MBA755 - Reflections on Module 2 Concepts

a) What long term trends are likely to significantly impact the industry your organization is in over the next three years?
Regulatory and compliance issues are increasingly become an issue with the healthcare distribution industry. With recent counterfeit drug cases being uncovered in the United States the DEA and FDA have joined forces with the states to make it harder to distribute drugs. There have been new Pedigree laws that require the tracking of all drugs starting from the manufacturer. The latest requirements have already put several wholesalers out of business because the cost associated with becoming compliant have been too much for these businessess. In addition, our company is very sales oriented, but this is not the direction of most industries these days. Businesses want to purchase their healthcare supplies from businesses that are easy to work with and cheap. Our prices are way too high for consumers and they are only anticipated to rise as healthcare costs rise.

b) How could you use the force field analysis tool in your own work life?
The ideal state of our company and our mission is to become the number one distributor of drugs/medical devices to the pre-hospital market. I could take this goal and create the forces for change (competition, demand, rising costs of retaining key employees, etc.) and the forces against change (rising drug prices, lack of R&D, high-cost of technology) and then determine what can be changed so that our business can reach this goal. I do not believe, for example, that an outside sales force is going to be the key for survival. I believe that a strong Internet site, competitive prices, and low-cost operations are the key to surviving.

c) How would you go about making a business case for renewal in your own organization?
To make the case I stated above, I would create the force-field analysis along with a value-chain analysis and present recommendations for renewal. To make the business case I need to present it to key stakeholders including my boss and the corporate executives. However, since I am only working at the distribution level running one of 7 facilities, I would need to probably start with a smaller business case - I operations excellence - and present this as a start to my boss and then move from there.

d) What items would show up as being both urgent and important if you contructed an urgency versus importance matrix related to organizational renewal for yourself? Important by not urgent?
Important AND Urgent
Emails
Voicemails
Day-to-day operations at work
Incoming phone calls
Recalls

Important NOT Urgent
Projects
Schools assignments
Touch-base phone calls
General meetings