Marketing Analysis of the NHS

Marketing Analysis of the NHSNHS Resource ProfileThe essence of ontogenesis a trade strategy for a company is to ensure that the companys capabilities argon matched to the competitive market environment in which it operates, notjust for today, but into the foreseeable future. At the heart of strategy livesthe necessitate to assess critically both the organisations imagination visibleness ( a great deal referred to as its strengths and weaknesses) and the environment it faces (Hooley, Saunders and Piercy, (2004).)With reference to academicliterature and to the National Health attend as an organisation, criticallyevaluate the mechanisms available to management by which it can assessThe organisations resourcefulness profile andThe merchandise environment it faces.Background to the NHSThe NHS was set up on 5thJuly 1948 to provide wellnessc ar for all citizens, based on need, not theability to pay. (www.nhs.uk) precedent to this date access to treatment depended whizzither the a bility to pay, or the good testament of doctors in hospitals funded bycharitable donations. The latter was a in truth strained resource and a good deal it wasonly the goings parent, usually the man, who was able to access lots(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)treatment, which he often paid for by demeanor of deductions from salary to schemessuch(prenominal) as the hospital Saving Association ( www.hsa.co.uk ). at once the health function is formed of umteen desires, reporting into the de crashment of health,consisting of community operate Trusts, Ambulance Trusts to Hospital Trusts.Care is do available for all who need it. Current government statedpriorities, as quoted on www.nhs.uk are given over in National Service Frameworks areCancerPaediatric Intensive CareMental Health coronary thrombosis Heart DiseaseOlder PeopleDiabetesRenal servicesChildrens servicesLong Term ConditionsThe launch of the health servicewas very high profile (www.bbc.co.uk) and still often sh de liver inside healthcaretelevision coverage today. Over the last l years, many changes have beenmade to the service (www.nhs.uk/history) to enhance itsofferings to the creation, yet today the NHS is often in the saucys for negative reasons. Despite the pellucid good work that the NHS does, it is the longwaiting lists, MRSA and occasional health problems that come to the forefrontin the eyeball of the media. Again, marketing can add a big part in the acquaintance of the service in the eyes of the public.Organisations resource profileAt the heart of strategy lies theneed to assess critically both the organisations resource profile (oftenreferred to as its strengths and weaknesses) and the environment it faces(Hooley, Saunders and Piercy).) In the mid-nineties the inside-out come out tomarketing, the resource based look on (RBV) became popular with strategists suchas Grant, for its new approach which looked inside the firm to assess itscore competencies and to determine which co mpetencies should be use for competitiveadvantage. A neo-classical approach, the resource view was that the externalenvironment was constantly changing and that it would be ambitious forcompanies to keep changing with it, rather they ought to stick with what they distinguish best and concentrate on their core offerings. The value chain approachoffered by Michael Porter, reaffirmed by Johnson and Scholes, also emphasisedthe grandeur of understanding how the internal organisational factors addvalue to and impact on the external environmental influences touch on thefirm. The value chain activities are split into primary activities (in encumberand outbound logistics, operations, marketing, gross sales and customer service) andsecondary activities (infrastructure, human resource management, technologydevelopment and procurement). All of the above chain concernages testament need tobe assessed for the NHS in trying to ascertain the organisations resourceprofile.Taking the Value dra wstring approachand applying it to the NHSThe value chain will now be takenand applied to what is know about the NHS in the public domain. (newspapers,media and www.nhs.co.uk)Primary activitiesInbound and outbound logisticsrelate to the receiving and statistical distribution of goods and services. at heart the NHSlogistics would consist of the followingPatients, who would either be transported by their own methods or by ambulances in order to receive the treatment.Drugs, dressings and other pharmaceutic suppliesStaff who may travel to and from hospitals, to and from other medical establishments and from either of the power to a patients home/ destination and so onMedical equipment, such as surgical instruments and monitorsNon medical equipment such as beds, linen, cater requirements, make clean equipment and stationaryWarehousing of goodsFrom the above, it is noticeablethat in that respect are a range of logistic activities, notably many of these aremanaged by distinct departm ents and others outsourced, such as catering andcleaning. Obviously where outsourcing has taken place, NHS Managers have takenthe decision that such services do not come under its core competencies andplaced the management of such activities in external hands. Non the less,outsourced activities are still very much an integral part of a companys valuechain, but where control of activities is outsourced at that place is a chance of aweak link (Porter) and notably much of the bad publicity (regularly referencedon national and regional news) meet the hospitals is indeed as a resultof questionable cleanliness (such as MRSA) and poor property nutrition. Poorpublicity has an impact on public intuition of service fictional character and the waythat the NHS counteracts this by efficient use of marketing is of enormousness.Operations transforms these mixedinputs into the final product or service (Johnson and Scholes) by pulling allthe operational activities together, be they controlled directly oroutsourced. It is therefrom a key link in the chain to ensure servicedelivery.The marketing and sales activitiesare responsible for raising awareness of the services provided by the NHS andthe perception of the quality of service it supplies to the public. Doctorswaiting rooms are full of adverts for services to have life, enhance healthand therefore use the service less such as those that target smokers to stop,heart disease campaigns to encourage the public to eat 5 or more(prenominal) portions offruit and vegetables per day, well man and well woman clinics and so on. Manyof these adverts lick into national advertising, such as the daily newspaper,whilst local initiatives are often mentioned on the regional news. In additionthe NHS has an informative website www.nhs.uk which gives advice offeringa section on your health (to include self help guidance) and information oncurrent national health campaigns such as help a heart week and everymanmale cancer campaign. dea r how much the website is referenced is unknow andone must question whether indeed the public even know of its existence.But marketing is not all aboutadvertising campaigns, curiously within the not for profit sector where thereis a reliance on key relationships and networks (Caeson, Cromie, McGowan,Hill). Whilst logistics partners have already been referenced, a goodrelationship between the NHS marketing departments and the outsourced companiesis very important to ensure consistency of message on joint issues, such as thecleaning contractors approach to cleanliness and the rise of MRSA. Within thenot for profit sector there is a reliance on corporate bide, national andlocal government stick up and the goodwill of the public, some of whom areinvolved in management committees (positions are advertised within the localpress). With the NHS being split into multiple trusts, some with differingspecialisms inter trust relationships are key to the treatment of certainpatients, thus cre ating more linkages in the chain and more marketingrelationships required.All of the above impact on bothinternal and external customer service and perception of service.Secondary activitiesSecondary activities are sometimescalled support activities as they support the primary activities mentionedabove.Procurement is the processes foracquiring the various resource inputs to the primary activitiesoccurs in manyparts of the organisation. (Johnson and Scholes). Within a complexorganisation, such as a trust, there are many ways to procure goods andservices from both the physical approach to the electronic methods. applied science development ranges fromthe hospital Consultants know how, to computer systems used for medicalrecords, to pharmacy systems coupled to drugs. All of these will be managed byhuman resources some directly employed by the trust, some contracted to thetrust and some works for contract companies contracted to the trust. Allstaff will report directly to their line ma nager, and ultimately they to thetrust manager, advised by a committee, and that manager to the Secretary ofState for Health. Non-the-less, to each one member of staff employed by or within atrust is an internal marketer (Gummesson) and who they interact with bothinside and outside of the trust gains an impression of the trust by associationwith them.This is all held together by thefirms infrastructure, the systems of planning, finance, quality control,information management (Johnson and Scholes).Marketing environment facing theNHSSuccessfulcompanies take an outside-inside view of their business. They key out thatthe marketing environment is constantly spinning new opportunities and threatsand understand the importance of continuously monitoring and adapting to thechanging environment. (Kotler)Analysing theenvironment for any organisation will involve a review of the political,economic, social and technical (PEST) environment it is in or faces. For theNHS, it is a UK based healthc are provider for the public, funded bycontributions made from taxes distributed by the government to each of thetrusts. It operates within a politically stable economy with funds promise byboth the current and previous governments to the service for improvements inhealthcare and salaries for staff. The economic environment facing the NHS isa ontogenesis economy with a rising elderly commonwealth and less works people tosupport them. In addition, it has become increasingly difficult to recruitmedical staff (national press) and shortages have often been counteracted byemploying staff from other EU countries, which in turn increases the populationwithin the UK. This once more has been a subject of press attention, againnegative for the NHS. The social/ cultural environment shapes beliefs, valuesand norms (Kotler). tactual sensation in the core values of the health service and theservices it offers was high on the publics list of concerns during the lastgeneral election, as if the N HS is an integral part of the UK and its culture. The technological environment is miserable fast within the health caresector, as well as drugs being unbrokenly developed, techniques for operationsare being advanced and the use of technologies for both medical andadministrative procedures. such(prenominal) are rarely mentioned in the press.Traditionally,before formulating a marketing strategy a company would usually undertake aSWOT analysis, that is to understand its strengths and weaknesses and realiseopportunities and steer clear of known and potential threats. The keyelements, in the authors opinion are listed below.StrengthsAlthough not a monopoly, there is no real competitor for the NHS.Whilst private hospitals are available throughout the UK, the Accident and Emergency service is unique to the NHS.The fact that there is continual monitoring of waiting lists is proof that the demand outstrips supplyThe NHS has been established since 1948 and continues to move around and exp and upon its services.WeaknessesUnable to cope with the demand due to the increasing populationPossibly the management of the linkages of the chain, per the resource analysisOpportunitiesTo use marketing strategies to fig up the profile of the NHSIncrease of private investmentThreatsImage of the NHS being modify by the work of contractorsStaff turnover highOf course, theabove SWOT is indite down by the author with no first hand working knowing ofthe NHS trusts. As with most SWOTs, the above is based on perception which,in turn, is based on the interpretation of information in the public domain,based on regular articles in the media. So in effect, marketing has alreadyhad an impact on this view. It is likely that many people will all havedifferent perceptions of the NHS, depending on their lookout and any personalexperience they may have. However, given the number of NHS trusts in operationand the number of different operating units even an employee working for onebusiness unit i s likely to have a different perception to another.Another tool toassess the NHS would be to undertake a marketing analyze, a comprehensive,systematic, independent, and periodic examination of a companys marketingenvironment.with a view to determining problem areas and opportunities(Kotler) . This would indeed be a complex affair. severally trust is strategicallyresponsible for itself, so it may be presumed that it is responsible for itsmarketing activity, but with one NHS website indications are that it iscentrally controlled. Included within the audit would need to be an audit ofthe outsourced companies and their way of representing the NHS. With differentcompanies and indeed trusts operational throughout the UK there are bound to be different corporate cultures and core values which would need tobe considered and communicate if possible.Resource basedview resume v marketing based strategies recommendationsFrom theresource based critique, it was seen that marketing affects eve ry part of theNHS. Having evaluated the NHS against the resource based view, using thevalue chain gravel it can be observed that the NHS is indeed a complex organisation.Over the years, it has asleep(p) from being a totally autonomous organisation whichdoes everything for itself, to one that now out sources various functions suchas technology, hygiene, and distribution and so on. Of course it hasrecognised that its core competencies lie within the medical services itprovides to its customers, patients, and has concentrated on this side.However, despite the obvious good work it undertakes and millions of livestreated, there is not much awareness made of this important achievement in thenational press, rather it is the down side that is much advertised, much ofwhich is as a result of losing control by outsourcing activities such ashygiene. The NHS does not appear to use marketing as a way of counter attackingsuch reports with headlines such as Doctor saves x many lives in one year.. The resource based view takes very much the relational approach of the notfor profit sector, relying on goodwill, government interaction, committees,initiatives and letting the public know via a website. Probably the marketingfunction is not prominent within the NHS Trust.Whilst the traditional 4Ps (price,product, place, promotion) approach to marketing may not necessarily be thebest approach for the NHS Trust, given its unique prominence in healthcarewithin the UK, there is a definite need to promote the success stories, ofwhich there are most likely to be numerous. Key recommendations for futuremarketing and development are toPlace marketing at the meaning of the management functionEnhance PR activities to both feed peremptory information into the government as well as out to the various publics in the country.Appoint marketing oriented representatives on each of the trusts managing committees.internally market successes to staff and try and retain staff for longer. (A separate endure interview exercise will need to be taken for this) set ahead more private investment to grow the service and its core staff.BibliographyBrassington, F, Pettitt, S (2000) Principles of Marketing (2nd Edition) (Essex,Pearson Education Limited 2000)Caeson, D., Cromie, S., McGowan,P., Hill, J. 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