Analysis Of Universal Hospital’s Business Environment And Strategies

Current Mission, Vision and Objectives of Universal Hospital

Discuss about the Strategic Analysis of Universal Hospital.

The current business scenario is highly competitive in nature with the presence of number of competitors in different business sectors. Thus, it is important for the business organizations to effectively determine their external and business factors in order to initiate the business strategies accordingly. However, in the current time it is also to be noted that determination of the external factors are not only limited to identifying the external environmental factors but also determining the competitive forces in the industry, evaluating the internal strengths and weaknesses and adjusting with that of the internal strengths and weaknesses (Boons and Ludeke-Freund 2013). It is also important for the business organizations to evaluate their mission, vision and organizational strategies in accordance to the external business factors and competitive scenario.

Universal Hospital is one of the leading healthcare brands in the United Arab Emirates with having their number of branches in different locations around the country. They are offering diverse medical facilities ranging from outpatient department to inpatient services. However, though they have gained huge popularity and brand value in the market, but they are having huge intensity of competition in the market of the United Arab Emirates (Universalhospitals.com 2018). Therefore, it is important for them to initiate their mission, vision and business strategies in accordance to the current external business environment. In addition, it is also important for them to identify the competitive forces in the healthcare industry in the country and design their strategies accordingly.

This report will discuss about the current mission, vision and objectives of Universal Hospital along with stating the recommended vision and mission statements. In addition, this report will also discuss about the external opportunities and threats of the Universal Hospital and the external environmental factors faced by them. This report will also construct a competitive profile matrix for the Universal Hospital in order to identify the competing factors for them in the real world situation. There are numbers of matrix will be used in this report that will help to identify the different determining factors for the Universal Hospital. This report will recommend number of steps and strategies that will further help the Universal Hospital to enhance their business processes and effectiveness.

The current vision statement of the Universal Hospital states that they want to be the leading and premier healthcare provider that will provide the best in class services to the patients by means of highly qualified professionals and dedicated service excellence. According to the current vision statement of the Universal Hospital, it can be concluded that their future objective to be the leader in the healthcare sector is portrayed (Gulati et al. 2016).

Recommended Vision and Mission Statements

The current mission statement of the Universal Hospital states that they strive to offer quality healthcare and covering the major area of the country. Thus, the current mission statement of the Universal Hospital portrays the message of what they are doing currently in their business. In addition, there willingness to cover more area under their healthcare services is also shown in the current mission statement of the Universal Hospital (Willams, Morrell and Mullane 2014)

According to the information available in the official website of the Universal Hospital, it is concluded that the core objective of the Universal Hospital is to gain the status of market leader in the healthcare industry in the United Arab Emirates. In addition, they also aim to cater to maximum number of patients through their healthcare services. The major strategies that they follow are market penetration. In accordance to the market penetration strategy, Universal Hospital is having their branches all over the country that helps them to cover the major section of the population.

The current mission and vision statement of the Universal Hospital are effective and informative but they can be designed in more proper manner in order to enhance the appeal among the larger section of the target population. It is recommended that the vision statement of the Universal Hospital should be like, becoming the market leader in the healthcare sector by providing different sets of medical facilities and services to the patients. In addition, their vision statement should also include the probability of entering in the global market (King, Case and Premo 2014). On the other hand, the recommended mission statement should be broader with having more focus on the quality being maintained in providing the healthcare facility to the patients. Thus, the recommended mission statement should be to provide healthcare services of highest quality to the patients and cover the major section of the society under their quality medical services (Taiwo, Agwu and Lawal 2016).

There are number of external opportunities being identified for the Universal Hospital that will help them to enhance their business potentiality in their future course of business. One of the major opportunities for them is the availability of the global market for medical facilities. In the current time, Universal Hospital is only having their facilities in the United Arab Emirates. Thus, if they can enter in any potential foreign markets then the business potentiality will further get increased along with increase in their brand value and identity. Another major opportunity for them is the availability of untapped market where medical facilities are not well available. Thus, it will help Universal Hospital to offer their services in these untapped areas to get the market establishment (Mueller and Shepherd 2016). In addition, the healthcare facility is further booming due to the emergence of complex medical issues in the current time and this is increasing the opportunity for the healthcare institutes. Healthcare sector is highly diversified in nature with having huge number of services being offered. However, currently Universal Hospital is not offering all the services. Thus offering more services will help Universal Hospital to cater to more number of patients.

External Opportunities for Universal Hospital

Apart from the opportunities discussed in the previous section, there are number of threats also to be faced by the Universal Hospital in their business operation. One of the major threats is the emergence of more number of competing firms in the market. This is due to the reason that the more will be the intensity of the competition in the market, the less will be the profitability for Universal Hospital. In addition, it will reduce the market size and potentiality for them. Another major threat for them is the economic slowdown or recession. This is due to the reason that economic recession will lead to the reduction in the purchasing power of the customers and they will not be able to spend more on their medical bills. Thus, premium service provider such as Universal Hospital will have less market potentiality.

However, apart from the external threats and opportunities discussed in this section, there are number of other factors also being relevant. These factors will be identified with the help of PESTEL analysis.

Political factors	·       United Arab Emirates is having stable and favorable political scenario under the regime of sultanate. Thus, Universal Hospital is having advantages in operating in a stable business environment (Zahlan 2016). ·       In addition, government is having different initiatives such as tax benefits and easier regulations for the healthcare facilities. This is also helping the Universal Hospital to have favorable business environment. ·       However, the government initiatives of providing more facilities through the government medical institutions are reducing the market for the Universal Hospital. ·       Changes in the political scenario may also lead to the change in the insurance mandate. This might have negative or positive impacts on the business organizations.
Economical factors	·       United Arab Emirates including the other countries in the Middle Eastern Region are having favorable economy mainly due to their huge oil reserves (Shahbaz et al. 2014). ·       Thus, the purchasing power of the average customers is also high and they can afford the premium facilities of the Universal Hospital. ·       However, there are number of competitors present in the healthcare industry in the United Arab Emirates and thus the profitability for the Universal Hospital is limited (Jayaraman et al. 2015). ·       On the other hand, impact on the oil price will determine the purchasing power of the customers and thus it will influence the business potential for the Universal Hospital.
Social factors	·       Social factors are having less influence on the business potential for the healthcare sector due to the reason that this sector is more of necessity services. ·       However, changes in the demography will have impact on the business potentiality. This is due to the reason that if the average demography of the country is more towards the younger population then the major medical facilities in demand will be the diseases prevalent among the younger generation and vice versa (Al Athmay 2015). ·       Larger section of the population in the United Arab Emirates is becoming more globalized and thus they are becoming more aware about the world class medical facilities.  This is also helping the Universal Hospital to have more market opportunities for their premium services. ·       People are becoming more health conscious and thus they more prefer the premium facilities for their medical checkup. This change in the trend in the social environment is enhancing the market potentiality for Universal Hospital (Al Afari and Elanain 2014).
Technological factors	·       Technology is one of the prime areas that have witnessed huge development in the recent time. This is due to the reason that medical science is rapidly developing and evolving and along with that, technology is also evolving (Kapoor and Lee 2013). ·       Medical technology is having the requirement of huge cost and investments. Universal Hospital with the help of their access to financial resources is being able to offer the latest technology to the patients. ·       However, the technology is rapidly changing and it is important for Universal Hospital to update their technologies periodically. ·       With the inflow of foreign investments in the healthcare sector along with entry of the global brands in the industry, it is becoming more difficult for Universal Hospital to stay at par to the industry (Agha 2014).
Environmental factors	·       Environment is also important to consider in the healthcare industry due to the reason that there is high risk of origination of hazardous waste from this sector. ·       Society as a whole will be adversely affected from the medical waste (Ozder et al. 2013). ·       Universal Hospital is having their distinctive waste management facilities that are helping them to prevent the negative impact of this factor. ·       There are number of legislations and regulations being initiated by the government of the United Arab Emirates regarding the management of medical waste. It is important for Universal Hospital to adhere to these legislations.
Legal factors	·       Healthcare sector is having number legislations to be faced. This is mainly due to the reason that healthcare sector is related to the safety and well being of the people. ·       Universal Hospital is providing premium medical services and thus they maintain the desired standards of safety and hygiene for their patients. ·       However, the legislations regarding standards to be maintained in the medical facilities are increasing the cost of operations for the healthcare organizations.

		Universal Hospital	Oasis hospital
Critical success factors	Weight	Rating	Score	Rating	Score
Market presence	0.2	4	0.8	3	0.6
Service quality	0.3	3	0.9	3	0.9
Brand identity	0.2	3	0.6	2	0.4
Service cost	0.2	2	0.4	3	0.6
Diverse service	0.1	3	0.3	1	0.1
Total	1.00	–	3	–	2.6

Thus, from the above competitive profile matrix, it can be concluded that Universal Hospital is way ahead of their close competition in the form of oasis hospital. The major factors that are helping Universal Hospital in staying ahead in the competition are the market presence, brand identity and service cost. It should also be noted that Universal Hospital is way ahead in terms of the market presence due to the reason that in around the United Arab Emirates, they are having number of branches in different cities. This is helping to cater to more number of patients from different regions. Oasis hospital is having less number of branches as compared to the Universal Hospital. On the other hand, brand identity of the Universal Hospital is also more compared to the oasis hospital. This is mainly due to the reason that Universal Hospital is having more market presence compared to the Oasis hospital. Thus, the more will be the market presence, the more will be their brand identity and brand exposure among the customers.

On the other hand, Universal Hospital is also offering more diverse range of services to their patients compared to the Oasis hospital. This is also one of the critical success factors for them due to the reason that diverse service portfolio is helping Universal Hospital to target different sets of patients with having different health issues. However, from the above analysis it is also being identified that Oasis hospital is also ahead in some sectors compared to the Universal Hospital. One of these sectors is the cost of the service. The average cost of service in the Universal Hospital is more compared to the Oasis hospital and thus Oasis hospital is having the advantage of cost leadership over Universal Hospital.

External Threats Faced by Universal Hospital

External factor evaluation matrix is being used to analyze and evaluate the external factors being faced by the business organizations and to what extent the business organizations are leveraging on their opportunities in order to overcome the threats.

	Opportunities	Weight	Rating	Weighted score
1	Increase in the health consciousness among the larger section of the population	0.20	4	0.8
2	Providing more diverse range of medical facilities.	0.12	2	0.24
3	Increasing the market penetration by opening more branches in the untapped areas	0.08	3	0.24
4	Purchasing power of the average population is increasing that is leading to the increase in the business potentiality	0.14	2	0.28
5	Social preferences for premium medical services are increasing	0.07	1	0.07
	Threats	Weight	Rating	Weighted score
1	Emergence of new competitors in the market	0.15	1	0.15
2	Increase in the number of customer complaints	0.08	2	0.16
3	Increase in the operational cost	0.02	2	0.04
4	Emergence of economic recession	0.03	3	0.09
5	Change in the insurance mandate	0.05	1	0.05
6	Emergence of unethical business practices	0.03	3	0.09
7	Increased level of government legislations	0.03	1	0.03
	Total	1.00		2.24

Thus, according to the above matrix, it can be concluded that Universal Hospital is responding with above the average in overcoming the threats. This denotes that the Universal Hospital is having the capabilities to leverage on their opportunities and overcome the adverse impact of the threats.

Similar to the external threats and opportunities, there are number of strengths and weaknesses being identified for Universal Hospital. One of the major strengths for Universal Hospital is having more market presence and penetration in the market of the United Arab Emirates. This helps them to have more market opportunities compared to their competitors. Another major strength for Universal Hospital is their diverse product service portfolio that helps them to have more sets of target customers. On the other hand, the major weakness for them include having higher service cost compared to their competitors. This is restricting the potential base of customers for Universal Hospital. Another weakness for them is having the market presence only in the United Arab Emirates. Thus, they are not having the advantage of catering to the global market similar to some of their global competitors.

Key internal factors	Weight	Rating	Weighted score
Strengths
Use of updated and latest technology	0.40	4	1.6
Having international team of management	0.12	3	0.36
Offering world class facilities	0.06	3	0.18
Number of branches	0.10	4	0.40
Huge turnover of inventory	0.1	1	0.1
Huge access to the profits	0.02	1	0.02
Weaknesses
Huge cost of operation	0.04	2	0.08
Not having cost leadership	0.02	4	0.08
Not having global presence	0.12	1	0.12
Not providing treatment for number of diseases	0.02	2	0.04
Total	1		2.98

Thus from the above analysis, it can be concluded that Universal Hospital is having favorable and positive internal position due to the fact that the total weighted score is above 2.5. This is also denoting the positive factors in the internal management of the Universal Hospital.

The organization named Universal Hospital is considered to be one of the most recognized and authentic healthcare organization which provides services to the people in UAE. The hospital is known for the highly experienced and talented medical professionals who mainly speak the local language of the citizens in the country. The organization mainly believes in the paperless culture which has further enabled the integration of high technology based IT systems within the different departments. This also helps in the reduction of the waiting time of the patients and helps the organization to provide them with quick and smooth services. The different departments of the hospital are also able to connect with each other with the help of high levels of technology. The hospital further provides acute care services to the patients in a swift manner. The revenues generated by the organization were also quite high in the recent years which was due to the high levels of service that it provides to the patients. The main objective of the organization is thereby to ensure that best services are available for the patients within less amount of time (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).

PESTEL Analysis

Strengths – The Universal Hospital has been leading the health care industry of UAE by providing appropriate services to the patients in a swift manner. The organization has multinational operations and has been able to create a unique position in the healthcare industry. The standard procedures of the organization and the quality services that are provided to the patients have been able to provide huge revenues to the hospital. The health services that are provided to the patients are also an important part of the successful operations of Universal Hospital. The organization helps in the improvement of relationships between the physicians and the community in which the hospital operates. The stability of the organization thereby depends on the ways by which cash flow and business value can be increased. The important aspects and areas that are required to bed addressed by a healthcare organization are taken into consideration by the different operations of Universal Hospitals. The needs and demands of the patients are also identified by the organization quite easily (Hitt and Duane Ireland 2017). The devoted health services that are provided by the employees to the patients help in fulfilling their needs. The organization always aims at enhancing the experience and performance of the team members who are responsible for providing services to the patients. The business operations of Universal Hospital are based on the best levels of ethical standards.

Weaknesses – The reimbursement based process of the hospital is quite slow as it is conducted with the help of third party integration. The modern technologies that are used in the various processes of the hospital are based on high expenses. The latest technologies are integrated within different departments of the hospital. The management of Universal Hospital thereby needs to maintain high costs for the purpose of keeping the technologies updated in nature (Wheelen et al. 2017).

Opportunities – The demographic conditions of the market are able to favour the business operations of the Universal Hospital. The organization has huge opportunities to expand its operations and further increase the revenues as well. The Universal Hospital can also gain major benefits from the different market areas. The policies that have been formulated by the government are a major opportunity for the hospital to increase its operations in the health care industry.

Threats – The government policies and procedures are sometimes able to affect operations of the health care organization in a negative manner. The decline in the economic conditions of the country can act as a major factor in affecting the expenditure that the people are able to make. The infrastructure development based activities of the hospital are also affected in a negative manner by the poor economy of a country. The increase in unemployment can also affect the health care operations in an adverse manner. Changing conditions of the stock market has an impact on the investment that is made in the health care segment (Ethiraj, Gambardella and Helfat 2017). The rivals in the health care market provide tough competition to Universal Hospital. The services that are offered to the patients are sometimes quite limited in nature. The patients are thereby provided with high levels of services at lower rates.

The BCG matrix analysis of the Universal Hospital is able to provide an insight on the different segments that are able to provide maximum amounts to profit to the organization. The categories of services and the products that are offered to the patients are mainly a part of the business portfolio that has been created by the management of the hospital. The BCG matrix analysis is helpful in formulating the business portfolio of the organization. This also provides an opportunity to the organization to provide competitive advantage to Universal Hospital. The services of the organization which are able to create a market share for the organization are recognized with the help of BCG matrix analysis. The business units are classified by the BCG matrix analysis with the help of analysis of the relative market share in comparison to the competitors in the market. The rate by which the industry is growing is considered in the BCG matrix analysis (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017). The market share of the organization is decided based on the ways by which the potential of the product offered to the customers. The different segments of the BCG matrix which are related to the analysis of Universal Hospital are as follows,

• Cash cows – The cash cows are considered to be those products which are able to provide the highest market share to the organization. The cash cows in case of Universal Hospital are the medicine sectors and the emergency services that are provided to the outdoor patients. This sector is considered to be the most profitable business area of the organization which is able to provide highest revenues.
• Stars – This part of the BCG matrix is based on the ways by which growth rate and market share of the organization can be increased. The stars are able to help the company to increase the share in the market as compared to the competition in the market. The services of the hospital which are able to provide high share in the market are the laboratory services and X-rays. The radiotherapy treatment and nursing services are also capable of increasing the share of the organization in the market. Universal Hospital will be able to gain a position in the health care industry with the help of enhancement of these services. The detoxification services are also able to provide the company with a unique position in the industry (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015).
• Question marks – These are the services of the organization which have low share in the market and their growth rate is also high. The uncertainty is also created by these services. The services of Universal Hospital that belong to the question mark sector of the BCG matrix are the physiotherapy based treatments that are provided to the patients. The services of the hospital are thereby capable providing high growth to the organization in the market.
• Dogs – These products or services of the organization are those which low shares in the market along with low growth rate as well. These services are not able to show high rates of growth. The services of the hospital which are not able to provide high growth rate to the organization are, standard ward rates of the hospital, the charges of the services which are provided to the patients and the ambulance services as well (Steinbach et al. 2017).

The BCG matrix analysis of the Universal Hospital has thereby been able to depict that the organization consists of different segments which are related to the share in the market that is provided by them.

• The first objective that has been set by the Universal Hospital for the purpose of expanding in the market is based on the ways by which they are planning to operate with the help of medical insurance which can help them to provide best services to the patients. The implementation of the objective is based on the ways by which the entire operations of the hospital will be organised in the international areas. This will help the organization to sustain its operations in an effective manner in the other areas.
• The second objective is based on the ways by which the organization will enter the new market area. Universal Hospital can enter the new area of operations with the help of joint venture with another healthcare organization. This will help the organization to start its operations in the new area in an effective manner. The implementation of this objective is based on the ways by which the organization can coordinate with the other organizations in the new market area. This will help Universal Hospital to know the market in a better way as compared to the others.
• The third objective is based on the feedback process of the patients. The feedback that is provided by the customers is an important part of the successful operations of the hospital in the new market area. The entire process of implementation is thereby based on the ways by which the opinions provided by the customers are managed by the authorities of the hospital. The feedback system of the hospital is important for providing the best level services to the patients and solve their issues in a prompt manner as well.

Although Universal Hospitals has developed a brand name in UAE, the management never thought of international expansion. The organization has recently thought of being global after considering a transformation in business atmosphere. Therefore, they have developed several marketing strategies to implement the plan of expansion. This section of the paper is going to provide recommendations and will compare the actual strategies of the organisation with that. Here, six management objectives are framed considering the business model of Universal Hospitals.

• In the initial stage, the hospital authority can rely on Medicare reimbursements. When it comes to providing discounts to their customers most of the medical organisations frame the strategies to discover simple cost savings. It is complicated yet if the hospital wants to revise the entire cost structure, they should enrol most of their patients under medical insurance. There is hardly any possibility of gaining the profit out of it initially, yet they will receive the amount whatever they have invested in the first place. Instead of being focused commercially, it will be helpful for Universal hospitals if the management tries to gain the trust of their potential market first by implementing this strategy.
• Instead of following a traditional way, Universal Hospitals can go for joint ventures with existing health care brands on that particular location. It will be easier for the organisation to cope up with the new business atmosphere if they receive cooperation from a medical unit like them. The expansion will cost a huge amount of investment to create a bigger infrastructure based on assumptions only. Therefore, pairing up with an eminent medical care unit will be a safe card to play in the preliminary stage.
• The brand image of a hospital is mostly driven by the patients’ satisfaction. Positive feedbacks from the patients will form the future strategies of Universal Hospitals. The agenda of the medical team should be to deliver quality services, understanding the importance of emergency, maintaining accuracy while diagnosis, serving good quality foods. It will be beneficial for the patients if hospital can arrange a medicine unit from where they can avail required medicines with a minimum percentage of discount. In order to achieve better quality of the product and services hospital authority can appoint a management unit and it will govern the entire process to ensure positive feedback of the patients.

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