In order to decide what actions to take, a company must first analyze what is going on in the industry and what the competitors are doing. In this module, we will outline the parts of a strategic analysis and define what a strategic business unit is. Then we will go into detail on how to conduct industry and competitor analyses. By the end of the module you will have learned how to assess the strategic opportunities and threats your organization is facing.

In order to get a more nuanced understanding of industries and competitors, we need to take into account two more factors: the environment and customers. There are influences outside of an industry that can impact the future direction of that industry. These are termed environmental forces. Plus, every strategic move is designed with the customer in mind. However, in healthcare, the customer decision process consists of multiple people. In this module, we will discuss how to perform an environmental analysis and how to think about customers.

Whether an organization can take advantage of the opportunities discovered in an external analysis, or whether it can fend off the strategic moves of a competitor, depends on the capabilities of the organization. In this module we present frameworks for assessing an organization's strengths and weaknesses. The frameworks used are value chains and VRIO. Then, over the course of the next two weeks, you will apply these frameworks and conduct an individual analysis of a service line within your organization.