Case Study St. Jude Medical

In the field of medical device sales there is a vast number of providers for any medical device. Therefore, doctors are able to choose whatever provider they wish to use. As for the competiveness of cardiovascular devices, mainly pacemakers, there is no one company that has a sustainable competitive advantage. The device features are similar between companies. The worst thing a device company can do in this competitive market is fall behind in the latest technology or have any complications such as a device recall due to a failure of the device.
St. Jude Medical has made the mistake of falling behind by not having MRI compatible devices and has been unable to manage the reliability of their devices. Therefore, they have suffered the consequences
Jude Medical can have to a Price War is to try to pivot by employing a variety of different strategies. One possible tactic to differentiate themselves is by offering a product that is in some way unique or superior. Then it will be in a much better position to preserve its pricing power. Another possible solution is not to only look on how to improve the products, but to look at the relationship between the employees of St. Jude Medical and the doctors and hospitals. There is potential to do business in a new way where doctors and hospitals have a improved client relationship with St. Jude Medical. This could differentiate St. Jude Medical in the market and could capture market share while still being competitive in the
A company that provides a superior advantage to the existing products available has an advantage that may only last for about 2 years. If the competition is reacting to the advantages that your product now offers, it takes about 2 years before their new device can be sold in the market due to FDA approval times, and the time for clinical trials. For example St. Jude Medical was the first to offer Quadra Allure with its first-to-market MultiPoint Pacing technology. The MultiPoint Pacing technology has been shown to enhance patients’ response to CRT (Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) (CITE). The technology allows physicians the opportunity to capture more left ventricular tissue quickly by delivering pacing pulses to multiple left ventricle locations rather than the traditional single pulse for each heartbeat (CITE). MultiPoint technology offers physicians more options to manage heart failure and facilitates additional pacing configurations within the heart that offer physicians options not available in traditional bipolar systems (CITE). During this time St. Jude Medical was able to hold an advantage over the market until St. Jude Medical’s competitors were able to develop and get their product approved by the FDA. To sustain a competitive advantage in this competitive market, companies need to have a Research and Development team that has a pinpoint understanding of the market, and its customers, and where the