EHBO² (Eerste Hulp Bij Ontwikkelen en Organiseren) van Marketing- en Stakeholderstrategieën voor zbc’s.

Independent treatment centres (zbc’s) are relative young participants on the medical specialist care market. This market is changing through the introduction market forces by the government. This can lead to the fact that zbc’s in time will no longer secure sufficient customers and care production to keep up their service offer. As one can also choose for the competition. Therefore it is important for the zbc’s to reflect their identity, their surrounding and their future, so they can create a lasting and distinctive position. This implies attention for marketing. Zbc’s should increasingly influence external stakeholders in favour of their centre. This research, using literature examination, quantitative and qualitative methods, has examined which concepts of strategic marketing can help the zbc’s to achieve this. From this emerged that strategic marketing can support the zbc’s in achieving long term relationships with pressure groups in and outside of the organization. At least two-third of the zbc’s can gain from this type of marketing. Important improvements for joint zbc’s are collecting adequate marketinginformation and launching innovative marketingstrategies and plans. To reach this, the managementphilosophy has to be accepted and one should also act upon it. Therefore the management of zbc’s face the challenge to get this theme at the agenda’s of her professionals. The stakeholdermanagement approach gives the zbc’s control to assure themselves in time of sufficient production. This philosophy has been presented as replenishment to strategic marketing. This way the political and social context of the strategy formation can also be accounted for. It can help the zbc’s to better understand the play of stakeholderrelations. As key stake holders can increase the value capacity of the zbc’s. This research has illustrated that most of the Dutch zbc’s have to concentrate to stakeholdergroups such as family doctors, patients and insurance companies. Other possible relevant parties are patient associations, hospital partnerships and other zbc’s. Profound diagnoses and suggestions according to the Stakeholdermanagement theory have been made of these stakeholdergroups. In conclusion the implementation of the stakeholder approach, especially for individual zbc’s, can contribute to strategic plans towards customers and customer appointers. The results show that a part of steps of the approach are followed by the zbc’s and that there is much recognition at the studied zbc’s. Despite these results, the stakeholderstrategies are often chosen instinctively and are not the result of structured planning and measuring of several factors from the stakeholderliterature, the making of the stake holder diagnoses and setting the appropriate stakeholderstrategy. Furthermore the added value of the model appears to be in showing the zbc’s the possible relations between the mutual stakeholders in the network. This way, coalitions between parties in favour of or in disadvantage for the zbc’s can be prevented.