Stakeholder Participation in the Strategic Plan Developing Process: A Survey from the Hospital Setting

Background: One of the most important requirements for developing a strategic plan is the effective participation of various stakeholders in plan formulation. The aim of present study was the evaluation of stakeholder participation in the strategic plan developing process in selected hospitals in Tehran. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. This study was conducted in selected hospitals at Tehran in 2015. The data collection tool was a researcher made questionnaire consisting of 3 parts: demographic data, stakeholder participation, and attention to the strategic plan's components. The validity of questionnaire was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's Alpha test (α = 0.8). The SPSS18 software was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and percentages) were calculated. Results: The findings showed that the highest (42.9) and lowest (34.7) mean score of stakeholder participation in the strategic planning formulation was related to "provision required information for planning" and" presentation of gathering and documentation of the plan, "respectively. Hospital managers (91 percent) had the highest involvement, and external stakeholders had the least participation (1.7 percent) in the strategic planning formulation. The least attention is devoted to evaluating the proposed strategies' feasibility, identifying competitive and strategic differentiation, and identifying stakeholders' concerns and needs, respectively. Conclusion: Stakeholders' involvement in the formulation of the hospitals' strategic plan was not favorable, and hospitals were unable or unwilling to benefit from their participation in the program.

Strategic Differentiation by Business Models: Free-To-Air and Pay-TV

Broadcasting markets are marked by the coexistence of outlets with radically different business models, some offering content free of charge and relying on advertising, others charging for access and airing few ads. We develop a model with competing broadcasters that leads to endogenous differentiation in business models. Differentiation is not driven by the heterogeneity of agents as in classic works. Rather it relates to the ‘two-sided’ nature of these markets. A key driver is a strong form of strategic substitutability induced by natural properties of technology that allows advertisers to reach viewers.

The ecology of empire

We tracked the relative integration and differentiation among life history traits over the period spanning AD 1800–1999 in the Britannic and Gallic biocultural groups. We found that Britannic populations tended toward greater strategic differentiation, while Gallic populations tended toward greater strategic integration. The dynamics of between-group competition between these two erstwhile rival biocultural groups were hypothesized as driving these processes. We constructed a latent factor that specifically sought to measure between-group competition and residualized it for the logarithmic effects of time. We found a significantly asymmetrical impact of between-group competition, where the between-group competition factor appeared to be driving the diachronic integration in Gallic populations but had no significantly corresponding influence on the parallel process of diachronic differentiation in Britannic populations. This suggests that the latter process was attributable to some alternative and unmeasured causes, such as the resource abundance consequent to territorial expansion rather than contraction.

Sustainable Advantages of Business Value of Information Technology

The business value of information technology (IT) and the way to sustain advantages obtained through investment in IT has been a topic of interest in the last few years. It is important to understand the relationship of IT and its effects on business value, particularly the sustainable advantages that companies can obtain if they use IT to obtain a strategic differentiation and operating efficiency in relation to competitors. This chapter explores these sustainable advantages and their links to performance measures and firm strategies. This chapter will also help us understand the incremental contribution that companies can enjoy after the adoption of a new IT.

When does it pay to stand out as stand-up? Competitive contingencies in the corporate social performance–corporate financial performance relationship

We develop a competitive contingency model of the relationship between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance, focusing on the moderating effects of industry-based factors. We conceptualize corporate social performance as a form of strategic differentiation and predict that the positive link between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance is strongest when a firm competes in an environment that is not conducive to corporate social performance. Analyses of data from roughly 2500 publicly traded firms between 2002 and 2009 support the moderating effects of industry munificence and social orientation. We discuss the implications of our contingency model for firms seeking a competitive advantage through corporate social performance.