Analysis of PetWellClinic's Blue Ocean Strategy in the Veterinary Industry

Course/Programme:	BA (Hons) Business Studies with Foundation
Level: Foundation Year 0 (Level 0) Year 2 Level 4
Module Title:	Integrated Case Study Analysis
Module Leader:	Anand Walser
Assignment title:	Case Study Analysis
Assignment number:	1

Student Name:

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Executive Summary

This business case study analysis aims at PetWellClinic, which is a rapidly growing veterinary franchise employing a concept of blue ocean strategy. Dr. Sam, the founder, realized existing and inherent problems with conventional vet facilities – high stress, inflexible slots for the vets, and rigid payments for the clients, and no real business model. In essence, through offering convenience through the elimination of complexity and offering services that do not require appointments, PetWellClinic has therefore positioned the business for success for both its customers/followers, professional veterinarians, and potential franchisees.

The problems that will be analysed include the major issues that PetWellClinic encountered in its overall strategies while successfully implementing its franchise business in the blue ocean. The report points out on strategic complacency in the traditional veterinary industry, staffing and quality services and sustainable growth of the franchise through business innovation. Cohesion appropriate models such as the Blue Ocean Strategy framework will be used to evaluate the business model and growth of PetWellClinic.

It is evident that all of the value propositions presented on PetWellClinic, including the low prices that ensure the high demand among customers, comfortable work conditions that attract veterinarians, and predictable revenues for the owners of the franchises, are mutually reinforcing. It is suggested that this kind of concept may provide a reference model for other industries delivering services. But issues like growth pressure, managing academic quality, and convincing investors especially on cutting down on customer irrelevant services (for example, telephones) are important.

The proposed solution aims at the optimization of franchise criteria with an emphasis on scalability of the franchise model impacts effectiveness, staffing issues, and customer satisfaction. Proposed strategies include staff training and development should continue and should add telemedicine services to the established business model.

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Case Study

Statement of the Problem

The case presents the problems in the conventional veterinary care market, including high stress, low pay, and an unfavorable model that turned off the veterinarians (Olenick, 2023). The veterinary services market, however, has been rather stagnant, and although demand for it is rising, options that would provide a more flexible, scalable and less stressful solution was not available. To cure these diseases, Dr. Sam thought of PetWellClinic, a clinic that does not involve surgery and decreases hospitalisation numbers, admits walk-in clients, and provides active care. However, PetWellClinic has issues on quality services delivery especially with increased growth through franchising and quality of services which the company has simplified.

Research Aims and Objectives

Aim: To analyze how PetWellClinic has successfully implemented its blue ocean strategy in the veterinary industry.

• To evaluate the main challenges faced by the traditional veterinary business model and assess how PetWellClinic's business model resolves these challenges.

• To analyse the application of the Blue Ocean Strategy framework in PetWellClinic’s operations and growth strategy, identifying key success factors and areas for improvement.

• To recommend strategies to ensure sustainable growth, enhance franchise management, and improve customer and veterinarian experiences within the clinic.

Structure of the Report

The first chapter of the study initializes the case study with the identification of the overall research aim as well as the derivation of research objectives. This section provides the background needed to appreciate the issues that PetWellClinic deals with, including with regards to the veterinary sector, as well as the rationale for the analysis.

The second chapter is a description of the environment at the PetWellClinic. This chapter provides some understanding of the state of affairs in the present day veterinary field, for example, the problem of the burnout of veterinarians, ineffectiveness of the existing models of work, and lack of attention to customer relations. It also includes the current business model targets followed by PetWellClinic which are the industry issues in a direct way, as this clinic accepts the walk-in patients that always prioritise curing first.

The third chapter gives details regarding the problem area as well as a proposed approach. This is because there is an identification of the main ways through which PetWellClinic has prospective challenges for instance in the handling of the rapid expansion in its business operations and the delivery of the service with efficiency. It also analyses important works related to the case study like Blue Ocean Strategy and Service Profit Chain to lay the theoretical background for the case study.

Chapter four further uses concepts from chapter three to assess the current issues and prospects of PetWellClinic. This work offers essential information on the effectiveness of the strategy used by the company and the areas that require enhancement.

Last of all, the fifth chapter presents recommendations that PetWellClinic needs to implement to overcome the established issues; such recommendations are strategic and may augment the firm’s market expansion. This chapter also provides an action plan of the study in response to the limitations, as well as suggestions for further research on sustaining quality within new and growing franchise systems.

Chapter 2 Case Brief

Description of the Situation

PetWellClinic was launched by Dr. Sam in response to the problem that veterinarians encounter in conventional practices (PetWellClinic, 2024). The stress factors which are significantly affecting the veterinary industry are long working hours, especially the emergency schedules, and the duties of performing surgeries. Thirdly, the large clinics are financially unprofitable, and this continues to fuel frustrations among veterinarians. There are many cases of people getting fed up with the job and leaving the industry in the first few years of their career, thus keeping the field starved of talent.

The working conditions were stressing these veterinarians, and Dr Sam, who had been through it at the beginning of his career, had the vision of creating a model that would eliminate so many of the pressures of conventional veterinary practice. It was from this vision and need that PetWellClinic was developed to provide preventive care and a unique walk-in service format. While the chain removes surgeries, hospitalizations, and emergencies from veterinarians’ daily practice, PetWellClinic secures a less stressful and more foreseeable working situation. The walk-in structure also aids clients because they get better fast, cheap care without appointments, which increases the convenience of animal care.

PetWellClinic organizational strategy is an excellent example of blue ocean strategy, as the company does not directly compete with standard veterinary clinics. The traditional direct competition model of a clinic that offers all feasible services is unprofitable for PetWellClinic since it is more efficient to provide only the necessary, but specialized services. Through this strategy, the business initiates an unstructured industry where people with simpler and purely routine care services for their pets are persuaded to visit the firm. Consequently, the clinic has experienced tremendous expansion with 151 franchises sold by early through 2023 (PetWellClinic, 2024).

Although these omissions relieve the clinic of complexity and stress, at the same time they represent perceived limitations to the clinic’s services. Moreover, as there are more franchisees the quality of services or goods that they offer is much harder to be controlled and managed. That each franchise conforms to the PetWellClinic model but maintains qualified veterinarians across its clinics as well as the training of new staff are among the ongoing challenges. It has emerged that an important strategic concern for the growth of PetWellClinic relates to offering a sufficient quantity and variety of treatments that would remain both accessible and of high quality while freshly opened clinics establish adequate service continuity and standardization.

Chapter 3 Problem Statement, Plan of Analysis, and Relevant Literature

Statement of the Problems

PetWellClinic is one of the modern companies dealing with veterinary services, and there are several significant issues that have identified that this company encounters on its way to further growth and establishment of new patterns in the sphere. These challenges are primarily rooted in three areas:

1. Veterinarian dissatisfaction and burnout: In the conventional veterinary industry several veterinarians report stressful working conditions due to long working hours, challenging surgeries, and emergencies (Stetina and Krouzecky, 2022). many stressors mentioned above result in high levels of burn out, thus, many veterinarians have been forced to exit the workforce before their premature ages.

2. Challenges of franchise expansion: Within a short period, PetWellClinic franchising system will cover numerous territories, and any mishmash can deterioration service quality and operational consistency, hence threatening the organization’s growth (Weinstein, 2024). Maintaining the loyalty of franchisees towards PetWellClinic’s presented simplistic and less stressful business model as the company grows, however, is one of the most significant concerns.

3. Skepticism towards the elimination of traditional services: This report shows the arbitrary choices made by the clinic where surgeries have been deemed as unimportant in the practice of veterinary and telephones have also been deemed unimportant by the clinic (Brastad, 2022). Some of these omissions might be perceived as lacking, while PetWellClinic believes that they are strengths because they allow expunging inefficiencies and stressors.

Plan of Analysis

As a way of dealing with these problems and evaluating the assumed strategy of PetWellClinic, a structured analysis plan that is founded on several theoretical concepts will be applied. The primary objectives of this analysis are to:

1. To find out how PetWellClinic’s business model can combat burnout and enhance the work/life ratio for veterinarians.

2. To evaluate the challenges and opportunities associated with the franchise expansion.

3. To analyse the strategic fit of eliminating traditional services like surgeries and telephones within the broader context of the veterinary industry.

The following models and theories will guide this analysis:

1. Blue Ocean Strategy Framework: the Blue Ocean Strategy by Amjad et al. (2024) will be the underlying model of explaining how the organization avoids being trapped in the competition. The four actions that framework provided to assess the decision made by PetWellClinic, which was to eliminate surgeries, and telephones and raised the preventive care services and convenient walk-in services. The characteristics of the red ocean model will be discussed and illustrated through a comparison of PetWellClinic with traditional veterinary clinics that would place them in the same industry.

2. Service-Profit Chain Model: This model developed by Hogreve, et al. (2022), PetWellClinic’s findings will analyse the connection between internal organisational activities and external organisational performance. Because this model establishes the relationships between service quality, employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability, it is especially helpful in understanding how the reduction in the complexity of interactions and increases work satisfaction and business outcomes for veterinarians. It will also use the model to determine the relatively added service offerings of PetWellClinic, and the company’s operational effectiveness that support customer satisfaction and future profitability.

3. Franchise Management Theory: PetWellClinic’s growth strategy of the franchise business model will be explored through the perspective of the franchise management literature. According to Gillis et al. (2020), some of the fundamentals in franchise systems include operational consistency, coupled with a clear brand image and rich training procedures. This framework is going to be applied to understand how PetWellClinic can sustain quality control as it continues to grow especially within the context of its more straightforward service offering.

4. Research on Veterinary Industry Challenges: Research on the mental health of veterinarians will give information on the problems unique to the profession that PetWellClinic plans to solve (Elce, 2021). These studies would be helpful in explaining how PetWellClinic’s approach to providing more preventive care, to have staff working predictable hours, and to limit stress as a positive factor for veterinarians and as a management technique that sets the clinic apart from traditional clinics.

Literature Review

Blue Ocean Strategy (Amjad et al., 2024): The Blue Ocean Strategy framework deals with how a firm can move out of a competitive field and achieve a new marketplace, which is not attractive to any competitor. The model identifies four key actions: reduce, eliminate, raise and create. In the case of PetWellClinic, surgeries and telephones are dismissed, the demand for appointments is diminished, preventive care is emphasized, and the possibility of visiting the clinic without an appointment is provided for convenience. This strategy differs greatly from the traditional veterinary business model market with high levels of rivalry that is clearly defined in the red ocean. The key service offering of veterinary clinics is a full range of services. Through BOS framework, it has become easier for PetWellClinic to attract clients who seek an affordable, convenient and fast service of preventing their pets from getting sick rather than go through the hassle of dealing with the stress and complexity of a traditional veterinarian clinic.

When evaluating this, the Blue Ocean Strategy will be valuable, as it helps to demonstrate that PetWellClinic has managed to propose a clear and unexpected gap in the market to investigate fully to know how the organization has managed to position itself in order to encapsulate a different focus in the market (Wortinger, 2022). Using this framework the sustainability of the PetWellClinic business model and its capacity to operate in a relatively unchallenged sector shall also be determined.

Service-Profit Chain (Hogreve et al., 2022): The Service-Profit Chain model consists of the relationship between internal service quality; employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and company profitability. In the case of PetWellClinic the model will be helpful in the understanding is as to how further simplification of services introduced and better working conditions for veterinarians affects the clinic’s business. For instance, removing surgeries and focusing on emergency cases decreases veterinarian burnout that results in high employee engagement and lower turnover. Satisfied employees, for their part, give better service to their clients and enhance the perception of customers before taking a next course of action.

Also it will be used to analyse PetWellClinic’s profitability based on the organization business structure. Due to its insistence on a preventive care and walk-in services model, the clinic is capable of serving multiple clients at a relatively inexpensive rate of pay with high customer satisfaction (Sander, 2022). This approach is based on the concept of the Service-Profit Chain within which employee satisfaction and service productivity are believed to underpin sustainable business success.

Franchise Management (Huang et al., 2023): Franchising management literature underlines standardization, quality assurance, and image as the major factors that determine the success of the service franchise expansion processes. Currently, PetWellClinic’s franchise has been rapidly expanding, and by early 2023, franchises had already been sold 151 times. Nonetheless, as the business grows, it becomes more difficult to sustain the values and performance current at the PetWellClinic brand.

Huang et al. (2023) recommend the need to have an effective training, adequate operational policies as well as regular reinforcement for this aspects to accentuate quality standardization for various franchise outlets. In the case of PetWellClinic, it shall be noted that maintaining compliance with this model across all franchises will be a major concern to sustaining lasting success in the market (Gillis et al., 2020). This framework will assist in evaluating threats and opportunities relating to the expansion of franchise operations for PetWellClinic as well as delicateness of service nature and the increased franchise complexities in providing the service.

Veterinary Industry Challenges: The veterinary industry is under a lot of pressure concerning mental health and worker fatigue. As pointed out by Elce, (2021), most veterinarians are stressed due to work, dread extended working hours, high pressure surgeries, and emotionally draining emergency cases. Such factors result in increased burnout and workforce deficits, which nowadays are critical problems of the industry.

When it comes to PetWellClinic, these concerns are mitigated because the business cuts out many of the sources of burnout to begin with. Essentially, by offering triage care especially focusing on preventive care, and walk in services, the clinic presents a controlled working environment favourable to improvement of the job conditions for veterinarians (Brown, 2020). Apart from enhancing the welfare of these specialists, this approach intervenes in the general market issue of staff turnover. This study in veterinary mental health will be important for understanding the implications of PetWellClinic’s model on the current and future state of the profession to establish if it could be a remedy to the dissatisfaction and burnout in veterinarians.

Chapter 4 Analysis and Findings

Blue Ocean Strategy (Amjad et al., 2024)

Analysing the business model of PetWellClinic company it is noteworthy to consider that PetWellClinic can be regarded as the exact realization of BOS concept as it targets the creation of a new market which has no competitors. Conventional veterinary practices work in a red ocean attacking similar service areas that include extensive medical solutions, surgeries, as well as emergency services. PetWellClinic, however, has freed itself from this loop by rebase lining the business on a different proposition. As discussed previously, the four BOS activities are, eliminate, reduce, raise, and create, all of which form part of the clinic’s strategic plan.

Fig. 1: Blue Ocean Strategy

Source by: (Blue Ocean Strategy, 2024)

1. Eliminate: PetWellClinic does not practice surgeries while telephones which are a cause of much strain to a veterinarian are also done away with. Operations, especially complicated operations, need time, skills, and a lot of money before being done, thus tiring the veterinarian (Neill et al., 2022). Consequently, by eliminating such factors, PetWellClinic ensures that its personnel experience less stress; meanwhile, the organization narrows down its services delivery to more comprehendible and regular procedures.

2. Reduce: The clinic minimizes the probability of appointment scheduling a process which includes bureaucratic time for clients. This way, PetWellClinic avoids having too many appointments creating frustration for the clients while making it easier to seek pet care services.

3. Raise: PetWellClinic re-focuses on pet health maintenance. It provides routine check-ups, vaccinations, and preventive check-ups, which are essential services in a competitive market that emphasizes treatment of acute conditions but in high demand, such are underappreciated by conventional clinics (Edition, 2021). This focus enables PetWellClinic to address an important client demand while keeping a distance from the extensive and expensive procedures performed in traditional animal clinics.

4. Create: The clinic has a walk-in model of operation, and most of its services are affordable to patients. The lack of appointments and lower prices help PetWellClinic target an audience that seeks quick and inexpensive treatments rather than comprehensive and full services. This model has not only attracted new clients with otherwise, they would have skipped or delayed their visits due to astronomical fees or unavailable appointments.

The approach pursued by PetWellClinic, with the focus on BOS, allows the company to occupy the market area with little competition, which aims to use the company’s services mostly by clients who do not need various complex services, but rather visit the center to provide their pets with the necessary vaccines and treatments. Another is that operational model simplification also cuts down the business’s difficulty to expand through franchising (Bagnoli et al., 2022). Nevertheless, the long term viability of this model remains challenged by the question of how this can continue to offer the kind of value proposition that allows it to differentiate itself meaningfully from traditional competitors and simultaneously cater to new, emerging needs of clients without overstepping out of its core expertise.

Service-Profit Chain (Hogreve et al., 2022)

The goal of the SCP model is to help explore how each operation affects the entire business and applying it in the case of PetWellClinic to determine its validity. This model focuses on relationship between internal service quality and profitability through employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. In this respect, while PetWellClinic provides few services and the company’s focus is on increasing effective working hours of veterinarians, these aspects are crucial for the business strategy.

Fig. 2: Service-Profit Chain

Source by: (Work Institute, 2020)

1. Internal Service Quality: Cutting out high stress procedures such as surgeries and creating less variability in work, PetWellClinic increases internal service for employees such as veterinarians. This has direct correlation with the level of satisfaction among the workforce since low stress enhances high retention and engagement among the employees (Ashraf and Siddiqui, 2020). PetWellClinic veterinarians are more likely to be satisfied with their work because it offers them a reasonable volume of work and set schedule as compared to their competitors in skilled practices.

2. Employee Satisfaction: In its members’ satisfaction results in proper and quality services to the customers. PetWellClinic veterinarians are relieved from stress from emergencies and surgeries, and able to concentrate on preventive care, which improves their work satisfaction. This satisfaction lies in an enhanced general experience that customers have when dealing with veterinarians who have time to interact positively with them and their pets hence improving their customer loyalty.

3. Customer Satisfaction: The walk-in model, low cost, and emphasis on wellness make for a customer experience that is tailored to many pet owners (Weinstein, 2023). The element of not having an appointment while obtaining care in addition to the understanding that veterinarians are concerned with the delivery of quality preventive services results in greater customer satisfaction. This model is lucrative to the targeted clientele such as PetWellClinic’s customers getting fast and cheap services without usual barriers of long hours of waiting and expensive services.

4. Profitability: They are reflected in the strong positive correlation between the level of customers’ satisfaction and profitability that PetWellClinic demonstrated by growing fast through franchising. Customer loyalty means that customers return to do business with a firm and recommend the same firm to other customers and this helps firms in revenue generation. Another advantage of the proposed service model based on efficient working with multiple clients and orientated on high popular preventive services is the relatively low operational costs compared to the typical clinic.

The Service-Profit Chain model show that for PetWellClinic employee satisfaction and customer orientated service products lead to increased profitability. It will prove crucial for the clinic, as it develops through franchising, to sustain this chain of value – the internal service quality must remain high, along with the customers’ experience at differently located clinics (Strydom et al., 2020).

Franchise Management (Huang et al., 2023)

As PetWellClinic also continues to grow through the use of the franchise system, concepts of franchise management are concern for the firm’s ability to establish and maintain control over its operations and delivery standards.

Fig 3: Franchise Management

Source by: (Author’s work)

1. Consistency and Quality Control: Another major problem in perfecting a concept of this sort is the ability to achieve homogeneity throughout several branches of the business. It is easier to copy the current PetWellClinic service delivery since its product portfolio is not complex, therefore, the issues of quality delivery across the regions are critical. Due to adopting a different business model focused on preventive care, no appointment needed, and appropriate work-life balance of a veterinarian, franchisees must be trained correctly in clinic operations. Huang et al. (2023) posit that training programs as well as clear operating procedures are crucial when it comes to quality control. In light of this, franchisee training should be extensive to not only have an appreciation of the clinic services offered but also the need to uphold a low stress working environment for veterinarians.

2. Brand Identity: As the PetWellClinic expands, the need to protect and enhance the appearance of a single and cohesive brand in the market will be fundamental. In our line of veterinary services, cost, convenience, and emphasis in preventive care are some of the ways in which the clinic is unique. The company must always hire franchisees who share similar values to those of PetWellClinic, so that clients will be treated according to the clinic’s standard as realized from the ethos.

3. Operational Complexity: Compared to the traditional veterinary clinics, PetWellClinic’s model alleviates the chain of command’s work; however, franchising adds certain levels of difficulty. Franchising clinics at different regions and states call for effective management and supervision to ensure all affiliated clinics deliver the clinic’s services as set (Tammy, 2024). This model will require effective surveillance for the performance of the franchises, rectifying any anomalies regarding service delivery and offering assistance to the franchises such as PetWellClinic.

Veterinary Industry Challenges

The veterinarians face huge stress and mental health issues with general dissatisfaction and burn out rates in the industry. According to research done by Elce (2021), working for too many hours, having to perform surgeries and handling emergency cases lessen the chances of a veterinarian repeat his day without complaining and hence contributes to early dropout from practice. These challenges are most evident in routine veterinary practices whereby the need to offer quality services overwhelms the veterinarian.

PetWellClinic business proposition solves these challenges within the pet care industry since it makes their operational environment less unpredictable. By excluding surgeries and emergency cases, clinic definitely narrows down practitioners’ work scope, but this very approach helps make the process less stressful and centers it around preventive procedures and common check-ups. This shift also eradicates burnout while at the same time enhancing job satisfaction and workforce retention rate.

Furthermore, the strategies applied by PetWellClinic regarding veterinary care corresponds to the trends that can be observed in this field related to mental health and working hours flexibility. And as the industry struggles with workforce shortages and high burnout rates, PetWellClinic appears to provide a solution of an alternative form of practice for veterinarians. Thus, the clinic’s approach to providing preventive care and focusing on a walk-in-type schedule would prove to be less risky for both veterinarians and the owners of pets and would help address some of the industry’s major issues while presenting the customer with specific benefits.

Chapter 5 Proposed Solution to Problem

Recommendations

From the above challenges that exist in PetWellClinic, it will be significant to apply a mixture of approaches, emphasizing on growth strategies that can be sustainable, improvement of satisfaction standards of veterinarians and customers, as well as operation quality. Below are the suggested solutions and recommendations that hope to steer the clinic as it continues to grow its franchise model without compromising its true essence and efficiency.

1. Sustainable Growth Strategies

Franchise Support System: As the PetWellClinic heads toward its franchise growth, having a strong support structure in place for the franchisees is paramount. This includes:

• Comprehensive Training Programs (World Health Organization, 2020)

• Operational Manuals and Resources:

• Ongoing Support and Evaluation

2. Improving Veterinarian Satisfaction

Work-Life Balance Initiatives: Decreasing motivation and happiness among veterinarians, PetWellClinic should increase work and life promotion programs, which should include:

• Flexible Scheduling

• Mental Health Resources (Timmenga et al., 2022)

• Recognition and Rewards Programs

3. Enhancing Customer Satisfaction

Customer Feedback Mechanisms: To ensure high levels of customer satisfaction, PetWellClinic should implement robust feedback mechanisms:

• Surveys and Focus Groups

• Loyalty Programs (Kuwabara, 2021)

• Community Engagement

4. Maintaining Operational Quality

Quality Control Measures: This is especially important as PetWellClinic continues to grow, ensuring that all franchises are operating at a similarly high level:

• Performance Metrics

• Mystery Shopper Programs

• Standardized Service Delivery (Edwards, 2021).

Action Plan

To implement these solutions effectively, the following action plan is recommended:

Timeline and Milestones	Create a time line for the placement of training programs, resource supports and feedback channels. Achievable targets must be provided to monitor the program’s effectiveness and check accountability.
Resource Allocation	Devise ways and means for preparing the training information, psychological assistance services, and customer outreach programs. For these resources to be implemented effective, budgeting for them will be crucial.
Leadership Involvement	Involve PetWellClinic’s leadership into the process. Their participation will promote a culture of quality commitment and timely employees’ satisfaction.
Evaluation and Adaptation	It is necessary to certainly value the results of the solutions implemented in the process as frequently as possible, using the opinion of the franchisees, veterinarians, and clients. Any given strategy may have to be modified to fit the clinic’s objectives depending on the research results obtained.

Conclusion

The issues related to franchise operation are overcome by PetWellClinic through such measures as concentrating on sustainable growth plans, raising the satisfaction level of vets and customers, and preserving the organizational quality. These proposed solutions should only improve the overall business model, but it should also help cement PetWellClinic’s place in the vet industry, a practice that aims at offering the highest quality of care to both the pets that seek our services, and the clients who accompany them.

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