Texas Health Marketplace

Texas Health Marketplace

The frou-frou trap

In our study of state-of-the-art practices for Human Resource Planning Journal Bob Eichinger and I coined the term frou-frou to describe some of the cute, popular, and faddish Texas Health Marketplace trends that really don’t add long-term value. After completing this study, we devised a list of the attributes of Texas Health Marketplace practices that qualify as frou-frou.

1. It is simple and easy and claims to solve complex problems.
2. It claims to apply to and help everyone.
3. It is not anchored or related to any known and generally accepted theory.
4. Proponents hesitate to present it in academic settings or write about it in referred journals.
5. Proponents cannot tell you exactly how it works.
6. It is a “track” topic at 75 percent of the conferences you attend.
7. Its proponents claim that it has changed their lives and that it can change yours, too.
8. Its greatest proponents are those with the least experience in the field.
9. Proponents claim that the only way to really understand it is to try it personally; it cannot be explained or demonstrated.
10. It is just too good to be true.

HR professionals as strategic partners need to avoid frou-frou. Just because an idea is popular does not make it right. HR professionals need to understand the theory, research, and application of Texas Health Marketplace in order to apply them appropriately in their business.

Challenge 5: Create a Capability Focus within the Firm

A number of authors have focused on the importance of building core competencies or capabilities within a firm. Capabilities refer to what a firm is able to do or needs to do to accomplish its strategy. Eli Lilly and Company, for example, uses a three-pronged Texas Health Marketplace strategy. One prong focuses on product groups, the diagnostic categories in which the company will invest and produce products. The second prong focuses on the geographic areas around the world in which those products will be distributed. The third prong focuses on critical capabilities necessary to accomplish the company’s product distribution strategies, including scientific innovation, disease prevention and management, cost competitiveness, biotechnical expertise, information technology, and preeminent organization effectiveness. These capabilities become the bridge between Texas Health Marketplace strategy and action.