The core challenge in healthcare is not a lack of funding, commitment or individual skill. The key issue that demands disruptive innovation is that healthcare systems are highly fragmented. The author argues that the best solution is for healthcare vendors to engage more actively in the system as value chain partners. Actors across the healthcare value chain need to improve their public perception, and one way to achieve that is to work together in stronger partnerships. He explains why commercial vendors offer key knowledge and appropriate incentives as central actors in these partnerships.

Consumers of healthcare services throughout the world are imposing strong demands for efficiencies. At the same time, unconventional competition is arising from newly-converging technologies and services, creating a platform for transformative change in healthcare quality and access. The authors show how this disruption is challenging existing actors in the healthcare sector while at the same time, creating massive opportunities to create profitable businesses. More than ever, they argue, commercial players are at the centre of the opportunity to achieve a stronger balance of quality, cost and access to healthcare services.

If your company is considering entering a new global market, why not target a wide range of consumers-from the wealthy, to the middle class all the way down to the poorest of the poor? The authors show how a wide range of for-profit healthcare organizations are experimenting with different types of smartphone-enabled services for low-income consumers. They provide several examples of how these business models work, and describe three approaches that for-profit organizations can use to serve the poor-in the realm of healthcare and beyond.

For generations, the model for receiving health care services in the developed world has been straightforward. It starts with showing your insurance card at the reception desk and ends with a 10-minute examination/discussion with a doctor. In developing countries, this model is structurally untenable: according to the World Health Organization, there is a global shortage of four million health care providers, and in 57 countries, this amounts to a crisis. The authors present several new models for delivering health care services in developing countries that use ICT (information and communication technologies)-i.e., cell phones, tablets and computers. It is only a matter of time, they say, before these models spread to more resource-rich settings.

Executing a new strategy nearly always requires new resources and capabilities-and most firms seek them out the wrong way. In a 10-year study of 162 telecom companies, the authors found that organizations deploying all the methods available to them outperform those that stick with a narrow approach. Yet most firms doggedly pursue one chief method, whether it's developing what they've already got internally, entering into contracts with providers, forming partnerships, or using M&A. The framework in this article will help companies weigh their options more strategically. To select the best tactics for the situation you face, ask whether your existing resources are relevant to your new needs. If the answer is yes, internal development makes sense; otherwise, you'll need to go outside the firm. Next, to figure out what kind of relationship you should pursue with a provider, determine whether all parties would have a shared understanding of the resources' value. If so, a purchase contract is a sensible choice; if not, consider a partnership or a corporate acquisition. Because M&A is the most complex option, reserve it for cases in which it really pays to have a deep relationship with the resource provider.

Harlequin Enterprises is a well-known publisher of series romantic fiction. The company is facing threats to its leading position as the world's largest romance publisher. While Harlequin was the dominant and very profitable producer of series of romance novels, research indicated that many customers were reading as many single-title romance and women's fiction as series romances. Facing a steady loss of share, Harlequin convened a task force to study the possibility of re-launching a single title women's fiction program. Students must analyze the organization's capabilities and resources as it considers the launch of this new business line.

Harlequin Enterprises is a well-known publisher of series romantic fiction. The company is facing threats to its leading position as the world's largest romance publisher. While Harlequin was the dominant and very profitable producer of series of romance novels, research indicated that many customers were reading as many single-title romance and women's fiction as series romances. Facing a steady loss of share, Harlequin convened a task force to study the possibility of re-launching a single title women's fiction program. Students must analyze the organization's capabilities and resources as it considers the launch of this new business line.