A Study on Strategic Management Practices and Performance of Corporate Hospitals in Visakhapatnam District

A Study on Strategic Management Practices and Performance of Corporate Hospitals in Visakhapatnam District

¹Dr. P. Sree Devi., ²P. Ajay Prasad

¹Assistant Professor of Commerce, HOD of MBA, JNTU GV, CEV, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh

²Guest Faculty of MBA Department, JNTU GV, CEV, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.909000353

Received: 25 September 2025; Accepted: 03 October 2025; Published: 11 October 2025

ABSTRACT

In the corporate world, the business environment is necessitating organizations adopt strategic management practices that give them a competitive edge and lead to improved performance. Strategic management is practiced by every organization irrespective of the size or sector in which they operate. Organizational change is a necessary aspect of an organization’s long-term viability. It may involve transformations in the general culture, structure, and management system of the organization. A private hospital is an institution that provides patients with medical services on funds raised by the owners of entities and fees charged by those patients. The government was largely unable to provide adequate hospitals, resulting in a rapid rise in the number of private hospitals that were mushrooming across the country. It is expected that the services provided at these hospitals will be of high quality while the cost will remain fair as they compete for patients whose demands continue to grow. Not only do private hospitals face intense pressure, they also have to compete with government hospitals whose facilities seem to be improving and offering free treatment for various illnesses and conditions. Therefore, the paper largely focuses upon the various strategic management practices and performance of corporate hospitals in the select region and the methodology of the study is purely based on the primary data by conducting survey to examine the strategic management practices in association with performance of the corporate hospitals of the select region.

Keywords: Strategic Management, Performance, Competitive edge, Transformations, Corporate Hospitals,

INTRODUCTION

Strategic management is the process of directing an organization’s efforts toward a certain goal or target (Nkemchor and Ezeanolue, 2021). Strategic management is based on the idea that organizations should perform both internal and external audits as part of their ongoing effort to manage change (Aguinis, Edwards, and Bradley, 2017). Today, more than ever, the existence, competitiveness, and financial viability of 21st-century organizations depend on organizations mastering the art of effectively managing change (Henry, 2021). Thus, to remain competitive and succeed in today’s business environment, organizations must develop and use cutting-edge strategic tools and analyses that draw on a variety of fundamental disciplines (Karadag, 2015). While in a situation where the reverse becomes the case, the organization may experience massive failure.

The business environment in the corporate sector is changing quickly, so companies must implement strategic management techniques that give them a competitive advantage and boost productivity. A number of areas have been found to contribute to the much-needed performance advantage. A firm’s use of strategic management techniques, a top-level management discipline, is a crucial component of this. According to Gure and Karugu (2018), the strategy is the extent and impact of a relationship over an extended period of time that, by arranging benefits, obtains advantage in a changing situation and satisfies stakeholder desires.

According to Ansoff and McDonnel (1990), strategic management is a structured approach to change management, which includes: positioning the company through strategy and preparation, strategic real-time response through problem management, and structured resistance management during execution of the strategy.

The tools by which organizations accomplish their objectives are provided by strategic management, which is concerned with strategic decisions and strategic implementation. It gives management and other staff members the opportunity to think about the hospital’s long-term goals and actual purpose. Additionally, it enables the hospital to coordinate its operations with other health care system organizations and helps the hospital determine its position in the chain of health care services. Instead of offering a remedy, strategic management is a tool that helps hospital executives pinpoint the underlying causes of significant issues. Strategic management is practiced by businesses of all sizes (Morgan, Levitt, & Malek, 2007).

To improve an organization’s performance in the external environment, management adopts major intended and emergent actions on behalf of stakeholders, involving the utilization of resources in the field of strategic management. In order to accomplish these goals, it is necessary to identify the organization’s mission, vision, and objectives, formulate policies and plans, frequently in terms of projects and programs, and then allocate resources to implement these policies and plans (David, 2016).

In healthcare organizations, the way management and employees collaborate and work together to achieve goals and objectives is more important to organizational performance than the organization’s financial performance. Three temporal frames—past, present, and future—are used interchangeably to describe an organization’s performance.

The Performance of Private Hospitals The private and governmental sectors of the healthcare industry can both provide services to the same patients. The different participants are planning to outsmart their rivals in order to not only survive but also to profit from their rivalry. Five forces determine the presence and level of competition in an industry: the threat of new competitors, the negotiating power of suppliers and buyers, the threat of substitute products or services, and the competition amongst current competitors (Porter, 1980).

The organization’s motive and the strategies and actions taken to achieve its objectives are characterized by strategic management. The managerial choices and actions are what determine the company enterprise’s long-term performance.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Raza Khan* and Dr. Fakhrul Huda (2016), reviewed the study on “The Impact of Strategic Management on the Performance of Health Care Organizations” The objective was to find out that which type of Management is practicing by Tertiary Health Care Centers, to explore the relationship between the level of competition and adoption of the strategies of the strategic management and to assess the relationship adoption of strategic management and organizational performance. For the analysis regression model and chi-square was used. All hypotheses were accepted and the model was fit, which means that tertiary health care centers are stared to adopt the tools of strategic management and there is strong positive impact of strategic management on level of competition and organizational performance and growth. Study recommends that in current competent and dynamic economic scenario tertiary healthcare centers must adopt the tools of strategic management and give a cutting edge.

Dr. Mba Ike Nnia, Dr. Ogechukwu Charles Ugbam et’al (2023), examined the study on “the impact of strategic management practices on the performance of hospitals in Nigeria”. The outcomes from the tests of the three hypotheses indicate that strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation all have significant positive effects on hospital performance in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it is concluded that managers should always engage in strategic decision-making and implementation to improve performance.

Booker Stephen Gana and Kifleyesus Andemariam (2020), The purpose of this study was to investigate how strategic management practices are used as competitive advantage tools in private hospitals’ performance in Khwisero Sub-County: A case of Mwihila Mission Hospital, Kakamega County. Specific objectives were to identify the strategic management practices adopted, to determine how the strategic management practices influence performance, to establish the relationship between strategic management practices and performance at Mwihila Mission Hospital, Kakamega County. The study concluded that strategic management practices had significant effect on performance, strategy orientation had effect on performance, strategy implementation had effect on performance and strategy evaluation and control practices had effect on performance. The study recommended that the management should improve on training staff in areas of emerging infectious diseases such as Flu, Ebola, Rota Virus, and Denge Fever among others; the management of the Mwihila Mission Hospital should ensure that they adopt the right strategy implementation to ensure the actualization of the strategy design in the organization and enhance performance.

Catherine K. Karimi, Dr. Lucy Kavindah (2021), the study focused on the National Hospital Insurance Fund has instituted strategic management practices in bid to boost overall organizational performance as well as improve service efficacy and productivity. The study’s specific objectives were to determine the influence of; strategic planning practices, strategic formulation practices, strategic implementation practices and strategic evaluation practices on performance of NHIF in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study concluded that strategic management practices influence performance of National Hospital Insurance Fund.

Statement of the Problem:

Strategic management techniques in an effort to improve service productivity and efficiency as well as overall organizational performance. In order to succeed, businesses, including private hospitals, use strategic management to develop and implement strategy. While many academics have identified the adoption of strategic management approaches, such as strategic planning and strategic formulation, as crucial pillars in triggering improved organizational performance, few studies have attempted to demonstrate that these practices can actually yield tremendous results. Health care institutions should talk about a lot of external factors, like demographic and economic trends, regulations, public and private buyer behavior, hospital and product market characteristics (like the number and type of competitors), payment methods, medical technology, and labor supply, among other things. It is hardly surprising that private healthcare institutions are searching for methods to improve performance and streamline operations when you combine these challenges with the growing focus on improving patient safety and the continuous adoption of new technologies in this specific sector (Anell & Willis, 2000). Thus, by identifying the impact of strategic management techniques on corporate hospitals’ performance in the chosen research region, the study aimed to close the gap.

Objectives of the Study:

The study was conducted taking into consideration the following objectives:

• To focus on the demographic information of corporate hospitals in the select region of the study.
• To examine on the strategic management practices and performance indicators of corporate hospitals in the select region of the study.
• To suggest ways and means of the strategic management practices and performance indicators of corporate hospitals in select region.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY:

The research study is purely based on the primary sources of data through structured questionnaire and a sample size of 386 respondents (customers) of Visakhapatnam District have been taken by the researcher through the method of Yamane formula when the population is finite that is n = N / (1 + N e^2), where n is the sample size, N is the population size, and e is the level of precision (margin of error). Finally, the data used for the present study was collected from a sample of 386 respondents at 99.5% of Confidence level. In this research, the researcher followed a detailed descriptive research to solve the research problem. In the present study, the researcher used different statistical procedures viz., through Hypothesis Testing Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test is conducted and the statistical tools Correlation and Regression is used for analyzing and interpreting the data and results.

Hypothesis of the Study:

H1: There is a significant association between strategic management practices and performance of corporate hospitals in the select region of the study.

H0: There is no significant association between strategic management practices and performance of corporate hospitals in the select region of the study.

Interpretation of Cronbach’s Alpha:

The Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.993 indicates excellent internal consistency among the 21 items included in your questionnaire. This suggests that the items are highly reliable and likely measure the same underlying construct (e.g., strategic management practices or hospital performance).

Significance (p-value) < 0.05 = statistically significant (not likely due to chance)

Strongest Positive Relationships

Therefore, Innovation is a key central performance indicator — it correlates strongly with several strategic variables.

Some Surprising Negative Correlations

This shows that overcrowding can hurt both internal and external perceptions of hospital quality.

The correlation analysis indicates that several strategic management practices — particularly those that promote innovation, employee morale, and cost efficiency — are significantly associated with improved hospital performance indicators. Innovation emerges as a central factor, strongly linked to efficient resource utilization (r = .591, p < .001), employee morale (r = .624, p < .001), and hospital reputation (r = .463, p < .001). Conversely, high hospital occupancy rates show negative correlations with patient satisfaction, staff morale, and reputation, suggesting potential downsides of overcrowding. These findings highlight the importance of strategic innovation and employee engagement in driving hospital performance.

In a highly competitive world, private companies and private hospitals that embrace conservative management strategies have a better chance of surviving. Businesses use strategic management to devise plans and execute them to succeed effectively. Conversely, the hospital went through a substantial period of retrogression and almost complete failure over time with less trained workers, poor management and lack of funds to pay staff wages and suppliers of drugs and medical equipment. Efforts by various boards, commission organizations and individuals to revive the facilities only exacerbated the prevalent situation leading to further deterioration as they lacked the necessary management skills to operate a medical facility. They implemented good management practices, enforced proper financial controls, employed skilled workers and negotiated with suppliers on new terms, among other improvements (Mwihila Mission Hospital Progress Report, 2019).

Type of Ownership: Private Corporate hospitals, Trust-run corporate hospitals, Government hospitals.

• Mean: 1.43 → Leaning toward Private hospitals
• Median & Mode: 1.00 → Most hospitals fall into Private hospitals only
• Skewness: 1.189 → Positively skewed (more values on the lower end, long tail to the right)
• Kurtosis: 0.267 → Slightly peaked distribution (but close to normal)
• Range: 2 → Ownership types span 3 categories (probably coded as 1, 2, 3)

Interpretation: Most hospitals are of ownership type “1” (possibly public), with a smaller number in types 2 and 3 (possibly private or other types).

Number of Beds: Below 100, 100-250 beds, 251-500 beds, Above 500 beds.

• Mean: 2.29
• Median & Mode: 2.00 → Most common value is 100-250 beds
• Skewness: 0.434 → Slight right skew, but close to symmetric
• Kurtosis: -0.448 → Flatter than normal distribution
• Range: 3 → 4 levels (probably coded 1 to 4)

Interpretation: Most hospitals fall in the mid-range of bed capacity (e.g., medium-sized hospitals).

Employee Designation: Administrator, Doctors, Nurse/Medical staff, Management staff.

• Mean: 2.47
• Median & Mode: 2.00 → Most hospitals with regard to Doctors.
• Skewness: 0.044 → Nearly symmetrical
• Kurtosis: -1.298 → Very flat distribution, suggesting spread across categories
• Range: 3 → Probably coded 1 to 4 as well

Interpretation: Employee roles are evenly distributed, but still center slightly around Doctors.

Years of Hospital Operation: Less than 5 years, 5-10 years, More than 10 years

• Mean: 1.68
• Median & Mode: 1.00 → Most hospitals are with less than 5 years
• Skewness: 0.633 → Moderate right skew
• Kurtosis: -1.128 → Flat distribution
• Range: 2 → Categories from 1 to 3

Interpretation: Most hospitals are relatively newer, with fewer in higher year b.

• All variables seem to be categorical/ordinal (coded numerically).
• Distributions are mostly skewed slightly right, especially for Ownership and Years in Operation.
• Median = Mode across the board, reinforcing skewness interpretation.
• Employee Designation shows the flattest distribution (highest variation).
• Ownership is the most skewed (1.189), meaning a strong lean toward one category (likely public).

The improvement could be due to the high quality and efficient service delivery and high customer satisfaction as shown by the respondents.

• The model explains around 42.1% of the variation in the outcome. This is moderate explanatory power — not perfect, but decent for real-world social science or healthcare data.
• A strong correlation (R = 0.658) suggests a solid relationship between the predictors and the outcome.
• The standard error (0.48547) indicates prediction error; its impact depends on the scale of the dependent variable.
• The hospital’s performance or outcome (whatever the dependent variable is) is moderately well-explained by these predictors.
• Innovation, reputation, service quality, financial and operational performance indicators appear to jointly influence the dependent variable.

1. F-value = 36.012

• This is the test statistic for the overall model. A high F-value suggests the model explains a significant amount of variance in the dependent variable compared to the error.

1. p-value (Sig.) = .000

• This means the model is statistically significant at any conventional alpha level (e.g., 0.05, 0.01, 0.001).
• Interpretation: There’s a very low probability that the observed R² value (0.433) happened by chance.

1. Degrees of Freedom (df)

• Regression df = 8 → Number of predictors in the model
• Residual df = 377 → N − k − 1 = 386 − 8 − 1
• Total df = 385 → N − 1

• Your regression model is statistically significant, meaning that the 8 predictors together explain a meaningful portion of the variation in the dependent variable: Type of Ownership.
• This aligns with the earlier R² = 0.433, which is moderately strong.

The management should look into ways of acquiring more equipment, engage more consultants, and strengthen collaboration with current organizations as they also source for more collaborators in other areas like medical financial support.

 This model explains 43.5% of the variation in the dependent variable (which from earlier seems to be Type of Ownership, though we’ll revisit that below).

 The correlation (R = 0.660) is strong, indicating a good fit.

 Adjusted R² = 0.422 confirms that the model remains solid even after accounting for the number of predictors (9 predictors here).

 The standard error (0.48524) is nearly identical to your previous model, showing similar prediction accuracy.

Insight: Both models are almost equally strong in predicting the dependent variable, with the strategic management model very slightly outperforming the first one — but the difference is negligible.

• F-statistic = 32.191: This is quite high, indicating that the model significantly improves prediction of the dependent variable compared to a model with no predictors.
• p-value (Sig.) = .000: Highly significant. There’s strong evidence that the strategic management variables collectively predict the dependent variable.
• Sum of Squares (Regression vs. Residual): About 5% of the total variation in the dependent variable is explained by the predictors — matching the R² of 0.435 from the modelsummary.
  This model is statistically significant and the predictors explain a substantial portion of variance in the dependent variable.

Suggestions:

• It is required to recruit skillfull staff with improvement of attitude of staff towards the patient care.
• Maintainance of specialised treatment with good bed strength.
• Required to enhance working quality with innovative equipments.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that corporate hospitals in the select region have vision, mission and core values, employees are allowed to engage in formulation of strategic plan and corporate hospitals develops strategies annually in strategy evaluation to improve quality of services offered.

According to the study’s findings, tertiary healthcare facilities in a few regions are now frequently using strategic management. The analytical methods employed in this study included both descriptive and inferential statistics. Strategic management has been recognized as a critical and essential tool for gaining a competitive edge over rivals, increasing market aggressiveness, improving performance, and ultimately for organization development, particularly in tertiary healthcare centers. While the inferential statistics used regression analysis and correlation to determine the impact of strategic management components on the organizational performance of corporate hospitals, the descriptive statistics used tables to describe the responses received. The results of the study showed that the organizational performance of corporate hospitals in a particular region was significantly improved by the development, use, and assessment of strategies. Accordingly, the study comes to the conclusion that strategic management methods have a notably good impact on an organization’s success. In the end, the study found that corporate hospitals’ strategic planning methods in a particular area are in line with their organizational strategy.

REFERENCES

1. Mba Ike Nnia, Dr. Ogechukwu Charles Ugbam et’al (2023), ‘EXAMINING HOW STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IMPACT ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF NIGERIAN TEACHING HOSPITALS’ European Journal of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2023 ISSN 2056-6018.
2. Nkemchor, E. M., & Ezeanolue, E. T. (2021). Effect Of Strategic Management On Organizational Performance In Tertiary Institution In Delta State, Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Social Sciences & Humanities Research 9(3):75-87.
3. Henry, A. (2021). Understanding strategic management. Oxford University Press.
4. Catherine K. Karimi, Kenya Dr. Lucy Kavindah (2021), Kenya International Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration (IAJHRBA) | ISSN 2518-2374, Volume 3, Issue 10, pp. 13-28.
5. Booker Stephen Gana and Kifleyesus Andemariam (2020), International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, ISSN 2250-0588, Impact Factor: 6.565, Volume 10 Issue 10, Page 1-11.
6. Aguinis, H., Edwards, J. R., & Bradley, K. J. (2017). Improving our understanding of moderation and mediation in strategic management research. Organizational Research Methods, 20(4), 665-685.
7. Elena-Iuliana, I., & Maria, C. (2016). Organizational performance-a concept that self-seeks to find itself. Annals of’ Constantin Brancusi’University of Targu-Jiu. Economy Series, (4).
8. David, F., & David, F. R. (2016). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases (p. 696). Florence: Pearson–Prentice Hall.
9. Raza Khan and Dr. Fakhrul Huda (2016), The Impact of Strategic Management on the Performance of Health Care Organizations (A Study of Three Selected Tertiary Health Care Center of Karachi, Pakistan) Arabian journal of Business and Management Review ISSN: 2223-5833 AJBMR, Volume 6 • Issue 5 • 1000253.
10. European Commission. (2015). EXPERT PANEL ON EFFECTIVE WAYS OF INVESTING IN HEALTH: Competition among health care providers-Investigating policy options in the European Union. EXPH.
11. Karadag, H. (2015). Financial management challenges in small and medium-sized enterprises: A strategic management approach. EMAJ: Emerging Markets Journal, 5(1), 26-40.
12. Morgan, M., Levitt, R., & Malek, W. (2007). Executing Your Strategy: How to break it down and get it done, . Massachusetts.: Havard Business School Press, Boston.
13. Anell, A., & Willis, M. (2000). International comparison of health care systems using resource proviles. Bull World Health Organ.78(6):, 770–8.
14. Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. New York: Free Press.