Research on Commercialisation of New service Delivery Model and Enablers
Brief for UOW MBA Students
Warrigal is a not for profit community based aged care provider that has been in operation
for almost 50 years. Warrigal offers residential aged care, community care, day respite care
and retirement living to over 3,701 residents. These services are located throughout the
Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands regions of NSW. Warrigal employs
approximately 750 employees and has 355 volunteers supporting its operations.
Warrigal is governed by a voluntary Board of Directors, and has a CEO and Executive team
leading the organization through four Divisions: Service Integrated Communities; Strategic
Innovation and Development; Finance and Administration and Property Services and
Environmental Sustainability.
Market forces such as government reform; sector competition and disruptors; and changing
customer expectations are requiring aged care operators to rethink their service delivery
model. This has resulted in Warrigal innovating its service delivery - changing from a
‘customer push’ approach to that of a ‘customer pull’.
Warrigal’s new service delivery model’s conceptual framework has been based on
placemaking (which to date has been used by town planners in creating liveable
communities); sensemaking (which to date has been used in corporate change programs to
enable people to cope with change); and sensemaking (where we will be using a new set of
descriptors and narratives to help our customers adopt the new ‘norm’).
The focus of service delivery will ensure a change from the old medicalized model of aged
care to one of wellness, customer choice and exceptional levels of service. The model will
be enabled through a range of innovative inputs that include a new recruitment and
employment model, best practice work-practices based on the latest research outcomes,
paperless systems and technology that include a customer and a staff portal, strategic
business partnerships and so on.
The new service delivery model will be piloted at Warrigal’s newest community at Shell
Cove which is expected to be commissioned in October 2017.
Warrigal has plans to commercialise its new service delivery model and enablers as it is seen
that there is a commercial opportunity in the aged care sector. Many small – medium sized
aged care providers simply do not have the means to develop new models but know they
will need to change in order to remain viable. Having access to ‘off the shelf’ solutions is
something we believe is what they are looking for. There may also be opportunities to
commercialise and sell this model and enablers to other countries that are now developing
their aged care products and services, for example China and Malaysia.
Questions that will need to be explored are whether to:
bundle up the model and all its enablers;
offer the model under a ‘license’;
commercialise the components of the model and enablers as pieces that can be
built on to achieve the whole model and so on.