitude, or of pace, that it can be difficult for firms to effectively respond to them. This is aggravated by the fact that some of those disruptive changes are hard to predict, or even unpredictable.
The second truism is that business development takes time. The quest to grow new business through some combination of new products or services, and new markets cannot be done instantly. Entering into, say, a new international market, can rarely be done overnight. Bringing a new product to a state where it is ready to be sold into a market might take months (for some software-based products) or even many years (in the case of a new a drug). In the time between conceiving of a business development initiative and it being fully realised, there can be material changes in the business environment.
Thus, those involved in business development not only need the skills, knowledge, and abilities (KSA) to understand the current business environment, but also the capabilities to anticipate the future changes, and the KSA to able to react to changes that were unanticipated. The overall goal of this course is to develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities to allow the business developer to better contend with those disruptive changes.