Akron Children’s Hospital Essay

1. Akron Children’s Hospital Marketing Director Aaron Powell felt it was important to conduct this study because Akron Children’s Hospital’s marketing director Aaron Powell thought that it was important to conduct this study, because other competitive hospitals in the area had hired marketing directors similar to himself, and were consequently intensifying their marketing campaigns in the area, which created an urgency for Akron Children’s Hospital to intensify its marketing efforts in order to remain competitive. 2. The main purpose of Akron Children’s Hospital study was? The main purpose of the Akron Children’s Hospital study was to ascertain the best positioning for this hospital for the upcoming communications campaign, which was intended to increase the number of patients for the hospital by approximately 10% in the next fiscal year. By properly positioning this hospital for the upcoming communications campaign, the marketing director would exponentially increase the probability of this hospital increasing its patient cases by at least the 10% desired. 3. The key questions the Akron Children’s Hospital employees is the case are â€Å"What paths can they pursue?† The key questions that Akron Hospital employees addressed in this case are whether to proceed with plan A,B,C, or D, and would this effort be a worthwhile investment of financial resources? 4. The methods used by Powell and his team to answer the marketing research problem were? The methods used by Powell and his research team to answer the marketing research questions,  were to conduct four focus groups in which participants would discuss their experiences with the hospital, conducting a field survey in order to follow up on the issues that were identified in the focus groups, to ascertain the positioning preference of the focus group respondents, to statistically determine that preference among the positioning alternatives, or to conduct no research and brainstorm if found feasible. 5. The most important understanding about Arkon Children’s Hospital as an organization that led the firm to consider the research about its positioning was The most important understanding about Akron Children’s Hospital as an organization that led the firm to consider the research about its positioning was that this hospital was basically about the kids, and that everything about this hospital should emphasize the kids. In addition, there were rival hospitals that were engaging in aggressive marketing campaigns that threatened the economic and financial security of this hospital as a business institution. An increase in the marketing campaigns in these hospitals could reduce the number of patient cases at Akron Children’s Hospital. 6. The research design decision can be put into context by The research design can be put into context as qualitative focus group centered research, that also contained elements of quantitative research methodologies, due to the inclusion of statistical subject matter. 7. The main inferences/conclusions in this case are The main conclusions of this case are that the effective positioning of an institution will require a number of planning options, with focus group research being among those options. There must be a concerted effort by all team members to focus on the primary objective to be achieved, the cost-benefit analysis is absolutely essential in advising staff members of the efficacy of an investment, and effective marketing is absolutely essential. 8. If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications for many other firms are If this reasoning is applied to other firms, those firms would probably be highly successful in improving their positioning within a given industry, and the application of the marketing strategies that were used in this scenario would also be highly beneficial. The development of a list of alternative plans, as well as a methodology by which to analyze the results of those plans and focus group research, would be viable for any firm to use.