Kofi Osei-Frimpong – författare

Health Service Marketing Management in Africa (978-0-429-40085-8, K402492)

Shelving Guide: Business & Management / Marketing Management

The application of marketing to healthcare is a fascinating field that will likely have more impact on society than any other field of marketing. It’s been theorized that an intrinsically unstable environment characterizes this very relevant emerging field, hence raising new questions. Changing regulations, discoveries, and new health treatments continuously appear and give rise to such questions. Advancements in technology not only improve healthcare delivery systems but also provide avenues for customers to seek information regarding their health conditions and influence their participatory behaviors or changing roles in the service delivery. Increasingly, there is a shift from a doctor-led approach to a more patient-centered approach.

In Africa, the importance of marketing-driven practices in improving the delivery of healthcare services cannot be overemphasized. The issue of healthcare delivery and management is significant for policymakers, private sector players, and consumers of health-related services in developing economy contexts. Scholars have strongly argued in favor of marketing and value creation in healthcare service delivery in Africa. Each country in Africa has its own issues. For example, long waiting times, unavailable medications, and unfriendly staff are just a sampling of issues affecting the acceptability of healthcare services. These examples highlight the need to utilize marketing and value creation tools in the delivery of healthcare services. Furthermore, there is a need for the integration of service marketing and management principles to enhance the delivery of quality healthcare across Africa and other developing economies which is the critical focus of this book.

This book responds to calls for quality healthcare service management practices or processes from developing economy perspectives. Focusing primarily on African and other developing economy contexts, this book covers seven thematic areas: strategy in healthcare; marketing imperatives in healthcare management; product and pricing management in healthcare; distribution and marketing communications in healthcare; managing people in healthcare; physical evidence and service quality management in healthcare; and process management in healthcare.

Health Service Marketing Management in Africa (978-0-429-40085-8, K402492)

Shelving Guide: Business & Management / Marketing Management

The application of marketing to healthcare is a fascinating field that will likely have more impact on society than any other field of marketing. It’s been theorized that an intrinsically unstable environment characterizes this very relevant emerging field, hence raising new questions. Changing regulations, discoveries, and new health treatments continuously appear and give rise to such questions. Advancements in technology not only improve healthcare delivery systems but also provide avenues for customers to seek information regarding their health conditions and influence their participatory behaviors or changing roles in the service delivery. Increasingly, there is a shift from a doctor-led approach to a more patient-centered approach.

In Africa, the importance of marketing-driven practices in improving the delivery of healthcare services cannot be overemphasized. The issue of healthcare delivery and management is significant for policymakers, private sector players, and consumers of health-related services in developing economy contexts. Scholars have strongly argued in favor of marketing and value creation in healthcare service delivery in Africa. Each country in Africa has its own issues. For example, long waiting times, unavailable medications, and unfriendly staff are just a sampling of issues affecting the acceptability of healthcare services. These examples highlight the need to utilize marketing and value creation tools in the delivery of healthcare services. Furthermore, there is a need for the integration of service marketing and management principles to enhance the delivery of quality healthcare across Africa and other developing economies which is the critical focus of this book.

This book responds to calls for quality healthcare service management practices or processes from developing economy perspectives. Focusing primarily on African and other developing economy contexts, this book covers seven thematic areas: strategy in healthcare; marketing imperatives in healthcare management; product and pricing management in healthcare; distribution and marketing communications in healthcare; managing people in healthcare; physical evidence and service quality management in healthcare; and process management in healthcare.

This book responds to calls for a systematic approach in understanding the transformations in the social media marketing landscape. To narrow the focus, the book takes a developing economy perspective and presents a comprehensive understanding of social media practices and how these can be integrated in firms’ operational activities to create a competitive advantage.

In emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), social media provides a technological solution to the economic challenges faced by governments, firms, and people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Social media is often considered to be fundamentally changing the business paradigm and is increasingly integrated into the marketing function, and EMDEs seem to be quickly finding out that it offers them a relatively low-cost opportunity to potentially leapfrog the competition in developed markets.

By using social technology to reach users in different market segments in ways that were impossible before, social sites such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) create tremendous new growth opportunities for businesses. As businesses embrace social media solutions however, some challenges emerge in the adoption, utilisation, integration, and implementation of social media systems and tools in EMDEs— hence the need to provide pathways to better integrate social media into the marketing activities of emerging market institutions.

This book provides practical guidance on the use of social media in marketing management. It provides contemporary perspectives on social media marketing, and while it is aimed primarily at practitioners, it could also serve as teaching text for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes.