Researching the UK National Health Service (NHS) Essay

Discussion

Researching the UK National Health Service (NHS) is an organization that provides all UK citizens with healthcare services. Since the patients’ needs are continuously evolving, the NHS tries to make appropriate decisions to meet them, and NHS Direct is among such initiatives. Thus, the given paper will demonstrate that the NHS health service has adopted a market entry strategy of internal development to implement this initiative.

One should admit that there is clear reasoning behind the claim above. Murdock (2010, p. 739) admits that NHS Direct was the first step to “reconfigure the delivery of healthcare services.” This information supports the idea that an internal development strategy has been utilized because the strategic decision only relied on the business’s capacity (Isa, Ismail and Ibrahim, 2020, p. 37). However, it is impossible to state that the case under analysis fits into a single alternative strategy. On the one hand, it refers to the fact that a market entry strategy is a way of implementing an adaptive method of expansion (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne, 2018, p. 209). That is why it is possible to talk about an adaptive strategy of product development (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne, 2018, p. 209). On the other hand, Wittington et al. (2019, p. 215) admit that a differentiation strategy was also adopted. It refers to the fact that NHS Direct is a unique service that is valued by the patients.

In conclusion, it is possible to state that NHS Direct was created by adopting multiple strategic alternatives. Internal development was found because the NHS implemented the initiative relying on its own resources and capacity. A strategic alternative to product development implies that the organization modified its own product. Finally, a differentiation strategy refers to the fact that the NHS offered a unique product that gathered public attention and was highly valued by the customers.

Reference List

Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J. and Swayne, L. E. (2018) Strategic management of health care organizations. 8th edn. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Isa, C. M. M., Ismail, F. S. and Ibrahim, N. (2020) ‘Development of international market entry mode decision assessment model (EMIDAM): Strength and opportunity (SO) attributes’, Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal, 12(2), pp. 35-49.

Murdock, A. (2010) ‘NHS Direct: Managing in difficult times’, NHS Direct, pp. 739-744.

Wittington, R. et al. (2019) Exploring strategy: Text and cases. 12th edn. Harlow: Pearson Education.