Being Local Or Global: Healthcare Firms Moving Into And Within Southeast Asia

Abstract

Southeast Asia is developing into an area of extensive growth and opportunity. The growing middle class population and wealth in the region is attracting increased foreign direct investment in the region. Growing in importance is the trade and investment in healthcare services within the region. The reduction in barriers to trade has seen an increase in the mobility of healthcare services. The internationalisation of foreign healthcare providers into Southeast Asia involves a change in the contextual environment and therefore the potential need to adapt or localise certain aspects of service. The purpose of this study is to understand the extent to which foreign healthcare firms adapt their services and business process to the Southeast Asian context. To answer this question a qualitative approach and multiple case study methodology was used. A total of nine cases of healthcare firms that had internationalised into or within Southeast Asia were characterised and explored. This research provides an empirical look at the firm level adaptation or standardisation decision. The outcomes of this research are particularly useful for healthcare firms looking to expand into or within Southeast Asia. The findings of this research show that the decision around whether to adapt and the extent of adaptation is not a decision purely made by the firm but is a result of the constraints and differences in the regulatory requirements. The main aspects of service that were found to be adapted to a high extent included the staff, recruitment and local networks. Whereas the quality and accreditation was found to be highly standardised across the foreign healthcare providers to indicate a level of service quality above that of local providers. Adaptation was found to also be driven by the motivation to develop cultural competence to deliver healthcare to one particular ethnic group, often done by firms looking develop their role in intra-regional medical tourism. The extent to adaptation is mostly driven not by the strategic decisions or choices by firms but rather the requirements and restrictions imparted by regulatory and socio-cultural institutions.