1. Shouldice Hospital Case
By: Mukita Nayyar & Jenna Ryan

2. Background Established in the 1940s by Dr. Earle Shouldice
Located in Thornhill, Ontario
Specializes specifically in hernia repair
Known for their unique and effective procedures
Focus on suiting special needs of customers

3. STRENGTHS Competitive advantage
Offers their own effective variation of the hernia procedure
Effective service environment
Strong word-of-mouth communication
Unique service layout

4. WEAKNESSES Rely on word-of-mouth communication alone
Have an increasing backlog of scheduled procedures
Difficulty accommodating increasing number of customers

5. OPPORTUNITIES
Competitive marketing
Technology
Economic changes

6. THREATS Hernia surgery imitations by competitors
Competitors may ruin the image of procedure with failure
Competitors succeed and innovate proedure

7. MAJOR PROBLEMS
Major competitors trying to steal Shouldice’s competitive advantage
Weak organizational structure
Inadequate accommodations

8. ALTERNATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY #1
Expand Locations
Advantages
-more easily adapt to needs
-prevents over cramming
-creates foreign opportunities
-Disadvantages
-Difficult to manage relationships
Costly
Recruiting

9. ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY #2
Extend Operational Hours to Saturday
Advantages
- Increase capacity by 20%
- Better suit availabilities
Disadvantages
- Schedule conflict
-Additional costs

10. ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY #3
Increase Work Staff
Advantages
- Able to work at a higher capacity
- Able to hire new staff
Disadvantages
- Increased salaries/bonuses
- Months of training
- Creates opportunities for mistakes

11. RECOMMENDATIONS Continue expanding facilities Increase beds by 50%
Estimated cost: 4 million
Hiring & training additional staff
Market directly to potential customers