Research and innovation as a strategy for competitive advantage in the health sector: a case of the Aga khan university hospital, Nairobi

Abstract

Achieving competitive advantage is a major pre-occupation of the managers in many businesses today. Organisations globally now seek to actively differentiate themselves from their competitors in terms of quality of service, flexibility, customisation, innovation and rapid response. The Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi has heavily invested in hospital equipment as well as information systems to manage patients and support systems over the past years. The hospital has also invested in ultra-modern laboratories, neuro, dental, eye care facilities and recently the hospital invested in an ultra-modern heart and cancer centre to provide quality cardiology and oncology services that include specialised cardiac operating theatres, three separate intensive care units one dedicated to open-heart surgeries and the latest radiation therapy equipment for cancer treatment. The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of research and innovation strategies on the competitiveness of Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi in Kenya. From the findings, the study concludes that the major forms of research & innovation practices at Aga Khan University Hospital included case studies, desktop research, market surveys, focus groups, practical research carried out by the specialized training doctors and nurses. The hospital support innovation through continuous procurement of up to date equipment such as equipment to conduct intravascular ultrasound to image inside a blocked heart arteries. The study also concludes that for the last five years there has been a lot of product innovations such as the introduction of Urodynaics Unit that offer new services of studying the function of the bladder and bladder neck in male and females. The study revealed that the research and innovation practices are very effective in creating a sustainable competitive advantage as AKUHN is preferred by most people especially by cancer patients, neuro cases and child delivery. This study recommends increased investment research and innovation as an effective tool that organizations can apply to improve competitiveness. However, since the positive effects of research and innovation take time to become visible, the study recommends that their impact on performance should be viewed in perspective of the future trends. The study also recommends that the research and innovation strategies be dynamic as the customers' needs are dynamic and not static. This would ensure that the hospital remains competitive all the time and do not get caught up in obsolete old strategies