Employing 'strategy' in global health

In this "Health Affairs Blog" post, Sachin Jain, a physician and former HHS adviser, explores the use of the term "strategy" in global health, writing "the term remains variably used and ill-defined." He "offer[s] a definition enumerated for use by for-profit firms: Strategy is the unique set of activities and operating structures that an organization puts in place to deliver value to its customers," and offers explanation about each segment of the definition. He concludes, "Strategy requires that organizations puzzle through different sets of 'conflicting virtues' -- funders, activities, customers -- and establish a priority order among them. None of these decisions are without their challenges; deciding to clearly define and grapple with them, however, will be an important step towards greater organizational effectiveness and results" (3/12).