Msa Buss

Wilkins, G. 2013, 'Ramsay in Asian joint venture', Sydney Morning Herald, 28 March, viewed 18 May 2013,

<http://www.smh.com.au/business/ramsay-in-asian-joint-venture-20130327-2gul1.html>

Summary

Wilkins (2013) examines Ramsay Health Care's overseas expansion in south-east Asia of $500 million through a joint venture with Sime Darby, a Malaysian hospital group. The new Malaysia-based entity will cost $120 million over three years, with Ramsay holding half the stakes.

Application of Concepts

Ramsay's expansion of its south-east Asia operations into Malaysia can be critically impacted by the socio-cultural environment of Malaysia. Demographics and national culture could possibly affect the joint venture.

The demographic profile of Malaysia paints an important picture of the country's social environment. According to AusAID (2012), Malaysia is currently a developing country with a multi-ethnic society, the understanding of different languages makes Malaysia an attractive spot for medical tourists (Tullao and Lim 2012).

In Chongsuvivatwong, Phua, Yap, Pocock, Hashim, Chhem, Wilopo and Lopez's (2011) article, healthcare related demographic statistics such as Malaysia's life expectancy, population with age 65 years or above, fertility, infant mortality and literacy rates are 72 years, 4%, 2.51, 5 deaths per thousand and 92% respectively. Rising educational levels (Department of Statistics Malaysia 2010) have led to increased demand for healthcare services, positively affecting life expectancy which is correlated to the availability of healthcare resources (Chan and Devi 2012). Cheah and Tang (2011) also reported that Malaysians' level of happiness is positively affected by the status of their health.

Under Hofstede's (1983) cultural dimensions theory, Malaysians' uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) and Masculinity need to be examined as these indicators could potentially affect the healthcare industry. According to The Hofstede Centre (n.d.), Malaysia scored...