Principles of Implementing and Marketing Bovine Health Management Programs

Abstract

The serious interest now being taken by the veterinary profession in implementing and promoting health management programs is very encouraging. Theodore Levitt has suggested that there is no such thing as a growth industry, and,
" ...industries that assume themselves to be riding some automatic growth escalator invariably descend into stagnation. There are only companies organized and operated to create and capitalize on growth opportunities. The history of every dead and dying "growth" industry shows a self-deceiving cycle of bountiful expansion and undetected decay."¹

We should not be surprised, therefore, that the "escalator" of traditional bovine medicine is moving downwards. A shrinking agricultural dollar, expanding veterinary schools, increasing competition for clients from non veterinary sources, changing market conditions, and increased costs of doing business have markedly reduced the growth potential of traditional veterinary medicine.² This 1988 convention of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, with its emphasis on health management programs and methods of improving how we do business, is a strong indication that we are preparing to create and capitalize on growth opportunities!