Strategic Management Week 2 - Assignment Example

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT WEEK 2 "Redefining the Competition in Health Care" Porter and Teisberg (2004) d that the formof market entry that is currently being practiced within the healthcare sector makes it very open to competition and active participation by the private sector. Agreeing with the writers, Harris & Lenox (2013) emphasised the important role that the private sector play in the healthcare sector, calling it the major employer and service provider in the field. Because of private sector particular, one important characteristic feature that has been seen of the healthcare sector is active competition among stakeholders.

Constantly, industry players are putting in place marketing policies and strategies that aim at making them the preferred options of customers. As a result of this, the use of competitive advantage has become a very importance concept in the health care sector (Shaw and Kenny, 2007). This notwithstanding, Porter and Teisberg (2004) do not seem pleased with the current state of competition.Reading through the article of Porter and Teisberg (2004), there is so much that can be agreed with the two authors.

This is because in a study by Department of Health (2006), it was noted that most of the forms of growths that are experienced in the healthcare sector due to the competition are those that bring personal gain to investors. What this means is that the current state of competition has focused on profit making for business owners, leaving out the core needs and expected improvement that the patient is expected to receive. The call for a redefinition of competition in the healthcare sector will therefore be agreed with.

It is high time industry players started focusing their competition on who brings value to the customer. Unfortunately, the customer does not always have the luxury of choosing to do business with a healthcare provider who guarantees value. This is because of how critical some health conditions can be (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne, 2013). This means that the service providers must take up this task of redefining their competition.ReferencesDepartment of Health (2006). Health technical memorandum 07-01: Safe management of healthcare waste.

Scand J Infect Dis 18:105–9.Ginter, P.M., Duncan, W.J. and Swayne, L.E (2013). The Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations, New York: Jossey-BassHarris, J.D. & Lenox, M.J. (2013). The Strategists Toolkit. New York: Darden Business PublishingShaw F.E. and Kenny R. A. (2007). The overlap between syncope and falls in the elderly. Postgrad Med J 73:635-9.How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health CareThe cost of health care plays very important role in determining the kind of service outcome that will be received from service delivery (Harris & Lenox, 2013).

From a much generalised perspective, Shaw and Kenny (2007) argued that once the cost of healthcare goes up the quality of service delivery must also go up. This is because the inputs of healthcare that make them quality are facilitated with high capital expenditure. From the article that Kaplan and Porter (2011) present however, one would realise that there is a major gap in the United States health care sector, as far as cost is concerned. This is because according to the two, the health care system currently lacks a measurement mechanism that makes it impossible to determine the real quantum of cost that is being put into it.

Because of this, it is very difficult to speak of cost reduction because it is not certain if there is actually being too much cost.As long as this situation persists, it can be agreed that there is indeed a cost crisis going on in the healthcare sector. This is because in its current state, cost accountability is a major thing to pursue. Meanwhile, Ginter, Duncan and Swayne (2013) warned that an unjustified attitude towards cost reduction in the healthcare sector can result in very negative consequences including a collapse of the system.

This point is made against the backdrop that an undue cost reduction would deprive service providers from affording the kind of quality healthcare inputs they require to serve the public. Based on this, the call being made in the article will be supported for there to first be an approach that helps in measuring the real cost of healthcare. It should only be after this is done that the second call by the authors in attempting to reduce healthcare cost can be made.ReferencesGinter, P.M., Duncan, W.J. and Swayne, L.E (2013). The Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations, New York: Jossey-BassHarris, J.D. & Lenox, M.J. (2013).

The Strategists Toolkit. New York: Darden Business PublishingKaplan, R. S., and Porter M. E. (2011). "How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health Care." Harvard Business Review 89(9): 47–64.Shaw F.E. and Kenny R. A. (2007). The overlap between syncope and falls in the elderly. Postgrad Med J 73:635-9.