scholarly journals We Do Much More Than Norms Require’: Making Sense of Family-owned Healthcare Firms’ Profitability and Ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 227797792110401
Author(s):  
Esa Hiltunen ◽  
Riikka Holopainen ◽  
Kang Li
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Sensemaking Theory ◽  
Private Healthcare ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
High Standards

To address the literature gap regarding the business ethics of family firms in the healthcare sector, this case study investigates profitability and business ethics from the perspective of a very successful Finnish private healthcare company. The study combines business ethics and sensemaking theories to provide a broad view of the company’s performance and stimulate new thinking about the relationship between ethics and profitability in private healthcare. Company’s profitability requirements seem to elicit disapproval from the public. This study examines how a private, family-owned healthcare company combines business ethics and profitability successfully in its operations and how this family-owned company has successfully constructed a plausible, trusted and ethical identity. The theoretical framework of this study is based on business ethics, profitability, trust and sensemaking theory. The study shows that the case company has worked tirelessly to maintain high ethical practices and standards in providing excellent care and enjoying high profitability. By achieving high standards of business ethics and maintaining good social relations with stakeholders, the company has developed a plausible and trustworthy identity, while continuously improving its operations. The case shows that the surrounding environment, in particular, places significant pressure on the case company’s daily activities and management. Even when customers (municipalities and residents) are very satisfied with the quality of care, this does not automatically lead to performance and profitability in the short term. Profitability as a value creation can also depend on personal relations and trust fostered between the company and its stakeholders. Thus, applying sensemaking theory, profitability means company’s ongoing sensemaking about the plausibility of its actions and reading cues within the environment now and for the future.

scholarly journals How Business Ethics Can Enhance the Brand Image in the Healthcare Sector – A Case Study of Evercare Hospital in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazmun Nahar Emma ◽  
Sharjana Alam Shaily
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Brand Image ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
A Company

The healthcare sector is one of the most important industries in the economy of a country. Ethical practices in this sector are crucial for organizations to follow. The main aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the impact of business ethics on the brand image in the healthcare sector. The authors have chosen Evercare Hospital which is situated in Bangladesh as their case to carry out the research for this paper. Primary data for this research has been collected from a sample size of 110 respondents, which includes both employees and customers of Evercare Hospital, with the help of a structured set of survey questions. The data collected has been analyzed using SPSS as per the purposes of the current research. The research has revealed that carrying out ethical practices has a positive impact on the brand image of a company. Therefore, Evercare Hospital needs to focus on its ethical practices and carry them out properly to further strengthen its brand image.

scholarly journals How healthcare structures and communication delivery influence trust: a parallel-group randomized controlled trial

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Cantarutti ◽  
Emmanuel M. Pothos
Keyword(s):  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Healthcare ◽  
Public Healthcare Sector ◽  
Parallel Group ◽  
Therapy Compliance ◽  
Study Offer

Abstract Background According to recent polling, public trust in the healthcare sector remains low relative to other industries globally. The implications of low healthcare trust permeate throughout the industry in a number of ways, most visibly by discouraging therapy compliance. Methods This study investigated four putative determinants of trust in healthcare-related scenarios: individuals vs. collective groups as communicators of healthcare advice; expert vs. laypeople as providers of healthcare communication; public vs. private healthcare sector; and positive vs. negative information. Two hundred seventy-four participants were recruited via Prolific Academic and were presented with four statements in random order, related to a positive reflection of the public healthcare sector, a negative reflection of the public healthcare sector, a positive reflection of the private healthcare sector and a negative reflection of the private healthcare sector. According to these reflection, participants were repeatedly asked to rate the system on its trustworthiness. Trust outcomes were constructed using a four-dimension framework, consisting of benevolence, reliability, competence and predictability. Results Claims relating to the public sector had a significantly stronger impact on benevolence and reliability than claims relating to the private sector; claims from individuals had a significantly stronger impact on all trust variables than claims from collectives; and claims from laypeople had a significantly greater impact on reliability and competence ratings than claims from experts. Conclusions The findings in this study offer insight into the patterns with which trust decisions are made in healthcare contexts. More importantly, this research offers a novel perspective of how different factors interact to affect the various facets of trust. These results provide a foundation for future study in this evolving area, and offer insights into designing effective communication strategies that cultivate greater levels of individual trust in the healthcare sector.

scholarly journals Market concentration trends in South Africa’s private healthcare sector

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marine Erasmus ◽  
Nicola Theron
Keyword(s):  
Market Structure ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Market Concentration ◽  
Competitive Dynamics ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Private Hospitals ◽  
Hospital Market ◽  
Private Healthcare ◽  
Structure Changes ◽  
Relative Bargaining Power

The Competition Commission (CC) commenced with an enquiry into South Africa’s private healthcare sector at the beginning of 2014, the outcome of which could have far-reaching consequences for the medical industry in South Africa. The panel appointed to consider competition in the private healthcare sector has indicated that they are interested in understanding increased consolidation in the private hospital market and the effect this may have on competitive dynamics. This article considers historical concentration trends in the private hospital market from 2000 to 2012. In addition it also deals with changes in market structure in the medical scheme and administrator markets. These trends provide a complete picture of market structure changes and the implications for relative bargaining power of the various parties. It finds that whereas the market concentration of private hospitals has remained relatively stable since 2004, the market concentration of medical schemes and administrators has increased over this period.

Friends or Foe?

2022 ◽  
pp. 1412-1435
Author(s):  
Rosalba Manna ◽  
Rocco Palumbo ◽  
Massimiliano Pellegrini
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Human Resource Management Practices ◽  
Push Forward

Scholars have argued that business ethics is a crucial ingredient for the successful recipe of human resource management. However, little is known about the factors that trigger an organizational commitment towards the promotion of an ethical approach in crafting human resource management practices. This is especially true for family firms, whose ethical slant in devising human resource management practices has been under-researched. This chapter intends to push forward our knowledge in the field of business ethics investigating the role of familiness in determining ethically-rooted human resource management practices among small and medium-sized enterprises. More specifically, the authors investigated how awareness of business ethics issues and formalization of human resource management policies and practices affect the SMEs commitment to ethics. Family firms were found to be aware of the ethical challenges that characterize human resource management; however, no evidence was retrieved about the role of familiness in triggering an ethical commitment in managing human resources.

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