Question

Harvard Business School Case Studies

Bella Healthcare India

Analyze the Bella Healthcare strategy that is formulated at four organizational levels?

• Functional-level strategy in terms of low-cost and differentiation and structure
• Business-level strategy in terms of low-cost and differentiation, focus and structure
• Corporate-level strategy in terms of vertical integration, related, and unrelated diversification.
• Global-level strategy-structure relationship.
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• According to contingency theory, each function should develop a structure that suits its human and technical resources. How did Bella Healthcare apply this theory in R&D?

Answer 1

As the case has not been provided, answers may vary a little.

Bella Healthcare tries to come up with an adaptable product for India & it is working with low cost suppliers & transitioning through total process from R&D to manufacturing. They also have challenges from competitors like GE and others who are experienced in R&D field. Customer satisfaction in terms of portability, ease of use, affordability & connectivity is desirable. Easy transportation with battery availability for areas with electricity is not continuous. Easy operation in limited training & Mobile connectivity for telemedicine. To capture pricing advantage, cost effective manufacturing is the target.

Bella healthcare is equipped with physical, financial & human resources & capabilities like product, pricing management & customer relationship. They have experience & efficiency in field of machine electro-cardiograph & this can surely help in differentiation & being already established can give cost advantage too. Demand for healthcare services is on rise &   diagnostic ECG machine can capture market share. Limited threat of private entrants is there but as an established & experienced player, & India being high in heart disease rate, they can have low cost & differentiation advantage; also competition is low from public sector.

If Bella Healthcare India can create even stronger market presence & make related products available also, new entrants would not be able to compete. It can enter in Joint Ventures or buy some supplier firms to stay ahead of its competitors.

Enhanced planning, management & coordination is required. As cross culture has been the relevant issue, efforts should be made to ease cross cultural difference for better synergy & productivity. Decentralization & independence to teams is important. Impersonal training s at global level will help in increasing the coordination. For better Global-level strategy-structure relationship, clear organizational processes need to be implemented which will help in solving priority conflicts too.

Specific role definition for design engineers & manufacturing is important which was not there & it led to conflict. Asian suppliers did not give high priority without a concrete deal. Suppliers lost trust due to multiple iterations. Lack of clear directions & communication could not result in coordinated effort of R&D & manufacturing. Bella healthcare worked as per the situation & tried to bridge differences.