This week was yet another week with a lot of material to take in. The main topic? Competitor analysis.
We started by learning what competitor analysis was... what to look for, who to identify, what to identify, what this data all means, and how it pertains to marketing decisions for OUR organization. Of course, there's no need to go through all of the steps (as its in plenty of the chalk board talks, lecture material, articles, chapter readings, etc.). But I'd like to extend a question; a question I didn't necessarily have until listening to this week's recorded lecture, and I would've asked the class/professor had I been able to connect synchronously this week (night shift is never a convenient shift!).
The very first question to ask in a competitor analysis is WHO. Who are our competitors? Now as Professor Spotts mentioned in the lecture, this depends on how broad or narrow of a spectrum you view your competition. This got me thinking about my own organization, the hospital. We have a major advantage over other "area" hospitals. My organization owns three different hospitals in the area, each within 15 miles of one another. There is one other hospital in the area which is relatively smaller in size than our hospitals. Other than our three hospitals and the one of the competitor, patients would have to travel to either the Boston or Providence area to seek care and each is about a 45 minute drive; not ideal for the type of health service they are seeking if it is an emergency. However, this doesn't mean patients won't make the drive. Is it common? Probably not, but it most certainly does happen. So are Boston and Providence hospitals within the realm of competitors? It gets you thinking... is radius a factor in analyzing competitors? Certainly for big name companies with plants and distributors all over the country or world radius is not a factor. But for a hospital organization that only typically serves a concrete area/community I think that you could argue that it does play a role. We really have no need to view Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital or Mass General as a competitor because they are so far away and it is unlikely that patients will seek care there instead of our hospital. However, the competitor's hospital located just a few miles from one of our sites is certainly a target!
Going off of that, it depends on the service they are seeking. For example, it is unlikely that someone suffering a sudden heart attack or stroke is going to be taken an hour away to Boston to be treated. It is an emergency, and time is critical. However, for cancer patients who schedule their chemotherapy treatment sessions months in advance, time is on their side. They are able to schedule appointments with big well known cancer care centers such as Dana Farber in Boston. Or take someone who is scheduling same day surgery that doesn't require admittance. They too have time on their side to decide where they would like to go. And they base this decision off of what they have heard about different hospitals, how well they know the "brand" of the hospital, and their judgement on the quality of care provided.
For these reasons, my organization developed two local oncology centers in the area to provide chemotherapy treatment close to home. Access was one major issue cancer patients in the area were having. My organization saw this need and developed a marketing plan to make this need satisfied by our company. No other competitor has that going for them. It has been hugely successful in the two years it has been in operation. Then again, perhaps its success is attributed to the fact that it is the only location in the area that these patients can get their treatment. Who's to say that if our competitor also builds an oncology center in the area that we won't lose our customers to them? This is why keeping an eye on the competitors is essential to keep the advantage over them and to ensure that any growth opportunity in the market is seized.
I also found a particular slide used in the lecture to be very intriguing. It's titled "Behaviors exhibited by a competitor under pressure to improve profits/cash flow". Many of these characteristics are present in my own organization. For example, "not recruiting new people as employees retire; shrinking work force." THIS IS THE EXACT SAME ISSUE MY DEPARTMENT/ORGANIZATION IS FACING! When we have pharmacy students who graduate, they can no longer be interns; they either are hired as pharmacists or they leave and find work elsewhere. Over the past three years that I have been there, 4 students have graduated and only 2 new students were hired to replace them. Additionally, we have lost at least 5 per diems over the last two years and we have only gained 3 back. Our department is shrinking and shrinking, and its certainly not because there is no one to fill the positions.... its because they never repost and hire for the positions lost. This leaves us working short, nearly everyday. I have been working 48+ hours a week and am currently on my 10th day working in a row out of a 12 day stretch. Prior to this I did a 9 day stretch and starting next Monday I will also be on another 9 day stretch. It is absolutely absurd. I keep asking "Why are we always so short people? Why arn't they hiring anyone to fill that vacant position?" The answer: that position was never approved to be refilled. So when I saw this slide, it fit like a puzzle piece.
PharmaSim update: Well, I have finally found some time to play around with the simulation. I did great my first period, increasing my net income and my stock price rose $10. However, I have played four periods since and down down down I have gone. I'm still not sure what I'm doing wrong. I suppose I have to pay closer attention to the reports given to me before I make my decisions. Additionally, last week I had commented in my blog about a classmate who was having difficulty with capacity. Unfortunately, I am having the same issue and don't know how to avoid being over capacity. Is there a way to tell?
That about wraps this week's blog post up! I apologize for the length and detail about my organization regarding competitors and being under pressure. Its just that I find it extremely satisfying and rewarding when you apply concepts from a book or a lecture powerpoint to something you are activity involved in and trying to improve. Until next week!
Jennie
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