Organic Growth in Regulated Healthcare: Competitive Positioning, Market Acceptance, and Portfolio Expansion in Private Specialist Care
(2026) MIOM05 20261Department of Industrial and Mechanical Sciences
Production Management
- Abstract
- This thesis examines how private specialist clinics pursue long-term organic growth in regulated healthcare markets, using Nova Psykiatri, a Swedish provider of neuropsychiatric assessments, as a single revelatory case. The study addresses a gap at the intersection of organic growth theory, institutional theory, and private specialist care. Existing growth mode research assumes conditions of relative strategic flexibility that does not hold in institutionally dense, trust-sensitive healthcare markets, where firms must simultaneously satisfy a professional logic, a market logic, and a state logic at the same time.
Adopting a qualitative and abductive research approach, the study draws on sixteen semi-structured interviews with... (More) - This thesis examines how private specialist clinics pursue long-term organic growth in regulated healthcare markets, using Nova Psykiatri, a Swedish provider of neuropsychiatric assessments, as a single revelatory case. The study addresses a gap at the intersection of organic growth theory, institutional theory, and private specialist care. Existing growth mode research assumes conditions of relative strategic flexibility that does not hold in institutionally dense, trust-sensitive healthcare markets, where firms must simultaneously satisfy a professional logic, a market logic, and a state logic at the same time.
Adopting a qualitative and abductive research approach, the study draws on sixteen semi-structured interviews with respondents across Nova Psykiatri's organisation, complemented by internal documents, and analysed through template-based coding. The findings are organised around three structural tensions identified in the literature: the relationship between pricing and clinical credibility, the balance between standardisation and individualised care, and the risk of strategic dilution as the service portfolio expands.
The findings and analysis show that Nova manages these tensions by developing what this thesis terms as “multi-logic competence” meaning satisfying all three institutional logics simultaneously instead of prioritising one over another. The multi-logic competence therefore creates a basis for competitive positioning, which drives the organic growth outcomes. Two further mechanisms moderate these outcomes, creating long- term growth outcomes. The first force is trust, which acts as an accelerator by converting clinical expertise to patient recommendations. The second force is the Penrose constraint, which acts in the opposite direction since the pace of growth is ultimately constrained by the pace at which clinical expertise can be transferred to new employees. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9243639
- author
- Carlberg, Carl LU and Natt Och Dag, Axel LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MIOM05 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Organic growth, institutional logics, multi-logic competence, regulated healthcare, Penrose constraint, competitive positioning, institutional legitimacy.
- other publication id
- 26/5361
- language
- English
- id
- 9243639
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-24 15:21:44
- date last changed
- 2026-06-24 15:21:44
@misc{9243639,
abstract = {{This thesis examines how private specialist clinics pursue long-term organic growth in regulated healthcare markets, using Nova Psykiatri, a Swedish provider of neuropsychiatric assessments, as a single revelatory case. The study addresses a gap at the intersection of organic growth theory, institutional theory, and private specialist care. Existing growth mode research assumes conditions of relative strategic flexibility that does not hold in institutionally dense, trust-sensitive healthcare markets, where firms must simultaneously satisfy a professional logic, a market logic, and a state logic at the same time.
Adopting a qualitative and abductive research approach, the study draws on sixteen semi-structured interviews with respondents across Nova Psykiatri's organisation, complemented by internal documents, and analysed through template-based coding. The findings are organised around three structural tensions identified in the literature: the relationship between pricing and clinical credibility, the balance between standardisation and individualised care, and the risk of strategic dilution as the service portfolio expands.
The findings and analysis show that Nova manages these tensions by developing what this thesis terms as “multi-logic competence” meaning satisfying all three institutional logics simultaneously instead of prioritising one over another. The multi-logic competence therefore creates a basis for competitive positioning, which drives the organic growth outcomes. Two further mechanisms moderate these outcomes, creating long- term growth outcomes. The first force is trust, which acts as an accelerator by converting clinical expertise to patient recommendations. The second force is the Penrose constraint, which acts in the opposite direction since the pace of growth is ultimately constrained by the pace at which clinical expertise can be transferred to new employees.}},
author = {{Carlberg, Carl and Natt Och Dag, Axel}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Organic Growth in Regulated Healthcare: Competitive Positioning, Market Acceptance, and Portfolio Expansion in Private Specialist Care}},
year = {{2026}},
}