Marketing Case Study Analysis

Marketing Case Study Analysis

Chris Smith is the Purchasing Director for a large chain of hospitals in the southeast of the US. Chris’ job responsibilities include everything from purchasing office supplies to high end medical equipment like MRI machines and surgical equipment. Chris is also active in her local university and likes to hire new, young graduates to work in the department.

She prides herself on being a tough interviewer. She has found out that many people pursue a career in purchasing but do not have a good understanding of the basics. In the last few years she had to fire several new hires because they did not have the specific knowledge in order to succeed.

Therefore, as part of the interview process Chris discusses the different types of purchasing that are done by the hospital. She asks the applicants to apply what they have learned in business school to the hospital’s specific purchasing areas. She tells them that she knows that they will not have intimate first-hand knowledge yet of what goes on in the hospital but she does expect them to be able to apply the academic terminology to the hospital setting and come up with ‘good guesses’ for how things work.

She tells each applicant that the hospital makes three types of purchases:

Office supplies and routine purchases

Small medical items like bandages, scissors, tape, etc

Large scale medical purchases like new X-Ray and MRI machines

As part of the analysis that each applicant is asked to prepare, Chris asks for the following sections to be addressed:

Demand – speculate on derived, inelastic, fluctuating and joint demand situations for each of the hospital’s three types of purchases.

Rebuy – consider straight, modified, and new for each of the hospital’s three types of purchases.

Buying center – speculate on who is part of the buying center (HINT: Chris looks to see how the mark-up of the buying center changes depending on what is being considered for purchase. Speculate on the members for each of the three types of purchases).

The B2B decision making process. (HINT: Chris looks to see that the applicant understands the differences between consumers making decisions about what to buy and businesses making decisions about what to buy so you might want to compare and contrast the B2B and consumers).

Read the provided case study.
Read the provided case study and consider yourself as an applicant to join Chris’s team.

Imagine you have studied marketing at a university and feel that you are well suited to a career in purchasing. You are interested in healthcare since you believe that there are long term career opportunities available.
You have heard that Chris is a tough interviewer and will grill you on what you know—and what you don’t.

Step 2
Research any unclear areas.
As part of the preparation think about the concepts of demand, rebuys, and buying centers as it relates specifically to the three areas of the hospital purchasing as highlighted by Chris. These are:

Office supplies and routine purchases
Small medical items like bandages, scissors, tape, etc
Large scale medical purchases like new XRay and MRI machines
Do additional reading or research as necessary to help you frame your thoughts. You know that Chris will not be impressed with textbook definitions and expects you to be able to apply what you have learned to a hospital setting. She knows that you are not an expert but she does expect you to show effort and motivation and to be able to think critically.

Step 3
Write your paper as a cover letter for the interview.
Using the information that you have researched, write your cover letter. Chris expects that the paper will not only show what you know but that it will be professionally written. It should include a brief introduction as well as conclusions.

Be sure to include information on demand, rebuys, the buying center as well as how the B2B buying process differs from the consumer buying process.