Broadening Focus: Spillovers and the Benefits of Specialization in the Hospital Industry
| Authors: | Jonathan R. Clark and Robert S. Huckman |
|---|---|
| Published: | May 7, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | April 2009 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
What is the optimal scope of operations for firms? This question has particular relevance for the U.S. hospital industry, because understanding the effects of focus and spillovers might help hospitals determine how they should balance focusing in a single clinical area with building expertise in related areas. While some scholars argue that narrowing an organization's set of activities improves its operational efficiency, others have noted that seemingly unfocused operations perform at a high level and that a broader range of activities may in fact increase firm value. This study by HBS doctoral student Jonathan Clark and professor Robert Huckman highlights the potential role of spillovers—specifically complementary spillovers—in generating benefits from focus at the operating unit level.
Where is the Pharmacy to the World? International Regulatory Variation and Pharmaceutical Industry Location
| Author: | Arthur Daemmrich |
|---|---|
| Published: | April 22, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | April 2009 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
The era of paternalistic medicine has passed, but the notion that patients can act as consumers and make appropriate decisions concerning medical treatment poses countervailing risks of its own. A better accommodation among key players needs to be struck to foster the safe use of pharmaceuticals, according to HBS professor Arthur Daemmrich. The "pharmacy to the world," once located at the intersection of Germany, Switzerland, and France, today is found in the United States. Studies of the industry have attributed this sustained competitive advantage to a variety of factors, including U.S. intellectual property policies, funding for biomedical research through the National Institutes of Health, the absence of government controls on drug prices, and the availability of venture capital and other factors that fostered the growth of the biotechnology industry. The data and analysis presented in this working paper, however speculative, are an initial step toward deepening the understanding of interrelationships between government regulation, patients' mobilization both as regulators and as consumers, and the functioning of the pharmaceutical industry.
Published in 2007
How Do Managers Think?
| Published: | May 4, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 59 Comments posted |
"Uncertainty sometimes is essential for success" asserts a new book, How Doctors Think. The work of doctors raises intriguing questions about managing, says Jim Heskett, since diagnostics are an important part of managerial decision-making, too. Jim sums up nearly 60 responses from readers around the world, including practicing physicians.
Published in 2005
Entrepreneurial Hospital Pioneers New Model
| Published: | January 24, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
A "Robin Hood" cardiac hospital in India—which charges wealthy patients, yet equally welcomes the destitute—is an exciting example of entrepreneurship in the subcontinent, says HBS professor Tarun Khanna.
Published in 2004
Side Effects: The Case of Propecia
| Published: | November 22, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Selling Propecia was a difficult marketing task for Merck & Co., and was recently the subject of a case study debated by Harvard Business School alumni.
Bypass Marketing: Are Docs Influenced?
| Q&A with: | Alvin J. Silk |
|---|---|
| Published: | November 1, 2004 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Although they are prescription drugs, Viagra, Prozac, Allegra and many others are pitched directly to consumers. Do physicians take notice? HBS professor Alvin Silk and Harvard's Joel Weissman discuss a recent study.
Health Care Research and Prospects
| Q&A with: | Gary P. Pisano and Marta Wosinska |
|---|---|
| Published: | August 2, 2004 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
A groundbreaking project at Harvard Business School is bringing together faculty, researchers, and students to probe issues in health care management. An interview with Professor Gary P. Pisano.
Published in 2003
Making Biotech Work as a Business
| Published: | January 13, 2003 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
What will it take for biotechnology to fulfill its economic potential? Participants need to think twice about the strategies and assumptions that are driving the industry, says HBS professor Gary P. Pisano.
Published in 2001
Healthcare Conference Looks At Ailing Industry
| Published: | December 3, 2001 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
What's plaguing healthcare? Experts including HBS professor Clayton Christensen make the diagnosis on future trends for biology and medicine—and the business opportunities within—at the 2nd HBS Alumni Healthcare Conference.
Published in 2000
The Business of Biotech
| Published: | August 7, 2000 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
On the cusp of what most analysts agree will be the age of biotechology, Professor Gary P. Pisano and four HBS alums on the front lines of the biotech revolution offer their views of the challenges, issues and opportunities facing the industry in the laboratory, the boardroom and the marketplace.
What's an Internet Business Model? Ask a Health Care Professional
| Published: | June 26, 2000 |
|---|---|
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Health care and the Internet are well-matched for each other, quipped one panelist at the IS2K conference, "because no one wants to pay for either." Quips aside, the health care field is emerging as one of the busiest laboratories for exciting new business models—and the stakes are high indeed. In a discussion moderated by HBS Professor Lynda Applegate, experts in this burgeoning realm of Internet activity talked about what their businesses are doing to change the rules, all while trying to fulfill their primary goal of earning patients' trust.
