In the health care environment today, many organizations articulate their goal to be market driven. Market turbulence, new technologies and shifting competition
compel leaders to consider the power of a truly market driven organization in which strategy is aligned with changing market requirements. In reality, many
organizations fall short in translating their goal into action.
George S. Day in The Market Driven Organization (1999) states that market driven organizations have a superior ability to understand, attract and keep
valuable customers. These organizations know their markets so thoroughly that they are able to identify and nurture their valuable customers - instead of
trying to be all things to all people. Market driven organizations have the discipline to make sound strategic choices and implement them consistently and thoroughly.
Market driven organizations have a superior ability to understand, attract and keep valuable customers based on three defining elements:
Externally Oriented Culture
Market driven organizations have dominant beliefs, values and behaviors emphasizing superior customer value
Distinctive Capabilities
Market driven organizations have superior capabilities in market sensing, market relating and anticipatory strategic thinking
Market driven firms are better able to form close relationships with valued customers
Configuration
Market driven organizations are configured to enable the entire organization to continually anticipate and respond to changing market
conditions and customer requirements
Supporting these three elements, market driven organizations have a shared knowledge base to collect and disseminate market insights.
Advantages of a Market Driven Orientation
Several of the benefits of the market driven orientation are:
Superior cost efficiency
Employee satisfaction
Price premium
Revenue growth
Competitive preemption
Becoming market-driven is not always accomplished quickly or easily - it is an organizational transformation. There may be obstacles to overcome and a firm
determination is needed to guide the change process.
