Question description
Written Assignment 3 – Health services organizations place
and price decisions – worth 20% of the grade
Overview: Your third assignment will be an analysis of the
place and price decisions of a health services organization as covered in Week
5 and 6. You may use the same organization that was your focus on Written
Assignment 2, or pick another health services organization with which you are
familiar. Be sure you understand the marketing concepts discussed during Weeks
5 and 6 and can apply them to your organization.
You might have to seek out some information on the
organization by visiting its website, or if it is an employer interviewing
someone who has knowledge of the pricing and distribution decisions. After you
have completed your research, answer each of the following questions in turn
following all the general guidelines or written assignments posted in the
syllabus.
Brief overview of the organizations service/products and a
description of their target market. This is important to ensure that your
analysis considers the needs of the target market in evaluating their pricing
and channel decisions.
How do you think the organization arrives at its price?
Refer to the Week 6 Overview for a framework of some of the pricing
considerations and discuss those that appear relevant to your organization.
Do you think the pricing strategy is appropriate? Can it be
improved to better meet its customer’s needs?
Is the organization hindered or helped in their pricing
decisions by government or payer restrictions. If so, how do these restrictions
impact their pricing strategy?
What kind of value delivery network does the organization
employ, e.g. horizontal or vertical, and what is their distribution strategy,
e.g. exclusive, intensive or intensive? What factors influence the distribution
strategies of this organization? Are they customer-focused? If possible, outline
all of the channel members and what function they perform to serve the
customer?
Can you recommend any changes to the value delivery network
that would serve customer needs better?
