Political strategy, business strategy, and the academic medical center: linking theory and practice

The purpose of this paper is to link external political strategy theory to a specific health care setting-that of the academic medical center (AMC). Political strategy encompasses those activities undertaken by AMCs to acquire, develop, and use power (clout, influence, and credibility) to gain an advantage in situations of conflict. It should be differentiated from internal politics, a topic that will not be dealt with in this review. Political strategy should also be distinguished from but not divorced from competitive strategy. As political and social action can change the competitive landscape and the rules of competition, AMCs must become adept in issues management and stakeholder management. The focus on political strategy is a reflection of the enormous changes in the external environment that have impacted AMCs in recent years. These changes have often emerged out of political and social action and they impact significantly on the organization's more traditional business strategies. We suggest that a tighter alignment between political and business strategies in the future will help ensure organizational survival and success. This article reviews the literature and theory in corporate political strategy and illustrates the application of political strategy with examples of issues and problems faced by AMCs. Models of political strategy are well crafted, and this article concludes with succinct observations on the use of political strategies to enhance the business-based strategies of AMCs. Although the focus is on AMCs, the use of political strategies is applicable to any health care institution.