The Competitor Analysis Research Paper

The Competitor Analysis Research Paper

Introduction

When a business is established, it is important to ensure that the end products or services offered are beneficial to clients and the business is profitable to the owner. Therefore, this makes it necessary for the business owners to conduct a competitive analysis which is a process of identifying competitors in the industry and understanding their marketing strategies (Arora, Srivastava, & Bansal, 2020)The Competitor Analysis Research Paper. This is important because it helps the business to have constant quality improvement of products and or services and the identification of the competitors’ strengths and weaknesses thus allowing the organization to develop a competitive edge.

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Arora, Srivastava, & Bansal, (2020) emphasizes that business entities including healthcare organizations conduct a competitive analysis because as it is an important factor of efficient marketing strategy, it also helps in identifying what makes a business unique and distinct. Additionally, when a business delivers high-quality and unique products and or services, it leads to an attraction of new clients, retention of the current clients, and market expansion through efficient marketing strategies and word f mouth by the customers because of satisfactory products and services.

On the other hand, business organizations like healthcare facilities conduct their competitor analysis by grouping the rival companies according to the type of services they deliver, their level of productivity, profitability, size, strengths, and weaknesses, and patterns of growth, as well as the marketing objectives (Caber, Albayrak, & İsmayıllı, 2017, April). In so doing, market penetration and competitive advantage can be seen because it creates a gap that an organization can use as a way to achieve market position. Therefore, this paper seeks to discuss the competitor information categories that are useful for competitor analysis and explain if the identified categories are appropriate for healthcare organizations. Additionally, the paper will discuss how the identified information categories can provide a focus for information gathering and strategic decision-making. The paper will further discuss the importance of a clear definition of the service area and how managed care penetration affects service area definition. Finally, the paper will conclude by discussing professional development by conducting a competitor analysis within the community based on the products and services delivered by atrium health wake forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1. What competitor information categories are useful in competitor analysis? Are these categories appropriate for health care organizations? How can these information categories provide a focus for information gathering and strategic decision-making?

Some of the important information categories that businesses should look at during competitor analysis include annual financial reports to help in checking profit margins, advertising strategies, brochures, social media integration, and magazines and newspaper articles (Guo et al., 2017). This information is important because it helps the business to understand the competitors’ diverse strategies like pricing strategies and budget planning and management. Currently, social media has become the main marketing platform where organizations post their products and services and hunt for clients (Guo et al., 2017)The Competitor Analysis Research Paper. Therefore, this is one of the most important information categories that can be used during competitor analysis because they will understand how the competitor is interacting with their clients and fans.

On the other hand, Ginter, Duncan, & Swayne, (2018) discuss that reviewing the competitors’ advertisement copies helps in understanding their prices, budgets, and other product information thus leading to quality improvement (QI). Additionally, it is important to understand how frequently the competitor is advertising their business adventure because this shows the specific features of the product or service, the benefits, and the available special offers. Also, through competitors’ advertisements, it is easy to determine if the competitor is expanding its boundaries by venturing into new markets (Ginter, Duncan, & Swayne, 2018)The Competitor Analysis Research Paper. The competitors’ sales brochures contain a lot of information about the products like the features and benefits as well as other crucial information that promotes sales. The information on how the competitor is applying the new technology, developing other essential innovations, and organizational management and leadership roles are all discussed in the company’s magazines and newspapers.

Guo et al., (2017) delineate that the identified information categories are appropriate for healthcare organizations because competition exists among healthcare facilities. For instance, community members will prefer one healthcare facility to another because of the difference in the quality of service as well as other factors like accessibility and cost. Therefore, healthcare facilities need to compete so that effective marketing and planning strategies can be conducted thus leading to improved patient outcomes. For instance, healthcare facilities use social media as a marketing platform where diverse healthcare services are advertised alongside their costs thus reaching many people (Guo et al., 2017). Additionally, healthcare facilities use brochures, magazines, and newspapers to post detailed information about the healthcare facility and the services it provides. An organization looks at all these data during competitor analysis because it provides accurate information about their plans as well as strategies they apply in different activities. Therefore, nurses and other healthcare providers should ensure that they are steps ahead of their competitors because this will help in delivering high-quality services through the use of advanced technological innovations applied during clinical practice.

The identified data categories are essential in strategic decision-making because an organization uses such information to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage. Additionally, a competitive advantage can be achieved through the delivery of high-quality services and or products to the target population thus filling a gap (Guo et al., 2017)The Competitor Analysis Research Paper. For effective and strategic decision-making to occur, competition is needed because it gives a detailed analysis of the services offered by an organization, compares with that of a rival company, and develops ways to improve service quality through decision-making.

2. Why is it important to clearly define the service area? How does managed care penetration affect service area definition?

It is important for organizations to clearly define their service area because that is when a business entity will understand its boundaries and set goals to achieve its objectives. Additionally, a service area is important because an organization can have an opportunity to increase the firm’s ability to face changes, changes are inevitable in all organizations because of the dynamic nature of business and the ever-changing trends (Timoshenko & Hauser, 2019). Additionally, a clear definition of a service area creates new opportunities for business growth as it provides the right strategy to acquire market penetration. Ginter, Duncan, & Swayne, (2018) emphasize that acquisition of market penetration is also important because an organization will need to have clarification of new ideas in the new market thus developing unique and high-quality services and or products to meet the needs and expectations of the identified target population.

As discussed earlier, a service area is essential in businesses because it greatly impacts diverse factors thus eventually affecting the productivity of services and or products. Similarly, Timoshenko & Hauser, (2019) discuss that managed care penetration has several effects on the definition of service area in diverse ways like cost control and quality improvement because it puts more emphasis on screening of patients to establish a diagnosis and develop early treatment of diseases as well as sensitizing the community on the importance of disease prevention. Disease prevention, patient screening, and treatment are done using care coordination strategy and evidence-based practices to allow the delivery of high-quality services (Guo et al., 2017)The Competitor Analysis Research Paper. Additionally, this allows patient wellness where the cost of care is controlled and care services are satisfactory with improved patient outcomes.

3. Professional Development

The company that is analyzed here is Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist located in Winston-Salem in North Carolina.  Swick, Mook, & McDonald, (2022) report that healthcare services are the service category offered by this organization to patients of all ages. Atrium health wake forest Baptist is a level I trauma center that provides healthcare services to the entire piedmont region of North Carolina as it houses a level I pediatric trauma center in North Carolina, a pediatric emergency department, and pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. The competition that the organization is facing emanates from small and medium-sized healthcare organizations because they try to deliver healthcare services merging those provided by atrium health wake forest Baptist. A service area enables an organization to understand its target audience and prospects. Similarly, the service area of atrium health wake forest Baptist comprises delivering healthcare services to the people of North Carolina as well as serving as a school of medicine for students in the state and outside the state. Swick, Mook, & McDonald, (2022) delineate that the facility recently acquired a new name and a new brand through a combination of atrium health wake forest Baptist health and wake forest school of medicine into one enterprise. In so doing, it expanded the service area of care delivery as it provided diverse care services through specialties and treatment of diverse health conditions.

On the other hand, Swick, Mook, & McDonald, (2022) continue to explain that Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist as a healthcare facility and a school of medicine is facing a threat from other healthcare facilities’ penetration into the market space. However, the organization is striving to improve the quality-of-care services through the application of evidence-based practice and technological innovations that reduce the cost of healthcare expenditure with improved patient outcomes. However, the intensity of care is not very high compared to other states since atrium health wake forest Baptist is a nationally known facility in the provision of specialized care services thus leading to a strong power of customers (Swick, Mook, & McDonald, 2022)The Competitor Analysis Research Paper. On the other hand, the strong power of suppliers of healthcare supplies gives the organization a competitive advantage because it helps in improving the quality of services from the specialized care from healthcare professionals and student nurses. Swick, Mook, & McDonald, (2022) highlight that the merging of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and wake forest school of medicine has greatly led to constant quality improvement of healthcare services thus making the facility a dominant company in the market.

Some of the critical success factors for this organization include the combination of all the levels of care as well as the inclusion of wake forest school of education thus providing high-quality care because of the use of evidence-based practice and the application of other technological treatment approaches that lead to improved patient outcomes (Swick, Mook, & McDonald, 2022). However, the installation of highly expensive healthcare systems is one of the company’s weaknesses because it increases the cost of healthcare services. The facility is trying to control costs by implementing value-based services. The company designs its advertisements in a unique way to include all the details of what the company offers and this changes the competitors’ response into positive feedback which serves as an advantage to the company (Swick, Mook, & McDonald, 2022). The general population of the community around atrium health wake forest Baptist and the residents of North Carolina is the strategic group of audience that the company delivers healthcare services to. However, the company has recently expanded its service area boundaries because the company is now a combined organization that purposes to transform health for communities served through innovative data and evidence-based public health programs.

Conclusion

In summary, organizations and other business entities like healthcare facilities have the new technology and innovative software that allow them to understand competitors’ strategies and analyze their data thus developing a way to conduct an effective and healthy competition. Additionally, it is important to conduct frequent and thorough market analysis because this helps in understanding the market and consequently acquiring a broader market control. Therefore, competitor analysis is essential for every business since it serves as a window to understanding the competitors’ essential data categories that lead to strategic planning and improved marketing strategies that eventually lead to improved service delivery The Competitor Analysis Research Paper.

 References

Arora, A., Srivastava, A., & Bansal, S. (2020). Business competitive analysis using promoted post detection on social media. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 101941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101941

Caber, M., Albayrak, T., & İsmayıllı, T. (2017, April). Analysis of congress destinations’ competitiveness using importance performance competitor analysis. In Journal of Convention & Event Tourism (Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 100-117). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2017.1288185

Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

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Guo, L., Sharma, R., Yin, L., Lu, R., & Rong, K. (2017). Automated competitor analysis using big data analytics: Evidence from the fitness mobile app business. Business Process Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-05-2015-0065

Swick, M., Mook, P. J., & McDonald, S. (2022). For All: Atrium Health Efforts Create a More Diverse, Inclusive Culture. Nurse Leader, 20(4), 336-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2022.06.002

Timoshenko, A., & Hauser, J. R. (2019). Identifying customer needs from user-generated content. Marketing Science, 38(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2018.1123 The Competitor Analysis Research Paper