Preface vii

Chapter 1 The Nature of Strategic Management 1

Chapter 2 Understanding and Analyzing the General Environment and the Health Care Environment 33

Chapter 3 Service Area Competitor Analysis 75

Chapter 4 Internal Environmental Analysis and Competitive Advantage 127

Chapter 5 Directional Strategies 165

Chapter 6 Developing Strategic Alternatives 205

Chapter 7 Evaluation of Alternatives and Strategic Choice 255

Chapter 8 Value-Adding Service Delivery Strategies 307

Chapter 9 Value-Adding Support Strategies 345

Chapter 10 Communicating the Strategy and Developing Action Plans 383

Appendix A Analyzing Strategic Health Care Cases 411

Appendix B Health Care Organization Accounting, Finance, and Performance Analysis 423

Appendix C Health Care Acronyms 443

Index 451