Antecedents of Competitive Advantage and Position: A Marketer's View of the Hospital Industry
Nath, Deepika
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/70478
Description
Title
Antecedents of Competitive Advantage and Position: A Marketer's View of the Hospital Industry
Author(s)
Nath, Deepika
Issue Date
1988
Department of Study
Business Administration
Discipline
Business Administration
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Business Administration, General
Business Administration, Marketing
Health Sciences, Health Care Management
Abstract
With the increased diversification of firms, strategy is conceived at different levels, viz. corporate, business and functional. These levels are inter-related, and each has a specific role to play in a firm's struggle for success. While competitive advantage and position are issues typically considered at the business strategy level, functional strategies by virtue of their relationship to business strategy, also affect competitive position. Thus, the principal research hypothesis examined the varying importance of the different functional strategies using the concept of strategic groups to identify competitive position, in the hospital industry.
A related question examined alternate definitions of competitors, with the objective of defining the appropriate frame of reference for competitive position. Finally, using multiple performance measures, the existence of performance differentials across strategic groups was investigated.
The setting for the research was general hospitals in a major midwestern city. The data collection methodology involved using both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected using a combination of mail and telephone surveys. The sample size necessitated a census. The respondents were marketing executives at the individual hospitals.
The results of the analysis showed that different functional areas did have varying degrees of importance in defining the firm's competitive position. In particular, in the hospital industry, competitive advantage and positional superiority stemmed primarily from the hospital's financial viability; the range and quality of services provided by the hospital; and its location in the city. This was demonstrated by the differential importance of the respective functional area strategies.
In terms of defining the frame of reference for competitive position, using strategic group membership; consumer perceptions and managerial perceptions yielded significantly similar classifications, thus establishing the convergence of the alternate frameworks.
Finally, while profitability varied across strategic groups, the results were less convincing for differences across strategic groups on other performance measures such as market share and occupancy.
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