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Generic Strategies For Consolidation And An Explanation Of Market Structure Essay

Marketing Consolidation Strategies and Market Structure

Consolidation

Business may need to adopt a strategy of consolidation. The financial pressures in healthcare organizations have been noted as increasing the occurrence of consolidation (Goldstein, 2012). There are different consolidations strategies available, the choice of strategy should depend in the firms own situation and the general macro-environmental conditions as well as opportunities that exist. Berkowitz (2010) outlines four potential strategies; divestment, pruning, retrenchment, and harvesting. Each may be considered individually.

Divestment occurs where a business unit or product line is sold. A firm may decide that a particular business unit or product is not profitable, or does not add sufficient value. If the division or product range is profitable, it may be perceived as having a high opportunity cost; investment in one business/product may be tying up capital that may be used elsewhere...

If a division is not profitable or aligned with the core operation of the firm selling it off may be seen as best for the firm (Berkowitz, 2010). In many instances divestment may be undertaken if there has been a former unsuccessful diversification strategy (Berkowitz, 2010). A recent example of divestment was seen in Chicago, when Presence Health sold a 269 bed hospital, Our Lady of the Resurrection hospital, to Community First Healthcare of Illinois (Cherone, 2014).
The second consolidation strategy is pruning (Berkowitz, 2010). Pruning is undertaken when a company continues to serve a particular market, but reduces its' services or products, and may be referred to as cutting back (Berkowitz, 2010). With an estimated 25% of hospitals in the red, many are seeking to cut costs by reducing services that are costly to provide (Nisen, 2012; Berkowitz, 2010).

The third consolidation strategy is retrenchment, this occurs where a…

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The last strategy is harvesting, this is where a there is a gradual withdrawal of support for a product or services. During the withdrawal of support the product or service is still supplied, and demand will usually decrease, or the firm may seek to transfer the demand onto an alterative or substitute (Berkowitz, 2010). The term harvesting refers to the company taking as much revenue as possible from the product or service being harvested, while the demand decreases (Berkowitz, 2010). Harvest strategies are often seen when a product or service is nearing the end of its lifecycle (Kotler & Keller, 2011). For example, a harvest strategy may be used by a pharmaceutical form where newer more effective forms of treatment are being developed, so older products will no longer be needed.

Market Structure

There are four basic market structures which reflect different competitive position. The four models are monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and pure competition (Mintzberg et al., 2011; Berkowitz, 2010). A monopoly is where there is only one supplier for a product (Berkowitz, 2010). In this marketplace a consumer has no choice, as there is only a single supplier (Mintzberg et al., 2011). If a single company controls the market and there are no forces of
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