Strategic positioning: where does your organization stand?

O ver 20 years ago, the concept of strategic positioning was popularized by Jack Trout and Al Ries in their seminal publication Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (McGraw Hill, 1981). Although this concept has been enthusiastically embraced by many industries, its application in healthcare has been laggard at best. Because almost all healthcare organizations in the United States continue to operate in competitive environments, strategic positioning is a concept that warrants careful consideration. Simply stated, an organization’s strategic position is its perceptual location relative to others. Examples in the consumer-products segment of our economy are plentiful. If we search for toothpaste, we find numerous highly positioned products such as Crest for fighting cavities, Close-Up for fresh breath, Pearl Drops for whitening, and Tom’s of Maine for a natural alternative. This concept is also deeply rooted in the hospitality industry. Just look at Marriott and its array of properties, from the luxury-driven Marriott Marquis Hotels to the business-travelerfocused Courtyard by Marriott to the budget-oriented Fairfield Inn to the longerstay-specialist Residence Inn. Banks, airlines, retail establishments, and even colleges and universities provide additional examples. How can we apply this powerful concept to healthcare? Better yet, how can healthcare organizations afford not to? Most organizations have many more market opportunities to pursue than available resources—particularly capital and manpower—so how do their leaders make the difficult decisions among new marketplace initiatives? Do they buy the latest in diagnostic imaging technology or invest in a new facility for outpatient rehabilitation services? Should they recruit another surgical subspecialist or focus on replacing a retiring primary care provider? Strategic positioning provides a vehicle for creating organizational focus and a framework for considering these resource-allocation questions. When an organization can clearly articulate its perceptual location relative to those of other organizations, the complexities surrounding these decisions are significantly reduced.