Two Case Studies Banner Health and Singapore Air

Health Organization

Banner Health is a non-profit health care company, operating in 23 states. Its facilities provide a number of different types of care. Banner is based in Phoenix, and Arizona is home to a large portion of the company's operations. Over the course of the next decade, the baby boom generation will continue to enter its senior years something that will challenge the health care industry nationwide. The challenge will especially be felt in a state like Arizona, where many people go to retire. Banner's strategic objectives include lowering costs, providing high quality care and an excellent patient experience ("About Us," 2015). Banner has more than 3000 providers and the network has over 400,000 members.

Banner's vision incorporates the need to handle the growing population of elderly, with their many health needs. Banner has, for example, built out a large facility in Boulder, CO, as a means of not only capturing that market but acting as a draw for longer-term patients perhaps, as the Boulder market is oversaturated with hospital beds. The company has also sought to fill beds by establishing a partnership with Kaiser Permanente (Armbriter, 2012). Banner has also entered into a multi-year strategic partnership with Cerner that will help it to innovate more, lower costs and better position itself to meet market needs for years to come (Monegain, 2015).

From a human resources perspective, the company has faced the same struggles that many health providers have with respect to the chronic nursing shortage. The company has worked with various agencies and levels of government proactively to try to enhance workforces in states where the shortages are most acute (Banner Health, 2012). The good news for Banner is that for the states in which it operates, only California is thought to have an acute nursing shortage (Tuten, 2012).

Overall Banner Health appears to be ready for the next ten years. There may still be lingering issues with the nursing shortage, which is not expected to be fully alleviated until the baby boom generation starts to die off in larger numbers, by 2030, but otherwise Banner is in a good position, mainly in states where staffing shortages are not as critical. Moreover, the company has undertaken a number of strategic partnerships in recent years, and these will help it to be in a better strategic position. The partnership include focuses on innovation and new facilities. That Banner is expanding is evidence that the company has a long-run strategic plan, one that enables them to target strong growth markets, and come in with a focused market entry strategy, like it has to win business in Boulder.

Banner's commit to patient satisfaction is one of its core objectives. One of the realities of health care is that if the company does not place precedence on patient satisfaction then it is unlikely to achieve it. That Banner has built patient satisfaction into its core objectives helps to orient that people within the organization towards that goal. Moreover Banner is more likely to be held accountable to this objective, given that they have publicly stated a commitment to ensuring patient satisfaction. There are likely internal metrics that the company has to hold its managers and other staff members accountable for patient satisfaction issues.

Banner is also managing its growth and resources. As noted, it has built a new facility in Boulder, but overall is growing relatively slowly. When it does grow, this growth has frequently taken the form of strategic partnerships. These partnership allows Banner to grow and make strategic changes to its organization without as much capital outlay as would be required if the company attempted to strike out on its own. Despite the fact that Banner operates in a number of Western states, it is ultimately not that large a company; partnerships and strategic alliances allow it to make the best out of its resources.

Singapore Airlines has built its business on a reputation for high levels of service quality. The company instituted a visionary human resources policy to support the service differentiation, and it has also marketed this as a key feature of its business. However, Singapore is in a competitive business. The airline is now facing competition in the Asia market from other airlines known for high service levels, particularly JAL, Asiana and Korean. Singapore is also a player on the Asia-Europe or Australia-Europe runs, for which it now competes with the airlines in the Gulf states.

The Singapore case also highlights that once the company has a certain reputation, it can be difficult for it to move away from any tactics that might detract from that reputation. Removing sleepers on first class to replace them with business class essentially downgraded the airline with the customers who matter most -- first class customers have almost no price sensitivity and therefore are relied upon by airlines for their profitability. The slot machine plan -- to take advantage of Singapore's gaming restrictions, was another strategy that ultimately failed because it took away from the brand reputation that Singapore Airlines had strived so hard to build up.

The company's missteps stemmed from going away from what it was originally known for. In order to capture some of the market that is more price sensitive and less concerned with service, Singapore has introduced Scoot, a budget brand, and Silk, a regional brand. By moving away from the Singapore Airlines brand, these other companies are able to set up their own business and brand identities. Further, their presence does not dilute the Singapore brand because that brand is not used anywhere.

Singapore has, since its misadventures with first class and gambling, reverted back to its bread and butter of excellent service. The airline has worked with the government of Singapore to ensure that Changi is one of the best airports in the world. This is necessary because many flights to/from are long-haul flights, such as those to India, Australia, Japan and Europe. As such, customers want a good flying experience. The combination of high end service and a quality airport in which to change planes has helped Singapore to compete in this regional and intercontinental traffic.