Executive Summary
The Vanderbilt University Center is one of the leading healthcare centers in the country. It has managed over the years to align both its organization culture as well as its strategies to its vision. The company strategy involves gaining competitive advantage through research, hiring exceptional personnel, investing in up-to-date equipments and opening up as many center as possible while collaborating with other clinics.
From the fitness landscape analysis it can be noted that the healthcare landscape has recently taken a positive change. The introduction of the new healthcare bill, consumer perception and efficient operations of the hospital all combine to create a sustainable environment for the hospital. From the boid analysis, the hospital has a strong hold on its consumer thus is likely to be profitable for a long time.
The industry evolution modeling shows that since Vanderbilt collaborates with other professionals and has a good research department in addition to the medical school, the hospital is sustainable.
The life cycle assessment from the hospital shows that the hospital has minimal waste and consumer satisfaction keep bringing back more and more customers. Reuse and recycling reduces cost while consumer satisfaction ensures that the company is operational for years to come.
Finally, the compliance and innovation analysis shows that Vanderbilt is an Educational center as well as a research center. This fosters innovation critical for sustainability.
Vanderbilt’s organizational culture revolves around research and development. Over the years it has proven time and time that it is a leader in developing new treatment methods and medical equipment.
The economic trend of the company involves opening up medical centers around the country, using modern methods of treatment and ensuring that their patients are satisfied by their services. The company has been named one of the best in the country and therefore has an exceptional competitive advantage
The hospital organizational culture, strategy vision and mission are well aligned thereby enhancing sustainability in the company. Each employee knows what is expected from him and does his best to contribute to the company’s well being.
The strategy employed in Vanderbilt is supported by both the value chain and life cycle in practice. Students get to learn how the center works before being employed, research begin in class and is carried into the field and medical practitioners also act as teachers thereby uniting the education, research and medical department towards one goal; sustainability.
Introduction
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center has over the years attained a fierce reputation of being one of the best health care centers in the country. In a recent poll conducted by the U.S. News and World Report, the center was rated as being the 14th best hospital in the country.
Most of the medical departments within the hospital ranked high in the poll. Due to its size, business strategy and high ranking in the medical profession, it offers a good sample in the study of sustainable solutions and how these solutions affect a corporation.
Company Strategy
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center has over the past 136 year forged a reputation of being a leader in the healthcare department. This has been achieved by using a strategy that involves integrating research into health care, developing a strong medical education department, and a sound patient care system.
Vanderbilt has also instituted specialty programs that also help to attract more patients to the hospital with last year alone attracting over 1.5 million patient visits. The company vision is to become the leading center in the country in terms of medical education, patient care and research (Vanderbilt, 2011).
Vanderbilt University Medical Center also engages in various community programs and offers various services that are meant to have a positive impact on the general community. The company has also taken steps towards technological advancement that has enabled it to reach more consumers in an efficient and friendlier manner.
The Medical Center has been able to align its business culture, company vision and its strategy. This has been done through hiring highly qualified personnel most of who stem from their education center, interacting with the community, and engaging in various researches with an aim of not only improving patient care but also improving business activities (Harvard, 2002).
The company action plan involves expanding its business capabilities and research prowess in order to become the best medical center in the country. This has been carried by setting up a learning organization culture dedicated to improving patient care through medical advancement, technological innovation and social responsibility (Harvard, 2005).
The center also contains one of the best medical schools in the country hence can draw knowledge from the dedicated and motivated student body. The various polls carried out by government and various organizations usually act as performance indicators in conjunction with patient responses. The center has for the past 5 years ranked above top 20 in the U.S. News and World Report polls (Vanderbilt, 2011).
Company Analysis
Fitness Landscape Analysis
The health care scene has experienced various major changes over the years. Various legislations have been passed affecting the manner in which health centers operate. The new health care bill is one such policy that affects the healthcare landscape. The new health care bill has availed more people with health insurance thereby affecting the healthcare profession.
The need for healthcare services is controlled by injury rates, type of illnesses, demographics, advances in technology and health care techniques. In the health care profession, profitability is mainly a function of consumer perception and efficient operations (Stacey, 2007).
Since most health care center offer similar services, hospitals look for an edge by buying quality equipments, developing an attractive environment and employing the best health care experts. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is a large hospital capable of handling many patients and can also offer a range of services.
The company is able to acquire funds from the government and various corporations while at the same time negotiate better contracts with insurers. Apart from this the center has access to various suppliers hence can acquire state of the art equipments as the needs arises. With a campus on site, the university can cultivate the best minds thus granting access to ample qualified personnel (Stacey, 2007).
Boid Analysis
The health care system as noted earlier is guided by consumer perception and effective operation of the company. Unlike other industries whereby profitability is a function of type of goods or the quality of goods and services, most healthcare services provided are similar across different hospitals.
In case a hospital lacks a given health care practitioner, they can borrow one from a rival hospital or recommend the patient to the particular qualified personnel.
The type of customer service provided in a hospital is very crucial for their profitability. Customer perception is of utmost importance and as such all medical centers should strive to operate in a manner that is not only effective but customer friendly (Stacey, 2007).
Industry Evolution Modeling
The medical profession is not mainly about beating the completion but about saving lives. Unlike other professions where the other companies are the primary rivals, most medical centers willingly share knowledge, manpower, equipments and facilities. A hospital that has too many patients or does not have capabilities in providing a particular service will willingly refer a customer to a rival hospital for treatment.
The Doctor’s Hippocratic Oath takes precedence over profit making and as such the medical profession has been forged by both competition and cooperation. Advances in drug production and medical procedures have mainly been possible through constant cooperation between different hospitals.
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center has ties to various hospitals in the south and also it has attached itself to several prominent medical personnel within the country. The availability of a large alumnus from the medical school also offers the center various connections within the medical field (Stacey, 2007).
Life-Cycle Assessment
The Vanderbilt Medical center is mainly geared at providing medical services. The main output from the center is customer satisfaction through provision of the required medical attention (Senge et al., 2008). The hospital generates minimal waste that includes; waste paper, syringes bottles and other medical waste. Most of the medical waste is however recyclable and very little is wasted.
Syringes, empty bottles and other medical wastes are usually sterilized and reused or collected and sent to the production companies for recycling. The company has instituted an online registration system that minimizes waste paper production. The reduction of waste creates an attractive environment and presents the company as socially responsible thus attracting more consumers (NetMBA, 2007).
Compliance and Innovation Analysis
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center is an education hub and thus by definition an innovation hub. The company has dedicated a lot of resources on researches towards better medical systems as well as management techniques.
The Medical center has been given several grants by the government due to its research work and has also produced two Nobel laureates in its long history. In order to enjoy full compliance, more involvement of the student body in the medical centers activities may help the company to achieve this (Senge et al., 2008).
References
Harvard. (2005). Strategy: Create and implement the best strategy for your business. Boston: Author.
Senge, P., Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laur, J., & Schley, S. (2008). The necessary revolution: How individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world. New York: Doubleday.
Stacey, R. (2007). Strategic management and organizational dynamics: The challenge of complexity (5th ed.). Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.
NetMBA (2007). The value chain. Retrieved from: http://www.netmba.com/strategy/value-chain/
Vanderbilt. (2011). Factsheet. Web.