Effective strategy initiative for Estia Health Organization

2 Strategy Statement of Estia Health 4 1. 3 VRIO & Value Chain Models Analysis 4-5 Operational Overview 2. Strategic Initiative for Google Analytics Technology, Pipedrive toll and Hootsuite software 5 2. 1 Strategic Initiatives 5 2. 2 Porter’s Diamond Model 5-6 • Factors conditions 5 • Demand conditions 5 • Related & Supporting Industries 5 • Firm strategy, Industry Structure & Rivalry 6 2. 2 In-depth Research 4. 2 Implementing & Managing Proposed Changes 13-14 • Management & Implementation 4. 1 Expansion of Estia Health Organization Networks 4. 2 Marketing 4. 3 Research & Development 4. Estia Health is an Australian organization which seeks to provide homes and quality care for the elderly who reside in these homes. This report will highlight the current business strategy adopted by Estia Health organization. After reviewing the current business strategy, focus will be shifted towards the implementation new strategies which will enable the organization gain competitive advantage and meet.

Following a comprehensive review on Estia Health business strategy, it was discovered that the organization adopts hybrid business strategy. A hybrid business strategy is one which fosters differentiation and is often associated with low costs of production. According to Houghton Mifflin (382), they have adopted traditional marketing strategies to reach out to clients from every location in Australia. The marketing strategies adopted include; personal selling, Mass Media advertisements among others. However, these marketing strategies are associated with high marketing costs which results to an increase in total annual expenses incurred by the organization. In a bid to lower the costs of production, Estia Health organization hires a team of contractors and architects, who plan, build and maintain Estia Health homes. The organization also furnishes their houses to meet the tastes and preferences of their clients.

Estia Health avails quality products and services which are unique in the market (Lawson, 179). The organization recognizes that many elderly people have worries about losing their independence, addresses and changing their lifestyles (Lawson, 206). Estia Health staff dedicates and relentless effort towards creating personal, comfortable as well as safe environments for their residents who live within Estia Health homes. The residents living within Estia Health homes remain connected with their community since the organization provides an environment which embraces the residents and their families as well (Houghton Mifflin 357). According to Fahey et al. Following VRIO analysis on Estia Health, it was clear that products and services offered by the organization are essential. Elderly individuals in Australia need a place they can call home and access quality health care services conveniently.

Estia Health is one of the few companies in Australia that provides homes and aged care to the elderly at affordable prices. In terms of organization, an Executive Director and a Care Director are assigned to manage every Estia home. These directors manage a nursing team of Advanced Practice Nurses who are qualified to offer aged care to residents in their homes. Estia Health networks enable the organization to develop the culture of creativity and innovation. Staff members are encouraged to come up with solutions to problems which would create new experiences for residents in their homes (Strassmann and Paul, 293). The administrators of the organization have come up with bespoke systems which ensure quality control and also ensure that every resident receives the right level of care.

The management staff of the organization constantly gathers feedback from their employees, families of residents and Estia Health home residents which would enable them to improve the quality of services they offer to their customers (Henderson, 326). Estia Health has heavily invested in their Greenfield and brownfield programs of development. This means that the cost of marketing these products and services to potential consumers around Australia can be very high. To minimize the cost of marketing their products, Estia Health have shifted to social media advertisements for their products and services. This helps to cut down the marketing costs of the company (Hunt and Derozier, 37). New marketing technologies may be implemented to foster effective marketing of Estia products and services (Lawson, 2006). These may include the use of Hootsuite software, Pipedrive tool and Google analytics technology.

All major towns in Australia are connected to free internet therefore potential consumers of Estia Health products and services may view advertisements and offers of the organization for free (Paul, 199). The use of social media for personal and business interactions has been embraced by very many Australian citizens. Therefore, social media marketing is a very effective marketing strategy that may target potential customers from all over Australia. Unlike other marketing strategies such as personal selling which may all reach a small fraction of prospective customers, social media marketing targets a large fraction of the entire population (Henderson, 396). Demand conditions The elderly make up a very large fraction of Australia’s total population. Since cost and quality directly influence demand, the demand for Estia homes is high.

Moreover, Estia Health adoption of social media marketing will also increase the demand of Estia Health product and services (Henderson 351). Related & Supporting Industries Google in conjunction with other companies provide freemium web analytics services to all companies with websites. This enables Estia Health to use Google Analytics technology to track and manage marketing efforts on their own website. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter offer advertisement services to organizations around the world. Product and Services attributes Estia Health provides quality homes and aged care to elderly individuals in Australia. The introduction of new marketing technology such as the adoption of Google Analytics technology in product and services marketing helps to reduce the cost of marketing. Low marketing costs with maximum sales means that stakeholders of the organization tend to benefit from huge returns.

Basically, marketing costs of products and services are expenses which reduce the total share capital of an organization. Adopting marketing strategies such as social media advertisements helps to reduce marketing expenses (Kadiyali, Sudhir and Vithala, 247). A quality and standards body has been established in Australia to protect consumers from false advertisements and sale of counterfeit products. The use of social media marketing strategy by Estia Health is with accordance with the laws and guidelines stipulated by the quality and standards body in Australia. The government also benefits from tax revenue gained from social media advertisements of Estia Health products and services (Pearson, 238). Economical Due to the low marketing costs incurred by Estia Health organization, the company may offer their products and services at relatively low prices.

This increases the sales of the organization since most consumers mainly focus on cost of products and services rather than quality. They avail a variety of program which allows residents within the homes to interact with each other and other members of the society. Within Estia homes, there are churches, mosques and temples within the vicinity where residents may develop their religions and interact with other people in the society. Estia Health can choose to advertise these provisions on their social media page in form of descriptive videos. This move may give the organization competitive advantage over its competitors (Henderson, 175). Technological Australia is a technologically advanced country where a large population of citizens is computer literate. For this report the CAGE framework will not be analyzed since the organization is yet to establish business ties overseas (Kadiyali, Sudhir and Vithala, 271).

3 SAFe MODEL The SAFe model evaluates the suitability of new strategy initiatives within large organizations. The model determines whether or not the new strategy addresses Estia Health weaknesses to threat and strengths on opportunities in the industry. Strengths translating to opportunities for Estia Health Estia Health has a strong relationship with their employees and suppliers as well. Internet and computer hardware suppliers supply to the organization these products at discounted prices. Therefore, social media marketing of Estia Health homes and services may not be totally inclusive. (Volpato and Stocchetti, 149) 4. New Strategy Initiatives 4. 1 Identifying Resources & Capabilities for Change There are several systematic and organizational changes that have to be initiated before adopting the use of social media marketing technologies; Hootsuite, Pipedrive and Google Analytics 4.

1 Expansion of Estia Health Networks Estia Health should install broad bandwidth internet network within the organization. Therefore, network cables should be installed at all vantage points within the organization and its satellite branches to ensure that all the computers within the organization have unlimited access to internet on a 24-hour basis (Homburg et al. 2 In-depth Research Estia Health organization should allocate resources and capital to finance research and development of these technologies. The company will have to high qualified IT experts who have experience in networking and digital marketing. After thorough research, ICT experts may introduce security measures into the system to enhance the organization’s data privacy and security (Henderson 306). 2 Implementing & Managing Proposed Changes Management & Implementation The Kaleidoscope model may be used by Estia Health model in implementation of the necessary changes needed for the adoption of the new strategy initiative (Pacios, 299).

For personal selling to be effective, Estia Health organization may be obliged to hire sales persons who will travel across major town in Australia to create awareness of Estia Health homes and services. These sales persons are normally paid sales commission which depends on the number of clients each sales person signs up. However, this is a very expensive and time consuming strategy (Henderson 326). Estia Health should adopt a new marketing strategy that is effective and relatively inexpensive at the same time. As mentioned earlier, advertising Estia Health homes and services on social media platforms is the most suitable marketing strategy. Measurement of the New Strategic Initiatives 5. 1 Balance Scorecard After implementation of a new strategy initiative within an organization, there should be a follow upon the performance of the new initiative.

Conventionally, a balance scorecard is used to analyze the performance of newly introduced strategies within large organizations. For this report, the balance scorecard will be used to provide both qualitative and quantitative measures of the performance of the new technology introduced in Estia Health (Kadiyali, Sudhir and Vithala, 295). Financial Perspective Customer Perspective Survival Customer service Internal Perspective Innovation and Learning Perspectives Development of Information Technology Systems Critical Success Factor Figure 3: Elements of Estia Health Balance Scorecard Tool (Johnson et al. Estia Health customer care service personnel can offer immediate feedback to client accordingly. Advertisement videos may provide customers with an insight of what it is like to live in Estia Health homes (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 207). Potential customers had to visit Estia Health homes to access the services and conditions of the homes before they decide whether or not to live in these homes.

Since Estia Health homes are designed for the elderly, travelling to Estia Health homes was a cumbersome and time consuming process. However, with social media marketing technologies such as Hootsuite and Google Analytics, potential customers can watch advertisement videos of Estia Health homes which provide of full description of what to expect in these homes (Pearson, 211). The staff members will also have to develop complete understanding of how Google Analytics, Pipedrive and Hootsuite technologies work when it comes to social media marketing. Computer simulations are the most effective learning tools for easier and faster learning of the basic aspects of social media marketing and the new technology to be used in the new adopted marketing strategy (Homburg et al. 2 Strategy Map Financial Perspective Profitable Growth Sustainability Increasing Revenue Customer Perspective Meeting Demand for Homes And aged care Internal Processes Perspective Internet and Computer Hardware Suppliers Growth & Development Perspective Computer Literacy, Cultural and Customer Needs The strategy map above shows linkage between the perspectives of Estia Health.

Employees are subjected to vocational training where the learn how to use the new technology in marketing the homes and services offered by Estia Health. Conclusion Estia Health organization should shift from traditional marketing strategies to the new marketing technology which utilizes Hootsuite, Pipedrive and Google Analytics social media marketing technologies. & Wolf, C. (2010) 'Technology Strategy' In: Narayanan, V. K. & O'Connor, G. C. [Chapter 4 - 'A Brief History of Marketing ^ Strategic Management Journal, 5, pp. Barney, J. B. (1991) “Background on Foresighting Methods,” Ch. 2 in Foresighting Around the World, Battelle Seattle Research Centre, 1997, e-text, www. B. , & Hesterly, W. S. VRIO Framework. In Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage (pp. , "Does history matter in strategy? The possibilities and problems of Brown, L. , Competitive Marketing Strategy: Dynamic Manoeuvring for Competitive Position, Melbourne, Nelson, 1997; West, D.

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