Successful Strategic Thinking

Introduction

Strategy is a plan of action to achieve a long-term or overall aim. Organizations develop strategies for different occasions and objectives. However, these strategies must support achieving the company’s goal and mission. Primarily, several factors contribute to the development of a successful plan by any organization. A strategy must be developed and balanced, and business leaders must understand why they need a strategy for their entities. The goal of a manufacturing business may differ significantly from that of a service provider. But the strategy is necessary for both of them, and there are common factors that will necessitate the development of a strategy for business success. These factors can boost an organization’s credibility with other leaders in the industry apart from enhancing its competitiveness. The following factors are typical of product manufacturing, sales, and service providers when looking at the reason for strategy development:

1. Identification of the purpose of planning: in organizations and businesses, a communication plan must be designed to drive action that delivers the objective. A well-articulated communication plan must emphasize the action and the intended result. It must answer the “what” and “why” of the strategy.
2. Use of facts and data: it is necessary to have verifiably used the information to shape the process, and such information must be referenced in the plan. A good strategy will refer to data on business performance, competition, market valuation, the audience, and other factors unique to the business situation. Business leaders will refer to these data to ensure that a business plan is rounded on reality, not fiction.
3. A business strategy must be tied to a specific business objective: strategy is developed for different reasons, including; capturing market share, enhancing stock price, reducing the risk of the adverse regulatory outcome, or launch of a new product. Whatever the objective of a strategy, the aim must be articulated clearly.
4. Setting verifiable goals: all business plans must be based on verifiable goals to enable implementation and tracking of their performance. In a communication plan, for example, a business can set programmatic goals asking if the leadership attained what they said, or they can be based on output where the organization evaluates if the communication strategy created the expected media impression. Further, goals can be found in an outcome where the management asks if the targeted consumers changed their perception about a product or if the company achieved sales goals. There must be some basis for comparison when discussing a verifiable goal in a small or large-scale business. Business leadership must compare their performance with their strategic plan, competitors, the industry benchmark, or previous performance.
5. A plan must show who is accountable: a business plan must show who in the team is responsible for what actions, outputs, and outcomes. It should also offer a project timeline and how milestones will be reported.

New companies face unique challenges that compel their leadership to develop and implement specific strategies that enhance their growth and survival. Such techniques may include identifying product strengths, adjusting product pricing, or acquiring other businesses. These are common strategies that have assisted small companies in finding a place in a competitive business environment. Business managers must understand these strategies and ensure skilful implementation to guarantee success. In this review, the author will make the strategy development, implementation, and evaluation process to demonstrate the significance of strategy in business success.

1. Literature Review

Several scholars have studied business and organizational strategies, forming multiple resources for new and experienced business leaders. This section will highlight some of the theories of strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation by showing different useful strategies for business growth and stability. This paper will also explain the theoretical framework for strategy development and implementation.

Types of Strategies

Businesses rely on different strategies to achieve their goal short-term and long-term goals. In most cases, enterprises target profitability and will focus their resources on maximising every market opportunity. Three strategies are crucial for business success regardless of the industry; business strategy, operational strategy, and transformational strategy (Zulkifli & Wandebori, 2018). While the three strategies are distinct, they all have common considerations, which focus on the people, process, and technology.

Failure to consider how the strategy will influence the people, processes, and technology, a plan will only be a set of lofty ideas that have no relationship with business reality (Kano and Verbeke, 2019). Thus, it will be impossible to accomplish the plan and achieve desired goals.

Business leadership must strive to connect “lofty ideas” to practical, well-thought-out steps for successful strategy implementation. The following section will further explain the three strategies and how they can boost business performance.

• Business Strategy: Customer Experience

This strategy focuses on how customers will experience a given business. This strategy is important for new businesses because it answers questions related to the scope of operation and where the boundaries will be set. This strategy asks questions like, “Where do we play?” and “How do we win the game?” The scope of a business will include; targeted customers, geographic area, and product specialization that influence the kind of product to bring to the market (Kano and Verbeke, 2019). The winning formula includes; how a business will position itself against its competition, the strengths that the leadership must leverage to differentiate from their competitors, and the unique approach that is necessary for effective market penetration.

• Operational Strategy: People and Process

This strategy focuses on the people and processes involved in a business. The strategy is important because it ensures proper and accurate translation of the customer-central business strategy into an actionable implementation plan. Some of the core areas of this strategy are responding to questions like:

• Which capabilities should be created or improved?
• Which processes need improvement or redesigning?
• Is the human resource adequate and competent to handle the implementation process?

It is common to find most business leaders working on the operation strategy domain and business strategy domain. The two strategies support communication with business or organizational leadership for direction. Business leaders that have adopted operational strategy work from the middle out to ensure clarity and cohesiveness to the operating model. Typically, their organizations work vertically in the case of a single business unit by resolving emerging issues at the business unit. In more mature business models, the leadership work cross-functionally and in multiple verticals moving from one vertical to another. In this scenario, leadership and business architects who are successfully delivering in one role are allowed to actively develop the skills they need to move into other strategy domains.

• Transformational Strategy: Technology

This strategy focuses on how technology can enable and transform an organization. Platform technology is critical for the transformation of business processes, improving performance and accuracy in service delivery. The implementation of a transformational strategy causes radical and highly disruptive changes in people, processes, and technology (Kaipainen and Aarikka‐Stenroos, 2022). It is often the domain of the project management office (PMO), organizational development, and consultants. In most businesses, the management fear going down this path because of the necessary resources and uncertainty about the outcome of its implementation. The creation and implementation of a transformational strategy require highly experienced and knowledgeable technical resources that are lacking in most small and medium enterprises. Upon identification of the three main types of strategy, it is necessary to note that strategy is not the same, and each type requires a unique set of skills, resources, approach, and execution plan. Business leaders must be able to create successful strategies that will help their organizations to accomplish success in transformation, operations, and business processes.

2. Development of Strategies

The Responsibility of Strategy Development

Business or organizational strategy is developed by the senior management of an organization. Top leadership creates a business strategy that they share with business architects for clarification and creation of alignment among different strategies (Zulkifli & Wandebori, 2018). The strategies are then communicated clearly and consistently across and down the organization’s hierarchy. In most cases, businesses may lack adequate and skilled people to develop a coherent strategy. In such cases, some outsource business architectures that create for them strategy that helps them to attain competitive advantage. Further, middle-level employees may be allowed to develop a strategy that is shared within their departments, and that is considered by top-level leadership. While the leadership of an organization has the responsibility of creating strategy, it is necessary to note that different organizations may adopt a bottom-up approach where business strategies are conceived and created at the lower levels before being shared by the organizational leadership.

Several theories exist on the process of developing business strategies. The following section highlights the most common perspectives of strategy development:

• The Evolutionary approach: this theory perceives the world as being a jungle, and every business must strive for efficiency to survive (Whittington, 2001). Businesses that follow this approach believe that the market will determine their strategy, and they only need to focus on the pricing to avoid making a loss. This theory suggests that competitive processes will determine the fittest for survival, and managers are required to do what they can to become the most efficient to fit into the business environment.
• Classical approach: it is an approach that takes it for granted that you can calculate and plan your way as a business to achieve a desired outcome (Kano and Verbeke, 2019). This approach aims to maximize profit by setting deliberate processes. The proponents of this theory believe that the business environment can be shaped by gathering information and applying strategy.
• The Systemic approach: this approach of strategy development assumes that you can plan, but it must be influenced by the social systems and circumstances. Some of the factors that are deemed to influence strategy development are; the culture of society, the behaviour of employees, and the ambitions and personal characteristics of individuals (Whittington, 2001). Proponents of this theory believe that profit maximization is not the primary objective of strategy development. Instead, the status of managers, pursuit of power, and personal profit can influence how those concerned create strategy.
• The Processual Approach: this approach for strategy development considers long-term planning as futile. The theory holds that people are too varied in their interests, differing in level of understanding, lacking in concentration, and too careless in action to achieve a united rallying round a plan (Whittington, 2001). The adherents to this theory believe that plans are forgotten as circumstances change. Managers that follow this strategy also believe that strategies emerge from a pragmatic process of bodging, learning, and compromise. Essentially, the processual approach assumes that strategy is a result of chance and circumstances and not deliberate planning by top leadership. Businesses that follow this strategy do not prioritize profit. Instead, they will take what they can get, even when it is not optimum.

Once a business leadership has identified its strategy, it should never be lost on them that the strategic aim of a business is to earn a return on capital, and if any particular case, the return, in the long run, is not satisfactory, the deficiency should be corrected or the activity abandoned (Bolland, 2020). Managers are tasked to determine the long-term goals of their organizations and lead in the adoption of courses of action and allocating resources necessary for those goals. This way, they ensure that their objective as a business is realized with efficiency.

In a classical approach to strategy formation, successful and leading organizations free their top management from daily operational activities to allow them to focus and think through the destiny of their corporations. In the end, their organizations benefit from well-crafter strategies that promote the quick achievement of their business objective (Morgan et al., 2019). On the other hand, adapting to the evolutionary perspective of strategy development is a characteristic of some of the most unpredictable organizations. Their leadership believes that organizations can’t achieve adaptation and differentiation in a planned and sustainable manner. Their leadership style suggests that success is a result of chance and good fortune, not the outcome of deliberate strategic choice. In their setup, long-term plans are a waste of resources and human capital.

Tools for Developing Strategy

Businesses invest in understanding different strategy development tools to make the best out of the market. Managers must understand the various tools, their advantages, and their limitations before deciding on the best to use in a given situation. In some cases, more than one tool of strategy development is necessary for comprehensive strategic planning. The followings are the most common tools and their uses, limitations, and advantages. The standard tools for strategy development include; PESTEL, Five Forces, Cross Impact Analysis, Resource-based View, and SWOT Analysis.

• PESTEL Analysis

PESTEL stands for;

P– Political

E – Economic

S – Social

T – Technological

E – Environmental

L – Legal

This strategy development tool is essential for businesses that seek to understand their external environment. PESTEL analysis helps companies to explore the external macro-environment forces likely to affect their activities (Kaipainen and Aarikka‐Stenroos, 2022). The external factors present both threats and opportunities for companies, and proper evaluation of the factors will aid in proper decision-making. Some factors are prone to change, and long-term decisions cannot be made, given such factors. PESTEL analysis is done in two stages. First, the managers gather information on political, economic, social, and technological changes as well as other factors on a microenvironment level. In the second stage, the managers should identify PEST factors that represent opportunities and those that pose threats.

Companies can use PESTEL analysis to evaluate all critical factors that affect competition and profit. An understanding of a business’s external environment will allow its management to plan and implement evidence-based decisions and avoid losses (Çitilci and Akbalık, 2020). For example, a company seeking to expand into a new territory may require an understanding of the political landscape of the country where there are seeking to enter. In a politically unstable nation, opportunities for doing business are limited, and a decision to continue with this strategy may be highly risky. The general rule when using this strategy tool is that if there are more negative forces affecting a market, then it is difficult for businesses to excel in that market, and it is unlikely to be profitable if the company proceeds and invests in it.

• Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

This tool is used for the assessment of an industry’s competitiveness and profitability. The tool uses five industry forces to evaluate the existing competition and help organization managers to determine if it is worth investing in the industry. The five forces that were developed by Michael Porter in 1979 are; the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, industry rivalry, and the threat of substitutes (Dobbs, 2012). An evaluation that shows a strong competitive force means that the industry is less profitable. In a sales industry, a strong competitive force could suggest low barriers to entering the market, with few buyers and suppliers but many substitutes (Dobbs, 2012). This type of industry is less profitable, and a decision to enter such an industry must be withheld. An attractive industry is characterized by; high barriers to entry, weak supplier bargaining power, weak buyer’s bargaining power, few substitute products and services, and low competition.

• SWOT Analysis

Once the objectives are set, the next step for a new business is to conduct a SWOT analysis. This is a method of business evaluation that shows; the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the business will encounter (Benzaghta et al., 2021). Every business has its strength that drives the management to decide to make the bold step of starting the business. It may be capital, skills, or other forms of motivation that convince the directors that venturing into the business is viable. Once the strength is identified, the weaknesses must also be identified because they can hinder the achievement of the business goals. Identification of weaknesses will ensure that the goals are not over-ambitious and that the decisions are made within the achievable limits. Next, opportunities are the motivation to spend and innovate. Businesses look at market opportunities that are characteristically the customer needs. These opportunities will influence decisions about production, packaging, and distribution channels (Benzaghta et al., 2021). For example, customer health is among the top trending consumer behaviour cited in every report on market and consumer trends. Therefore, focusing on a new product to resolve health challenges could be a great step in ensuring a constant flow of customers. The other aspect of a SWOT analysis includes threats from an internal and external environment like competition, culture, and prohibitive legislation that can affect growth attempts. It is essential that these factors are clarified, and the business management develops strategies to address challenges arising from the company’s weaknesses and external or internal threats.

How Strategies Are Implemented

Each manager has to decide which theoretical portrayal of human activity and environment fits most closely with his or her view of the world before commencing the process of implementing a strategy. In most cases, the decision on the best approach is taken before a strategy of developed and shared within an organization. It is important to recall that there is no best way when it comes to the choice of strategy, formulation, or implementation. Ideally, a good strategy has to be matched to the market, organizational, and social environment (Kaipainen and Aarikka‐Stenroos, 2022). The strategic choice will be influenced by factors beyond the need to introduce change or enhance profitability.

A manager with the best strategy will commence the implementation process by identifying the people involved in the process. Organizations have different structures, and it is essential to understand how a particular strategy will affect each department, person, or system. Here, the most appropriate people are selected to plan and implement the strategy in a manner that will cause the least interruption of normal routine (Ateş et al., 2020). It would be foolhardy to cause a sudden interruption of production, marketing, or service delivery when there is uncertainty about the outcome of a new strategy. Therefore, an implementation should be systemic and phased to ensure a seamless transition without affecting supplies to customers.

A chance management team is necessary when implementing a strategy. This team will comprise different people depending on the setup of an organization. A production company will have members of this team different from a marketing or service-providing company. The aim of forming this team is to ensure that the strategy is implemented with accuracy and there is timely reporting of the milestones. Organizations that have national or international status may have different people involved in the routine processes. Unless there are people tasked with monitoring and implementing a strategy, it will be impossible to evaluate the success or failure of a given strategy. Further, there would be nobody to be held accountable in case of failure of the strategy.

Once the team is set up, the next critical step in implementation is to communicate the strategy to all those involved. Stakeholders will be informed about the proposed change through; departmental meetings, workshops, and memorandums. Organizations are comprised of people who must be informed about desired changes and how they will be affected. Failure to pass appropriate information promptly may lead to resistance that will eventually affect the outcome of any strategy (Sun, 2021). The implementation team must commence their work by passing the formation to the relevant people that will be affected directly or indirectly. Further, any strategy must be explained to show how it will contribute to the overall objective of the organization.

How Organizations Ensure that They Maintain Strategies

Richard Whittington (2001) is among the early scholars that discussed how organizations could manage their strategies. He provided a blueprint on how to implement, organize or change strategy. The general assumption when developing, implementing, or changing a strategy is that all the individuals involved will be united in the pursuit of a common goal. However, this is not always the case, and organizations fail to realize the objective of their strategy because of the inherent differences between the human resources and existing within the organizations. For this reason, it is necessary to learn how to maintain strategy in an organization that may have individual and corporate differences.

The initial suggestion for organization leaders is supported by classical strategists and Evolutionists who believe that strategy and structure must be matched. In their view, the structure of an organization must be developed to match strategy. While this may appear an ideal situation, the Processual theorists are opposed to this perspective, arguing that structure often fails to match strategies. Instead, they believe that the reverse should happen, where strategy is shaped by the organization’s structure. Mintzberg considered the conflicting arguments and suggested that it is impossible to decide on a strategy without cindering existing structures. He believes that the relationship between the two is reciprocal, and none is superior to the other. That way, managers must consider both to assess the possibility of a strategy being implemented within existing structures and how existing structures will be affected by a new strategy.

Once it is apparent the existing relationship between the structure and the strategy, the systemic perspective of strategy development comes into perfect play. In their argument, systemic theorists believe that there is a danger when an organization imposes a given structure without considering the social context. The primary market of any business is the immediate community surrounding the organization. They are critical for ensuring smooth operation, and a decision to ignore them may amount to serious insubordination. Therefore, the top leadership of any organization must understand how their strategies will affect harmony with their immediate surrounding or with their internal customers.

Strategy s developed to help an organization realize some change that is in the interest of the organization. It is not easy to realize any change, whether in human resource management, product development and sale, or operational policy. At some point, there is always the temptation to resist change from employees, customers, or other partners. It takes coaxing, compromise, and rational planning to realize any desirable change. Evolutionists believe that the best way to achieve any change outlined in a strategy is being tough and persuade people of the serious threats of takeovers or dismissal. That way, they are forced to adapt to necessary change for fear of associated loss.

On their side, Processualists consider corporate learning as the most desirable step in attaining change. In their view, you have to learn faster than your competitors. The approach is related to the Systemists’ perspectives, who feel that change is a matter of delicate political manoeuvring as well as changing people’s minds. However, they also believe that organizational leadership must be sensitive to the social and political climate if their goal of change is to be realized.

Managing Changes by Organizations

The primary objective of businesses is to make a profit, and when competition prevents a business from realizing this goal, it must find ways to improve its performance. It is this desire that moves business executives to develop business strategies that will promote their products to potential customers or lock competition from their loyal customers (Anwar & Hasnu, 2016). In a sense, the business is attempting to embrace market changes that may affect its performance. A business strategy is developed to help an organization or business to adjust to changes affecting productivity or those that may eat into their profitability. A business strategy will, therefore, be developed based on several factors.

It is general practice that any business should develop a business strategy, whether in the production or service industry. Small to multinational businesses require business strategies that will determine how they offer their products and/or services to customers. The evolving customer needs and competition will require that businesses are conscious of what could cause a loss in sales or failure to attract new customers. Business strategies will, therefore, assist in addressing such issues.

Further, organizations require directing their financial resources where they will get higher benefits. Since finances are limited, proper plans must be made before they are directed toward activities undertaken by the organization. Unless business strategies are first developed, businesses can experience wastage because finances can be directed to less rewarding strategies.

In addition, customer needs are different, and they require different strategies by businesses to realize. Some cultural factors, economic factors, and regulations may influence customer demand, and businesses must be ready to resolve such issues as they may affect access to their products. Organizations that seek to remain competitive should develop appropriate business strategies which will allow their targeted customers to access and appreciate their products amidst economic, social, technological, or political changes.

3. Organization Analysis

Cloud Health Services

Cloud Health Service is a company that provides consultancy and installation of technologies that assist healthcare organizations in improving the quality of their services. The company’s primary objective is to assist healthcare facilities in acquiring new and appropriate technologies that will assist them in improving efficiency at a reduced cost. Several technologies are critical for healthcare delivery, and some of them include electronic health records and financial accounting systems that have been approved by healthcare quality assurance organizations. This healthcare technology company works with healthcare facilities to ensure that they install these technologies and comply with set quality standards. In this paper, a marketing strategy of new technology is evaluated to determine how the company markets its technology to assist healthcare providers in enhancing the level of efficiency in maternal and child health monitoring.

In a typical setting, several organizations work with healthcare facilities by providing the necessary technology to support healthcare delivery. Given this reality, CHS has developed a proper marketing plan considering the organization’s core objective and aligning its marketing plan with customer expectations. The company’s objectives include the following;

• collaboration with healthcare organizations and personnel to offer assistive technologies that promote efficiency and quality healthcare
• offering low-cost technologies to organizations that serve young and adult populations in low-income areas, and
• Assisting healthcare organizations to comply with Federal and State regulations on the use of technologies.

While most healthcare organizations understand the relevance of technology in improving healthcare, at CHS, there is a growing desire to promote the company as the best option for healthcare organizations’ technology solutions. Seeking to expand service delivery by the CHS marketing team has ensured that the target market receives the best technology at an affordable cost.

Marketing Strategy for Global Market

Maternal mothers and children require monitoring more than any other form of care because of their vulnerability. The current technology that is used to provide remote monitoring for mothers by healthcare workers is the mobile Phone. Therefore, CHS has decided to use the same platform to improve the monitoring of maternal mothers in what has become acceptable compared to a complete innovation that would have taken time to earn acceptance among users. The company has developed GearFlo 360 camera as the first technology that it intends to market to the global market.

Mobile Innovation GearFlo 360 is the antithesis of the Smart Phone that most healthcare providers and maternal mothers use for communication in case of emergency or booking appointments for follow-up clinics. Sometimes issues of network connectivity and low battery life can hamper communication and compromise healthcare decisions. GearFlo intends to serve maternal mothers and their care providers with the best of 360 interfaces when the technology is linked to the Smart Phone. According to the manufacturer, GearFlo Empowers People’s mobility better than Smartphones and is everything in the provision of Smartphone Accessories, Smart Sport camera, and Smart Mobile Electronics (GearFlo, a complete smartphone accessory 360 smart camera depicted, n.d.).

The second product that CHS markets to the global market is a technology that uses mobile phones to trace and locate expectant mothers who are expected to attend pre-natal clinics and children whose vaccination dates are due. The technology uses the mobile numbers of the mothers to register and then uses the GPS to locate them and send short text messages to remind them of their clinic dates. The system prompts the mother to respond in confirmation that they will attend the clinic. Where it is impossible for them to attend, the system will send a response which will be taken by the nearest community health worker for appropriate action.

The efforts made by CHS in achieving great sales of the two products are supported by an elaborate strategy set out by the management of the company. The business sought to understand the prospects for success or challenges that may hinder it from the effective achievement of set goals. This knowledge assisted in developing measures to overcome possible obstacles in the business path (Tatangelo, 2018). The plan considered that competition, technology, and changing culture could influence demand for their products.

Market Evaluation for Effective Strategy

To determine customer needs for their products and assess existing strengths and opportunities, CHS used a SWOT Analysis framework that showed how it could enter the global market with the new products. Maternal mothers attend regular clinics that are critical for the evaluation of the mother and child’s health. A close assessment of maternal and child health revealed that despite health education, several mothers still miss pre-natal clinics, and thousands of children miss out on essential vaccinations. This is a deadly situation, and there is a high risk of such children contracting vaccine-preventable diseases even as mothers risk their own lives and those of unborn babies.

The need for monitoring technology in healthcare delivery is influenced by available records that show a significantly high number of mothers who fail to turn up for their maternal clinic appointments. It became apparent from the assessment that Healthcare facilities needed to devise a mechanism to ensure that all maternal mothers attended clinics and their children were regularly checked and treated. Therefore, CHS discovered an opportunity to introduce child and mother monitoring and tracking technology that improves compliance with vaccination schedule and constant evaluation of a Mother’s pregnancy. It is a strategy that assumes both classical and systemic theories of strategy development.

The global market for healthcare technology is unlimited, according to research that shows the role of supportive technologies in healthcare delivery. Organizations in healthcare and other industries are pressed to reduce the cost of labour, and it is in this sense that they find assistive technology comes in handy (Bowen, 2016). The rising need to reduce labour-associated costs proposes to adopt new technology like a mobile phone in maternal and child health very critical. Therefore, by seeking to provide healthcare facilities with technology that enhances patients’ outcomes at a reduced cost, CHS is well placed to increase profitability and improve quality healthcare.

Performance Review

Healthcare is adopting the use of technology relatively fast because of the emerging demand for efficiency and speed in healthcare delivery. Regulatory requirements like connecting to Health Information Exchanges, coordinating data flow in Accountable Care Organizations, updating devices to ICD-10 codes, and general interoperability projects imply that a lot of work must be focused on health information technology (Johnson, 2012). CHS is aware of these demands in healthcare and strategizes to meet client demands to remain competitive in the technology market.

The company is also aware that global healthcare is supported by several technologies, and the implementation of a patient surveillance system enhances healthcare for maternal mothers and children. Adopting a mobile system that gathers information about the location, health, and due dates of maternal mothers allows CHS to market its services in the global health market while allowing for quality assessment from internal and external regulators.

Research shows that an organization in healthcare and other industries that target reducing the cost of labour through assistive technology will achieve a competitive advantage (Bowen, 2016). Due to the rising need to reduce labour-associated costs through implementing technology, CHS has adopted these new technologies that are integrated into Mobile Phones linked to the company’s supervisors. Where there is a failure of technology, there is immediate communication to the technical team that works round the clock to maintain and repair the system.

People’s Involvement in the Strategy

Cloud Health Services uses customer relationship management tools to manage customer data and contact information and enables employees to access important information about clients while they’re away from their offices. CRM is a powerful tool that 91% of businesses (with more than 11 employees) use to achieve success (Lazar, 2018). The CRM Software that is of choice for CHS’s marketing plan is NetSuite CRM+, which is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solution for small and midsize organizations. CHS is a medium size organization that seeks to make a global impact with the sale of healthcare technology.

The staff and customers of CHS have been trained in the use of CRM tools for seamless communication. This process ensures that there is timely and accurate communication between the management, technical team, and customers. The implementation of the company’s marketing strategy is undertaken by a selected team that involves the marketing manager and technicians that have experience and skills in the use of surveillance technologies.

The Customer Relationship Management tool selected for this project is capable of sales force automation, providing data about e-commerce and overall customer data management. The leadership and marketing team of CHS analyze data from the CRM to influence global marketing decisions about the mobile monitoring applications and performance of the GearFlo 360 camera in monitoring maternal mothers’ and children’s health. The company’s use of CRM also facilitates a quick understanding of product performance in the global market and informs strategic marketing decisions.

Pricing Strategy

The healthcare industry is redesigningredesigning its operations to accommodate technological changes that affect daily service delivery. Technological spillovers in most sectors are informal, involuntary, and nonmarket transfers. It implies that businesses cannot adequately prepare for technological shifts because a technology that they purchase today may be irrelevant in the next decade. CHS’s pricing strategy is based on the Function Point Analysis (FPA), which measures the functional size of an information system (Iqbal, 2020, pg. 12). However, for the new market, penetration-based pricing has been used to attract demand from new customers.

The costs that are associated with the development and launch of CHS’s products include; the purchase of the 360 camera, the purchase of the monitoring software, and the installation of the devices. The technical element of the strategy involves linking the new technology to the users’ mobile phones. These costs are part of the final pricing of the product that CHS offers to the global market. So far, there is no evidence of competition in the market for the two innovations. 360 Camera is sold as a single unit, and vendors have not attempted to integrate it with Mobile Phones or introduce it as a monitoring tool in maternal health. Therefore, it is an advantage for CHS that introduce this product because it has continued to enjoy a significant monopoly before competition emerges.

4. Recommendations

Cloud Health Services has significant potential to become a leading health technology company. The company must realize that the current success may only be short-lived because of the market forces that influence demand and supply. CHS should direct its financial resources where it will get higher benefits.

Second, CHS should understand that customer needs are different and they require different strategies. Today, it may be maternal mothers and children that require surveillance, but next, it may not be the same challenge hence the need to introduce new technology or a different focus group. Some cultural factors, economic factors, and regulations may influence customer demand, and CHS must be ready to resolve such issues as they may affect access to their products. CHS can only remain competitive if it develops appropriate business strategies which will allow its targeted customers to access and appreciate their products.

Finally, CHS management must remember that there will be a need to reevaluate their business strategy to establish if it is still relevant. This is because business strategies are temporary interventions that require modification and sometimes complete change (Maroun, 2018). The company’s executives must realize that the temporal nature of business strategies is owed to the following reasons; the changing nature of customer needs, competition, and technological advancement. As a result, they should be ready to adjust and align their strategy to the prevailing circumstances.

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