Formulating business strategies from a stakeholders perspective: Korean healthcare it business cases

Abstract

The management of competing stakeholders has emerged as an important topic for formulating business strategies. This is especially the case in the complicated business environment like the healthcare IT (Information Technology) industries. This paper proposes a methodology to formulate business strategies based on stakeholders' demands. Our methodology begins with the understanding of stakeholders' demands. This understanding is particularly useful for businesses with conflicting stakeholders. Our methodology consists of four phases: current business analysis, strategy development, strategy evaluation, and strategy implementation. Power, legitimacy, urgency, interdependence, cooperation, and conflict are used as stakeholders related variables. Strategic alternatives are derived on the basis of stakeholders' demands. Resolution, replacement, integration, reaggregation, and balance guidelines are employed for this derivation. Strategic alternatives are then evaluated according to a business social performance index. In order to demonstrate the practical usefulness of our methodology, three business cases for the Korean healthcare IT industry are illustrated. The case results imply that our methodology is useful for strategy formulation, especially in the case of competing business stakeholders.