Focused on your synopsis about the partnership between Novo Nordisk and OpenAI, while preparing you for broader questions across the full Information Economics & Business curriculum.
Dynamic Capabilities
Novo Nordisk × OpenAI
Being too descriptive instead of analytical
How does digitalization influence business performance and competitive advantage?
Foundation for arguing why Novo Nordisk partners with OpenAI and why AI changes firm strategy.
How can firms compete in newly vulnerable markets?
Useful if examiner asks whether AI ecosystems create dependency on dominant firms like OpenAI.
How can firms price digital products and services?
Less central to your synopsis but useful for broader course discussion.
How does digitalization influence dynamic capabilities?
Probably the single most important theory for your synopsis.
How does digital transformation challenge managerial cognition?
Strong connection to whether incumbents can recognize AI disruption early enough.
How does competition change with connected products?
Useful for discussing AI-driven pharma R&D and operational optimization.
How does data provide value in multi-sided platforms?
Very useful for analyzing OpenAI as an innovation platform.
How do digital transactions influence transaction costs?
Excellent for discussing why Novo partners externally instead of building everything internally.
How do organizations evaluate algorithmic alternatives?
Highly relevant for healthcare and pharma where explainability matters.
What are the ethical implications of digitalization?
You should absolutely expect at least one ethics-related question.
The paper discusses many organizational implications of AI without narrowing down to a sharply defined strategic problem.
You mention several themes. The examiner may ask how the theories connect rather than simply coexist.
Your case relies heavily on announcements and strategic expectations rather than observable outcomes.
Be careful claiming AI will necessarily improve efficiency or innovation. The examiner may push you on evidence.
Because the case concerns how Novo Nordisk adapts to technological disruption under conditions of uncertainty. The issue is not only owning resources, but the ability to sense AI opportunities, seize them through partnerships, and transform organizational processes.
Transaction cost theory and capability gaps both matter. OpenAI already possesses specialized AI competences, infrastructure, and learning capabilities that would be extremely costly and slow for Novo to replicate internally.
Dependency on external AI providers, data governance risks, algorithmic opacity, regulatory concerns, and potential erosion of internal capabilities if too much knowledge creation is outsourced.
Your synopsis currently spends substantial space describing AI trends and the partnership itself. During the oral exam, you must continuously explain WHY these developments matter strategically.
Avoid generic statements like "AI improves efficiency." Instead say: "From a dynamic capabilities perspective, AI enables faster sensing and resource reconfiguration."
The examiner will likely move beyond your exact synopsis and ask broader questions about platforms, transaction costs, data strategy, algorithmic trust, and ethics.
High grades usually require discussing trade-offs and limitations. You should be able to explain both the strategic opportunities and the risks of AI adoption.