Should You Follow A Defender Practice Strategy Now That The Pandemic Is Ending?

Successful businesses adopting either a defender or a prospector strategy is a concept that has been developed in the seventies stating that Defenders are businesses that tend to maintain a stable position and avoid expanding in untapped ventures and territories whereas Prospectors are businesses that are driven through growth and innovation to constantly produce new products and services that lead to hiring risk-takers and innovators. Now, many businesses have been affected by the pandemic and their first reaction was to adopt a defender strategy. Even though I am a great opponent of a defender strategy, I came along one myself in my practice. It was not a complete defender strategy but I can assure you it was not a prospector one. But how long after the pandemic, should we maintain a defender strategy?

A defender strategy is a strategy where managers emphasize efficiently serving stable markets with stable efficient production, explicit job descriptions, internal or no recruitment, voluntary inducements to leave, job-based pay, etc. The practice maintains a secure position employing the same products and services as well as policies to encourage long-term employee attachment to the practice.

A prospector strategy emphasizes growth and innovation strengthened by the development and introduction of new products and services that are prompt to a high risk of failure in changing environments. The prospector strategy reflects the flexibility of the business structure and processes that can adapt to changing markets and environments. We have seen those practices that proactively dealt with the pandemic either by launching telemedicine, telehealth, online selling, or home delivery services. We have also seen those practices that were able to recruit even amidst the pandemic, adopting decentralized compensation systems that rewarded innovation and risk-taking.

To answer the question, How long after the pandemic, should we maintain a defender strategy? A business strategy should be able to constantly provide an explanation of the current environmental opportunities as well as of the forces that affect those opportunities in order to develop and maintain a viable business strategy. The major dimensions in the practice environment that need to be studied and examined include the degree of uncertainty, volatility, the magnitude of change, and complexity.

Examining the degree of uncertainty should provide us with accurate and valuable information to make the right decisions. You don’t want to implement a telemedicine platform if you are not certain that your patients will use it or prefer another eye care provider who provides phone consultations.

Examining volatility answers if you will be able to pay the lease for the new practice or lab equipment or move to a new bigger property. Long-term plans are easy when things are doing great in a stable environment, however, it takes real decision-makers to sustain growth in volatile and unpredictable environments.

Examining the magnitude of change ahead of time facilitates formulating the right strategy to cope with change. Disposable contact lenses and the disruption caused by online sellers drove many optometrists to believe that the magnitude of change will cause them to lose all contact lens markets.

Examining the complexity resulting from the multitude of new products and services provides us with information about what products and services will be out of the market in three years and what products will replace them down the road.