U5 What Strategic Options are Available to the Corporation? Flashcards
What Do Medical Outsourcing Trends Mean for Hospitalists?
X-ray has left the building
Medical outsourcing is a growing trend in American hospitals, driven by shortages of on-call radiologists and intensivists, economic pressures, and advances in telemedicine.
Hospitalists will likely encounter—if they have not already—outsourced services that range from off-site medical transcription and language interpreters to long-distance radiology and, increasingly, electronic intensivist services.
What are the implications for quality patient care and collegial interface when hospitals contract with outsourced providers? What are the advantages, possible disadvantages, and opportunities for hospitalists as teleradiology and eICUs become facts of life? […]
Overseas outsourcing a ‘hot button’
According to the American College of Radiology, teleradiology has become ?
a fixture in most practices and hospitals.
Some institutions have retained their own radiologists, who take advantage of?
teleradiology by reading digitized radiographs and CT scans from home instead of within the hospital building.
A shortage of radiologists has led others to ?
contract with off-site providers of teleradiology services.
Those who provide services at night are sometimes called———————companies.
“nighthawk”
Outsourcing radiology, Dr. Wachter believes, is a logical step due to?
technological advances,
although he admits that visiting the radiology department in his hospital often yields educational and collegial opportunities that online X-ray reading does not.
At Saint Clare’s Hospital in Weston\/Wasau, Wis., a new, 107-bed, state-of-the-art facility built by?
Ministry Health Care, Richard Bailey, MD, is medical director of Inpatient Care and Hospitalist Services.
Radiology and other ancillary specialist services are provided by?
the Diagnostic and Treatment Center (DTC), jointly owned by Ministry Health Care and the Marshfield Clinic.
“This is one more way our hospitalist program supports the hospital and provides?
value beyond just seeing patients,” he says.
The DTC, through a relationship with a radiology group in Hawaii, provides?
night coverage for full reads of radiographs and scans from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. The interactions are virtually seamless, according to Dr. Bailey.
The company’s radiologists mostly carry out preliminary night-reads but also?
do final-reads on approximately 20% of their cases.
———————————————————- when conferring with radiologists on the phone, he reports.
“We don’t even notice they’re in Hawaii,”
Off-site radiology also created an opportunity for his hospitalist group, says Dr.Bailey. Saint Clare’s hospitalist group provides?
supervision of contrast administration when needed during night and weekend coverage times.
Overseas outsourcing a ‘hot button’
Using an overseas teleradiology company offers many advantages, says ?
Sunita Maheshwari, MD, a consulting pediatric cardiologist and director of Teleradiology Solutions, a four-year-old teleradiology company located in Bangalore, India.
If contrast must be administered for an imaging study at the client hospital, a local tech, emergency department physician, or resident usually handles the procedure, with?
the Teleradiology Solutions radiologist in constant voice contact.
“The time zone advantage is huge,” says
——————- With the ——————- time difference between the United States and India, Teleradiology Solutions’ radiologists work regular day shifts and are able to cover
———————-hospitals simultaneously, depending on how busy their client hospitals are.
Dr. Maheshwari.
12.5-hour
10–20
You don’t have to have one radiologist who stays up all night to be able to?
read two CT scans and one X-ray, who will [then] be groggy the next morning for his [or her] regular day shift,” she says.
It makes a great deal of sense from the standpoint of human resource efficiency to not waste several nights of ?
several doctors covering multiple hospitals.
Dr. Maheshwari reports that American hospital staff are ?
often pleasantly surprised to find a “cheerful, awake” radiologist on the other end of the phone.
Despite these benefits, however, Dr. Maheshwari and her colleagues have noticed a ?
political backlash stemming from the outsourcing of US jobs to Asia that colors Americans’ reactions to overseas teleradiology.
In her company’s first two years, some physicians questioned the company’s level of?
quality and lashed out because it is located in India, reports Dr. Maheshwari.
“Our work speaks for itself,” she says. “We have not lost a client, and, in fact, our hospitals have managed to grow because ?
they have been able to take their radiologists off the night shift, and they take on more day work.”
Like several overseas teleradiology companies, Teleradiology Solutions retains a staff of US-trained radiologists and goes through?
the same licensing and credentialing (they are JCAHO-accredited) as American companies.
The company now has———— US hospitals as clients and includes in its client mix some remote hospitals in ————————————–, where the Ministry of Health is experiencing a similar ————————————————. […]
40
India and Singapore
shortage of radiologists
Areas to Consider When Formulating a Strategy
Strategy planning is a demanding entrepreneurial task, which decides whether?
the organization or the strategic business unit will be successful in the future.
Planning strategy does not provide the management of an organization with?
one ideal strategic decision.
Strategy planning always involves :
looking at various alternatives and scenarios.
Deciding which path to take lies with the
———————. The history of the organization, its culture, and its management are the factors usually influencing——————————–.
management
strategic decisions
More Information
An excellent overview of this topic can be found in the article by Levitt (1960).
In order to plan the strategic process systematically, management has to define?
individual tasks that should be performed.
There are several areas that need to be included in the strategy planning process.
1- Customer-Oriented Strategies
2-Competitive Strategies
3-Distribution Strategies
4-Stakeholder Strategies
Customer-Oriented Strategies
The most important aspect of the marketing strategy is focusing on ?
customer orientation.
This means how the organization deals with its customers.
The main decision is whether?
the organization markets to all customers and segments (e.g., Coca-Cola)
or whether it should focus on specific market segments (e.g., Schweppes).
Competitive Strategies
Besides the customers, —————— also plays a major role in the strategic process.
the competition
The organization has to decide how it plans to deal with its ————————–.
competitors
One strategic option to gain a market share is to challenge a competitor directly by?
targeting their customers.
A contrary option is to draw up a cooperation strategy that attempts to?
secure the existence of all organizations in the market.
One such example in the German market was the so-called ———————-, which was composed of several steel corporations.
Rail Cartel
Corporations in this cartel were fined by?
the Federal Cartel Office for having come to a joint agreement regarding prices for rails and points.
Examples of legal cooperation include?
airline alliances, like Star Alliance. This type of cooperation may serve to prevent an overly intensive price competition.
A further approach for companies is to avoid?
direct competition by specializing in serving small niche markets.
Small market niches usually have fewer competitors as larger organizations focus on?
the large market segments.
Distribution Strategies
Depending on the sector, distributors or trading companies may play a major role in terms of —————————————–.
strategy planning
An example is?
the consumer goods market in Germany.
The grocery retail market is dominated by large organizations and buying groups such as——–
Edeka.
These large buyers wield a great deal of power over?
the consumer goods companies.
As they buy in large quantities, they often dictate the price and packaging of the products, which?
reduces the flexibility of the consumer goods companies to respond to changes in the market place.
Stakeholder Strategies
Stakeholders have enormous influence over?
consumers and the environment of an organization.
Managing the stakeholders of an organization is a critical component of?
the corporate strategy.
The strategic options for managing stakeholder interests are?
manifold and extend from open confrontation to cooperation.
Open confrontation is often used by?
environmental (e.g., Greenpeace) or consumer protection agencies (e.g., Stiftung Warentest in Germany or the FTC in the USA).
The risk of major damage to the company’s reputation due to?
negative information in the media is high.
When employing a cooperative strategy, there are various possibilities for organizations to?
work with stakeholders.
One option is to integrate critical stakeholders into?
your own organization.
In 2008, the German Schufa Holding AG, an organization that was?
viewed critically by many stakeholders,
founded a consumer advisory council that consists of politicians, scientists,
and members of protection agencies.
Schufa Holding AG
This is a protection agency for the general insurance of the credit business. It provides credit information on individuals and organizations.
A company can choose to operate in an environment in which?
there are few critical stakeholders.
This is often the case in business-to-business environments where there is ?
.
little or no involvement of consumers
Negative word-of-mouth or damaging media campaigns are?
therefore rare in these environments.
It is not only large corporations that look for new areas to expand into; small companies also try to?
obtain broader market exposure in order to minimize their risk.
When operating in multiple markets, companies can compensate the decline in?
sales in one area with increases in another.
For example,
if a construction company serves both the private and the public sectors, it can offset government budget cuts for public building projects by focusing on the private sector and vice versa. Thus, its existence is not compromised if one area experiences a strong decline
When an organization expands its current range of products or services into new markets or sectors, this is referred to as————————–.
diversification
Diversification
Product diversification means increasing the range of products offered.
Companies can diversify in four directions with regards to products and markets:
–Market penetration
–Developing new products or services
–Developing new markets
–Diversification
Market Penetration
The first strategic option for expansion is?
market penetration where companies try to increase the market share of their current products or services.
The company can rely on its current resources and capabilities to increase?
its presence in the market by increasing its market share.
An increase in market share equals an increase in ———————– the market itself and over its distributors.
power over
Market penetration can be implemented by?
lowering costs and increasing profit margins through economies of scale.
However, the risk is that the competitors will increase their pressure on?
the organization and a battle over prices might ensue.
Furthermore, most countries have legal restrictions for monopolistic behavior and monopolies are tightly regulated.
Developing New Products or Services
Companies can also expand by offering modified or new products or services in their existing markets. This allows them to ?
increase sales by acquiring new customers or by getting existing customers to buy more products.
For example,
bookstores today are being forced to find new ways of selling books. Many try to sell through online stores, which is an expensive and risky option. The competence of small bookstores lies in providing information and advice to the consumer.
The following article illustrates the battle of survival of large bookstores in the US.
Why Borders Failed While Barnes & Noble Survived
الاسئلة بالعكس
liquidated – meaning sold off in pieces – and almost 11,000 employees will lose their jobs.
It appears to be all over for the Borders bookselling chain. The company will be?
the end of September.
The chain’s 400 remaining stores will close their doors by?
competitor Barnes & Noble, Borders pioneered the book megastore business.
The retailer’s first bookstore opened in Ann Arbor, Mich., 40 years ago. Along with?
the business.
But Borders made some critical missteps over the years that cost it?
killed itself.
The vast tracts of retail space that Borders will soon vacate speak to a gargantuan business that essentially?
offering a huge variety of books – tens of thousands of titles in a single store – at a time when most bookstores could afford to stock a fraction of that.
At one time, size was its advantage. Borders built a reputation on?
a superior inventory system that could optimize, and even predict, what consumers across the nation would buy.
Borders also had an early technical advantage:
lost its edge.
But in the mid-1990s, Borders ———————–.
digital
Barnes & Noble
firm Morningstar
“It made a pretty big bet in merchandising. [Borders] went heavy into CD music sales and DVD, just as the industry was going ——————. And at that same time,———————————— was pulling back,” says Peter Wahlstrom, who tracks Barnes & Noble for the investment research —————————————–.
He says Barnes & Noble also invested in?
beefing up its online sales. Eventually, it also developed its own e-reader, the Nook.
Borders did not. Instead,?
it expanded its physical plant, refurbished its stores, and outsourced its online sales operation to Amazon.
“In our view, that was more like handing the keys over to?
a direct competitor,” Wahlstrom says.
Indeed, outside a Borders bookstore in Arlington, Va., shoppers say?
they rarely buy books the old-fashioned way.
“I’ll go to Borders to find a book, and then I’ll to go to Amazon to buy it, generally,” customer ———————————says.
Jennifer Geier
With so many people going online to buy books, Borders lost out. The last time it turned a profit was 2006. In February of this year, it filed for?
bankruptcy protection.
Those who bemoaned the rise of bookselling giants might see irony in———————– With one of the major players gone, there might be some room, once again, for ———————–.
Border’s demise.
the little guys
“I think there are a bunch of different niches around that can still be sustained, but I don’t think there’s a need for?
the mass-book seller to be as prevalent or as apparent as they were five or 10 years ago,” Wahlstrom says.
Wahlstrom says Borders is disappearing at a time when, as consumers, readers are?
more empowered than ever.
He says he still reads paper books but also reads on his iPhone, computer, or tablet.
“Just as I’m probably device agnostic, I am supplier agnostic. I can go online, I can go to?
Barnes & Noble, I can go to Apple, or I can go to Google. Or I can borrow it from a friend or I can go to a library,” he says.
Dan Raff, a management professor at The Wharton School, argues that ?
smaller-town America will suffer from the loss of a chain bookstore.
“The big-box store was a glorious thing while it lasted. To people in many parts of America, they were a kind of Aladdin’s cave,”?
Raff says. At Borders, people could access literary variety, contrary to smaller, independent bookstores.
With Barnes & Noble staking its future on?
digital technology, Raff says, it’s likely the big bookstore will only live on in big cities.
Developing New Markets
Companies have the option of offering existing products in new markets in order to ?
.
expand the usage of the current product or service
One example is?
the use of the medical laser to coagulate blood and stop bleeding during surgeries.
Lasers have been used in this area for many years. Through product modification, the lasers are now used also for the removal of body hair and pigmentation marks.
In order to sell an existing product in a new market, companies have to either modify the product or at least?
the product design and packaging to appeal to the new market segment.
Often, an organization has to establish a new distribution network or a new marketing mix in order to reach the target market. When looking at our example of surgical lasers, the customers were?
no longer the surgeons and hospitals but rather private practices, plastic and cosmetic surgeons, and dermatologists.
The medical companies had to ?
expand their distribution network drastically to meet the increase in customers.
They also had to hire sales people familiar with this new field.
As evidenced in this example, developing new markets requires ?
a large commitment on the part of the company.
Diversification
Corporate diversification describes the strategy of?
entering new markets with new products.
Complete changes in company strategy are rarely successful, as seen in the unsuccessful 2000 merger between?
Time Warner and AOL. The largest traditional media company, Time Warner, and the most successful new media provider at the time, AOL, merged.
The world was in an internet bubble and the merger was celebrated as a milestone for?
the transformation of the old into the new economy (Institute of Media and Communications Policy, 2015).
The merger was unsuccessful as the corporation failed to create synergy between ?
the two very different companies.
Despite the many risks, diversification strategies offer enormous opportunities if?
they are managed well.
The three main reasons for companies to diversify are the following:
==Increase efficiency
==Utilize management competencies
==Increase market power
Increase efficiency
Organizations have the opportunity of increasing efficiency by?
expanding their existing resources and capabilities into new markets, products, or services.
Using current capabilities to expand results is called ?
the composite or network effect.
If the organization has unused or underutilized resources or capabilities that cannot be sold to?
other users and do not contribute to generating profits, companies have the option to diversify into new markets or businesses.
The network effect leads to cost savings and other advantages through so-called?
synergy effects. Synergy describes the effect that bundling activities will have on the efficiency of the process.
