Vertical integration in service industries: An exploratory study at the healthcare industry in São Paulo

Abstract

Different production arrangements have been experienced in several economic fields. It is possible to observe integration cycles, when a company becomes responsible for consecutive stages in the production chain of goods and services. This process, known as vertical integration, generates many implications that have been analyzed by studies about operational management, transaction costs economics, competition and anti-trust regulation. Focused on the healthcare industry, this research aims to analyze the managerial perception about vertical integration in this field, aiming to gain insights about the motivations and implications of this process, not sufficiently exploited by the specialized literature. Using a qualitative approach, interviewees were asked to rank possible vertical integration benefits. It was noticed that the control of production costs and the optimization of services' quality were the main benefits of this process. Obtained results reinforce some perceptions gained at studies conducted among north-american companies; however, some differences were observed, which are characteristic of the analyzed context.