EMBA 550 inital post week 4 - Essay Example

Defining a Positioning ment Positioning ment for St. Jude Medical, Inc. Guided by the viewpoint of their s, working to reduce riskin order to ensure best patient outcomes. SJM develops medical technology and services that focus on putting greater control in the hands of health professionals that treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients throughout the world. Innovation and quality is driven by customers’ needsKey product groups are cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular, (implantable cardioverter defibrillators or ICDs, cardiac resynchronization therapy or CRT) and neuromodulation (spinal cord stimulation, deep brain stimulation devices) (SJM, 2013).

Positioning statement for DePuy Synthes (A Johnson & Johnson Company) Patient-driven, surgeon-focus, innovative, with attention to quality and integrity.Products are trauma (implants and instruments for surgical treatment of fracture), spine (treatment of degenerative instabilities, fractures, tumors and deformities for cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine), and CMF (craniomaxillofacial systems with complete array of implants and instruments for treatment of facial trauma, tumor resection and reconstruction, mandibular and maxillofacial skeleton) (Synthes, 2013).

DiscussionMy company is St. Jude Medical, a medical device company. In choosing a second company to provide comparison, I selected another medical device supplier which, like St. Jude Medical, is among the 100 largest (based on revenues) firms in the industry, and which has approximately the same level of assets (SJM - $8.1 million, Synthes - $7.9 million) (Pharma.Live.com, 2012). The comparison is more relevant if it is between two firms engaged in the same scale of business. The customer experience is promised in their value propositions (Barnes, et al., 2009).Do you see the value proposition from the consumer’s perspective?

Yes, the value proposition lies primarily with the types of products. The equipment and services of SJM address cardiac, neurological and chronic pain disorders, while that of Synthes addressed trauma, spine and CMF disorders. Secondarily, the value proposition also lies with the strategic vision. While both profess being guided by customers’ pain alleviation, SJM specifies its ‘focus’ is on ‘putting greater control in the hands of health professionals’ while Synthes specifies it is ‘Patient-driven, surgeon-focused, innovative, with attention to quality and integrity.

’ The products Synthes innovates are concentrated on surgical wares, while that of SJM is more general, creating products for the health professionals to use in the course of treatments.Are the qualitative elements of the brand or product evaluated correctly? The qualitative elements are correctly evaluated, because they pertain to the specific functions of precision instruments (products). Both value propositions particularly state that patients’ pains are alleviate and their disorders treated, but aside from patients, doctors and health professionals are also among the customers targeted, thus the focus on the surgeons (Synthes brand) and the greater control afforded to health professionals (SJM brand).

Qualitative elements are also conveyed by such phrases as ‘reduce risk,’ ‘greater control, ’best patient outcomes,’ and ‘quality and integrity.’ However, since a principal group of targeted customers are the health specialists, practitioners, and institutions, the technical descriptions and specifications of the key products and competencies of each brand are themselves qualitative elements which pertains to the knowledge and expertise of these group of customers.How can the qualitative elements be approached or weighed differently?

The qualitative elements may be approached or weighed differently by drawing attention to the specific specializations that constitutes the competency of each brand. It is noticeable that Synthes, though it might have cardiac equipment, does not count such among their key products, while SJM, though it has a line of products that may be employed for the treatment of trauma and spinal injuries, does not emphasize on its but draws greater attention to its line of cardiac and neurological devices for which it is best known.

They both sell a wider range of products although they specifically underscore those product lines in which their value propositions lie.ReferencesBarnes, C; Blake, H; & Pinder, D. Creating and Delivering Your Value Proposition: Managing Customer Experience for Profit. London: Kogan Page Ltd. (2009) DePuy Synthes. ‘About Us.’ DePuy Synthes official website. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.synthes.com/sites/intl/Products/CMF/Pages/CMF.aspxPharmaLive.com Special Reports. ‘Top 100 Medical Device Companies 2011.

’ Special Report June 2011. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.pharmalive.com/special_reports/sample.cfm?reportID=348St. Jude Medical, Inc. ‘About Us.’ SJM official website. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.sjm.com/corporate/about-us.aspx