Building a Hospital Alliance: Taiwan Landseed Medical Alliance

The Taiwan Landseed Medical Alliance (TLMA) was formed in 1993 by eight private district hospitals. It was the first successful hospital alliance in Taiwan. After reading the financial statements of TLMA hospitals for the past few years, Dr. Victor Chang, the CEO as well as one of the founders of the TLMA, noticed that TLMA hospitals’ rates of return for the year of 2008 had stagnated. In order to figure out a plan for restructuring Landseed Hospital to make it more operationally efficient, Dr. Chang had to consider the various issues to be discussed with alliance members in forthcoming meetings and the need to find answers to these questions. This case aims to evoke discussion on the important role of alliances in competitive markets and ways to form strategic alliances, as well as on supportive actions and alliance structures.