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Health Service Marketing
Management in Africa
Health Service Marketing
Management in Africa
Edited by
Robert Ebo Hinson, Kofi Osei-Frimpong,
Ogechi Adeola, and Lydia Aziato
First edition published in 2020
by Routledge/Productivity Press
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, 11th Floor New York, NY 10017
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Chapter 12 Branding for Small and Medium Sized Healthcare Institutions.............................. 135
Raphael Odoom and Douglas Opoku Agyeman
v
vi Contents
Ogechi Adeola is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-
Atlantic University, Nigeria. She is also the Academic Director, LBS Sales & Marketing Academy.
Her research interests include tourism and hospitality marketing, strategic marketing, healthcare
services, and digital marketing strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. She has published academic papers
in top-ranking scholarly journals. Her co-authored papers won Best Paper Awards at conferences in
2016, 2017, and 2018. She holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Manchester
Business School, United Kingdom.
Isaiah Adisa is a private researcher working with a faculty member at the Lagos Business School,
Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria. He studied Industrial Relations and Human Resources
Management at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (formerly Ogun State University), Ago-Iwoye,
Ogun State, Nigeria. He graduated with second class honours (upper division) and distinction,
respectively, from undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the same university. He is an astute
researcher whose interests focus on, but are not limited to, industrial relations and human resources
management, organisations strategy, marketing, and gender-related studies.
Douglas Opoku Agyeman holds an MPhil in Marketing and is a teaching assistant in the Department
of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Ghana Business School. He currently directs
a community-based human trafficking prevention project and a youth leadership project in Ghana
through the Cheerful Hearts Foundation and Patriots Ghana respectively. His research interests
are in the areas of SME growth, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable socio-economic develop-
ments in sub-Saharan African countries. He has published in the Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Innovation in Emerging Economies.
Solomon Yaw Agyeman-Boaten holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Ghana. His
research spans the interface of development economics and institutional environments of business
and their implications for the welfare of Ghanaian households. He is currently a research assistant
at the University of Ghana Business School.
vii
viii About the Editors and Contributors
Thomas Anning-Dorson is a Senior Lecturer at the Wits Business School of the University of
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of
Ghana Business School. His research interest spans innovation, service management, strategy, and
emerging markets.
Kumiwaa Asante is a graduate assistant at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public
Administration (GIMPA) Business School. She holds an MSc in Business Administration
(Marketing option) and is working towards her PhD in Marketing at the University of Stellenbosch.
Her research interests include marketing, consumer behavior, social marketing, marijuana research,
mental health, and health marketing.
Lydia Aziato is an Associate Professor and the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery,
University of Ghana. She has been a nurse since 1997. She had her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing
and Psychology and an MPhil in Nursing from the University of Ghana. She had her specialty train-
ing in Oncology Nursing from the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Canada in 2006 and a PhD
in Nursing from the University of the Western Cape, in 2013. She has published over 50 papers in
credible peer-reviewed journals. Her research interests are pain, cancer, women’s health, and surgi-
cal nursing. She has advanced skills in qualitative research.
Anita Asiwome Adzo Baku is a lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Health
Services Management of the University of Ghana Business School. She has a PhD in Management
from the Putra Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She lectures on courses in insurance
and health services management at the University of Ghana Business School. Her research inter-
ests cover healthcare financing and health insurance, occupational safety and health management,
health policy, and management. She has produced various publications and is a reviewer for jour-
nals such as the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy and the International Journal
of Workplace Health Management.
David Ehira is a graduate student of Interactive Media at the University of Westminster. He has
been involved in transdisciplinary research efforts in cognitive technologies, marketing, and the
use of artificial intelligence (AI) expert systems. Known for his creativity and meticulousness in
putting ideas into motion, he is interested in the application of emerging technologies to creating
About the Editors and Contributors ix
user-centred innovations for optimising business processes and enhancing service delivery systems.
His current research interest lies in the use of artificial intelligence systems for promoting sound
mental health among employees in the UK.
Ama Pokuaa Fenny is a Research Fellow with the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economics
Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana. Since 2005, she has researched and published in
the area of developmental issues in health financing, health service delivery, and social protec-
tion. Her current research areas include finding synergies to integrate governmental policies into
service delivery systems in Ghana. She has a PhD in Health Economics from the Department of
Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark and an MSc in Health, Population and Society from the
London School of Economics and Political Science (UK).
Deli Dotse Gli is a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the
University of Ghana Business School. Deli Dotse Gli obtained his Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
degree from University of Ghana Business School. Deli Dotse Gli is passionate about research and
teaching, with research interests in corporate marketing, health marketing, sustainable marketing,
and consumer engagement.
Robert Ebo Hinson is an Extraordinary Professor at the North West University Business School
in South Africa and Head of Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of
Ghana Business School. He has also served as Rector of the Perez University College in Ghana and
holds two doctorate degrees; one in International Business from the Aalborg University in Denmark
and the other in Marketing from the University of Ghana.
Abel Kinoti Meru is a Professor and Dean, Riara University School of Business, Kenya, and the
founding Chair of the Academy of International Business – Africa Chapter. He is a seasoned inno-
vation and business incubation consultant. He holds a Doctorate Degree in Commerce from Nelson
Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa, an MBA (Marketing) and a Bachelor of Commerce
(Accounting) degree. He also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice from York
St. John University (UK) and an International Faculty Programme Certificate from IESE Business
School, University of Navarra-Barcelona (Spain). He also has extensive training in case writing and
the use of case teaching methods from Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria and
Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is a renowned author.
Mary Wanjiru Kinoti is a Professor and a certified behavioral scientist and axiologist from the
United States of America, and is Associate Dean at the School of Business, University of Nairobi,
Kenya. She holds a PhD Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nairobi, Kenya,
and an MBA-Marketing and BCom Finance and Economics from India. She has co-authored other
book chapters, among them “Women Empowerment through Government Loaned Entrepreneurship
Teams in Kenya” in Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Teams: Theory and Practice, Edward
Elgar Publishing, and The Business Case for Climate Change: The Impact of Environmental forces
on Kenya’s Public Listed Companies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
x About the Editors and Contributors
Philip Afeti Korto is a seasoned Ghanaian Health Service Administrator who has been working
in the Ghana Health Service for over a decade. He holds a BSc Administration (Health Service
Administration option) from University of Ghana Business School (UGBS). He also holds a Master
of Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
(GIMPA). He has worked as the Head of Administration and Support Services at three different hos-
pitals and he currently works in the same capacity at Achimota Hospital. He once worked at Ridge
Hospital as a junior Administrator. He has some publications to his credit and is currently writing a
text book on Hospital Administration in Ghana. He occasionally gives practical lectures at UGBS.
He is an active member of the Association of Health Service Administrators, Ghana (AHSAG).
Gwendolyn Mensah is a Lecturer in the Adult Health Department, School of Nursing and Midwifery,
College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana. She took her PhD at the then Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University, now Nelson Mandela University, from 2014 to 2017. She enrolled onto
the MPhil program in 2010, completing it in 2012, and the BA Nursing with Psychology in 2004,
completing in 2007, all at the University of Ghana. She was trained as a State Registered Nurse and
a Registered Midwife in 1992 and 1996 respectively. She has been a nurse/midwife for 27 years and
a Deputy Director of Nursing Services.
Obinna S. Muogboh is Faculty Member and Head of the Operations Management Department,
Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. He was Director of the Doctorate
program and served as Managing Editor of LBS Management Review. Dr Muogboh also served
as the Chief Executive Officer of Jess-NP limited, a Nigeria-based manufacturing firm. He also
worked as Researcher at the Automation and Robotics Laboratory, and the Center for e-Design and
Realization, University of Pittsburgh, USA. He was an International Fellow at INSEAD, France,
and in the Open University, UK. He has consulted for various organisations, including multilateral
agencies such as UNIDO. His research is in the area of manufacturing management, logistics, and
operations strategy. His work has been published in many international journals. He received his
MSc and PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He received his
BEng in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
John Muriithi is currently Deputy Vice Chancellor at Riara University, Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Muriithi
is a proven leader in the corporate world and also has impressive teaching and management cre-
dentials at various universities. John was CEO of the Mater Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya (2008–2015).
Between 2001 and 2004, John served as Chief Executive of SC Johnson East Africa as well as on
the management board of SC Johnson sub-Saharan Africa. John has taught marketing and strategic
change management in executive education and MBA programs at Strathmore Business School
since 2009. Dr. Muriithi holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from the California School
of Business and Organizational Studies, an MBA from USIU, Nairobi, and a BEd (Chemistry) from
the University of Nairobi.
Nkrumah also has experience in the advertising field, planning media campaigns for consumer
brands such as McVities, Beiersdoff (Nivea), GlaxoSmithKline (Lucozade, Panadol, Sensodyne,
Colart), and Merck SevenSeas. Michael’s research interests include both qualitative and quantita-
tive approaches in exploring positioning strategies for service brands and B2B firms, issues pertain-
ing to religious influence on customer orientation and perceptions of value, conceptualizing brand
love for service brands, and the relationship between corporate reputation and brand crisis. Michael
has published in international peer-reviewed journals.
Adaeze Nworie is a Registered Nurse with over 20 years of experience in Healthcare. She also has
an MBA in Marketing and Supply Chain from Penn State University, USA. Based in the United
States, she started Protem Homecare, a Medicare-certified homecare agency, in 2006, Protem
Hospice in 2014 and, more recently, Alliant Treatment Center in 2017. She is currently enrolled in
a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at the Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
Michael Boadi Nyamekye (PhD) is a Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra,
Ghana. The focus of his research is in the area of innovation, nonprofit marketing, service market-
ing, and strategy.
Lillian Akorfa Ohene is a registered nurse with several years of teaching experience in basic and
advanced nursing. As a lecturer in the Department of Community Health Nursing, University of
Ghana, Lilian holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Philosophy and a PhD, all in Nursing. She spe-
cialized in the field of paediatric nursing and was a beneficiary of a Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship.
Dr Ohene is the Faculty Counsellor, Sigma Theta Tau, Chi Omicron Chapter at the University of
Ghana, a Foundation Fellow, Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives, and a member of the West
African College of Nurses and Midwives.
Oluwayemisi Olomo is a doctoral candidate in Marketing at Lagos Business School, Nigeria and an
Adjunct Lecturer at Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria, where she teaches marketing to undergraduate
students. Her research interests include health branding, corporate branding, corporate communica-
tions, and social media marketing.
Ellis L.C. Osabutey is a Reader in International Business, Strategy and Technology Transfer at
Roehampton Business School, University of Roehampton. His research interests include Foreign Direct
Investment and Technology Transfer; Innovation, Technology, and Development; and Institutional
Influences on International HRM/D and Marketing. His current research aims to produce critical and
unique research outputs that can, distinctly, bring out nuanced African and non-African contexts to pro-
mote evidence-based policy-making in developing countries and Africa. Ellis has published articles in
journals such as the Journal of World Business, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, etc.
xii About the Editors and Contributors
Kofi Osei-Frimpong is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Ghana Institute of Management and
Public Administration (GIMPA) Business School, Accra, Ghana. He received his PhD from the
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Kofi is also a Research Fellow at the Vlerick Business
School, Belgium. His research interests include value co-creation in healthcare service delivery,
customer engagement practices, social media use, online live chat, and artificial intelligence. He
is published in high impact journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Business
Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, the International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Service Theory
and Practice, and Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing, and he has also presented
papers at international service research conferences.
Olutayo Otubanjo is a Senior Lecturer at The Lagos Business School, where he teaches full time
and presents executive MBA modules in marketing management. He was a Visiting Research
Fellow at The Warwick Business School, University of Warwick (UK) and was in a similar capacity
at The Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University, USA. He holds a PhD in Marketing
with an emphasis on corporate identity. Otubanjo attended the University of Hull (UK) and Brunel
University, London. He has published in the Academy of Marketing Science Review; Tourist Studies;
Management Decisions; Marketing Review; Journal of Product and Brand Management; Corporate
Reputation Review; Corporate Communications: An International Journal etc. His research inter-
ests sit at the interface between social constructionism, on the one hand, and the elements of corpo-
rate marketing including corporate branding, corporate identity, corporate reputation, corporate
communications cum corporate PR, on the other. He was at one time in his practitioner career,
Director of Strategy and Account Planning at FCB Nigeria.
Gideon L. Puplampu holds a PhD in Nursing Education and Research from the University of
Alberta, Canada. His interest in global health trends and healthcare consumerism makes him an
interesting author on the subject. Gideon received a lifetime international award in 2013 from
Golden Key International as an outstanding scholar. Gideon is currently a lecturer at the School of
Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, Legon. His specialty area is in mental health nursing
with a focus on HIV, hope, and healthcare consumers’ behaviors. Gideon has authored several peer
review articles.
Nii Norkwei Tackie is Research Assistant at the Marketing and Entrepreneurship Department of
the University of Ghana Business School. His research interests include consumer behavior, social
media, marketing analytics, and big data.
About the Editors and Contributors xiii
Ernest Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah is a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School.
He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from London Metropolitan University, UK.
His teaching and research interests include social marketing, health marketing, services market-
ing and political marketing. He has published in peer-reviewed international journals including the
Journal of Social Marketing; African Journal of Economics and Management Studies; Journal of
Hospitality Marketing and Management; Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development;
Journal of African Business; Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing; and Health
Marketing Quarterly.
Andrews Agya Yalley is a marketing lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He received
his PhD in Marketing from the University of Coventry, United Kingdom. His research focuses on
service marketing, co-production, political and religious marketing, and sustainability marketing.
His research has been published in refereed journals and other international marketing conference
proceedings.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support of all the reviewers who gave constructive feedback to the
chapter authors. The authors also acknowledge the Development Policy Poverty Monitoring and
Evaluation Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Ghana and the Skills Development
Fund as well.
xv
1 Introduction to Healthcare
Service Marketing
Management
Building Customer-Driven
Health Organisations
Robert Ebo Hinson, Kofi Osei-Frimpong,
Ogechi Adeola, Lydia Aziato
INTRODUCTION
Healthcare services are considered the backbone of society and human wellness. The recent insti-
tutional transformations in the healthcare services have enormous potential for research and the
sector is fast becoming an exciting field of inquiry for marketing and management scholars. Given
that marketers are concerned about the creation of value for customers, one of the latest trends in
the healthcare sector in Africa is the application of tested and established principles of value crea-
tion in mainstream marketing to the healthcare sector. However, this remains a grey area which
requires a comprehensive understanding and application of mainstream marketing and manage-
ment principles. As a result, this book presents contemporary and thoughtful insights to address
marketing and management related principles in healthcare delivery within the African context.
Healthcare services are considered the backbone of society and human wellness. In recent times,
these services have undergone extensive institutional transformation (Danaher and Gallan, 2016).
Within the context of this transformation, marketing, service quality and value creation enhance
the service experience of healthcare customers (Osei-Frimpong, 2016). For example, Sahoo and
Ghosh (2016) identified service delivery, amongst others, as a significant contributor to enhancing
customer satisfaction in private healthcare delivery. It is notable that the healthcare industry has
enormous potential and is fast becoming an exciting field of endeavour for marketing practition-
ers. Given that marketers are concerned about the creation of value for customers, one of the latest
trends in the healthcare sector is the application of tested and established principles of value crea-
tion in mainstream marketing to the healthcare sector.
Stremersch (2008) notes that the application of marketing to healthcare is a fascinating field
that will likely have more impact on society than any field of marketing. He further states that an
intrinsically unstable environment characterises this very relevant emerging field, hence raising
new questions. Changing regulations, discoveries and new health treatments continuously appear
and give rise to these questions. Furthermore, advancements in technology not only improve the
healthcare delivery systems but also provide avenues for customers to seek information regard-
ing their health conditions and influence their participatory behaviours or changing roles in the
service delivery (Osei-Frimpong, Wilson and Lemke, 2018). Increasingly, there is a shift from the
doctor-led approach to a more patient-centred approach. About a decade ago, Kay (2007) argued
that healthcare organisations need to utilise marketing tools more effectively for customer infor-
mation and assistance in their healthcare decisions. This effort can only be achieved by healthcare
1
2 Health Service Marketing Management in Africa
organisations that promote increased accessibility of care and improved quality of service. Kay
(2007) argued these points from the perspective of the US-based healthcare system described as
“market-based”.
In Africa, the importance of marketing-d riven practices in improving the delivery of healthcare
services cannot be overemphasised. The issue of healthcare delivery and management is significant
for policymakers, private sector players and consumers of health-related services in developing
economy contexts. Scholars have strongly argued in favour of marketing and value creation in
healthcare service delivery in Africa (i.e. Wanjau, Muiruri and Ayodo, 2012; Mahmoud, 2016;
Osei-Frimpong 2016). For instance, in Ghana, Osei-Frimpong (2016) advocated for healthcare ser-
vice providers to understand patient needs or goals and adopt a holistic engagement approach that
would result in positive experiences. Customer experience affects the perception of service qual-
ity and acceptability of healthcare services. In South Africa, Hasumi and Jacobsen (2014) found
that long waiting times, unavailable medications and staff who are perceived as being unfriendly
affected the acceptability of healthcare services. In Egypt, Shafei, Walburg and Taher (2015) iden-
tified areas of shortfall in service quality as including physician reliability, physician assurance,
nursing reliability and nursing assurance. In the Nigerian context, Adepoju, Opafunso and Ajayi
(2018) found that patients were not satisfied with the quality of service in most of the dimensions
assessed (i.e. assurance, reliability, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness). In a study on factors
affecting service quality in the public health sector in Kenya, Wanjau, Muiruri and Ayodo (2012)
found that low employee capacity, low technology adoption, ineffective communication channels
and insufficient funding affect service quality delivery to patients, thus influencing healthcare
service quality perceptions, patient satisfaction and loyalty. These examples of healthcare service
marketing research, in the present contexts, highlight the need to utilise marketing and value crea-
tion tools in the delivery of healthcare services. Furthermore, there is a need for the integration of
service marketing and management principles to enhance the delivery of quality healthcare across
Africa and other developing economies. Therein lies the critical importance of this book.
Drawing on the above discussions, this new book on Health Service Marketing Management
responds to calls for quality healthcare service management practices or processes from develop-
ing economy perspectives. Focusing primarily on Africa, this book covers seven thematic areas,
namely: Strategy in Healthcare; Marketing Imperatives in Healthcare Management; Product and
Pricing Management in Healthcare; Distribution, Marketing Communications and Branding in
Healthcare; People, Physical Evidence and Service Quality Management in Healthcare; Process
Management in Healthcare; and Technology in Healthcare.
Strategy in Healthcare
The first part of this book discusses two important topics, namely, the societal and healthcare
context, and strategic planning and healthcare services. In Chapter 2, Aziato, Ohene and Adjei
discuss the societal and healthcare context. This chapter sheds light on the integrated literature of
Introduction to Healthcare Marketing Management 3
healthcare and positions healthcare in the context of changing societal factors such as globalisation,
economic factors, technological factors, cultural revolution, the consumerist customer and some
key healthcare developments. The authors argue that despite the milieu of challenges in African
healthcare, healthcare professionals should improve their orientation toward the changing societal
context, in particular the cultural diversity within the continent, and promote services that will
enhance customer satisfaction. Chapter 3, by Adeola and Adisa, addresses the issue of strategic
planning and healthcare services. This chapter examines the nature of the market and how a stra-
tegic planning process can be used to solve the challenges associated with marketing healthcare
delivery in Africa. The authors affirm the importance of strategic plans in improving healthcare
delivery and call for a need for healthcare organisations to develop strategic plans that respond to
the changing dynamics of the environment in order to create a healthcare sector that understands
the needs of the people. The chapter further sheds light on the relevance of integrating intensive
research in assessing the internal/external environments of the healthcare organisation to guide the
development of strategic plans and their effective implementation.
countries, but stress that more work needs to be done to improve upon all aspects of healthcare
in developing countries.
Asante, Nkrumah and Owusu-Frimpong, discusses how healthcare organisations could develop
customer loyalty in the healthcare sector. The chapter seeks to deepen our understanding of
customer relationship management techniques and practices in healthcare, with particular inter-
est in outlining strategies to be adopted by healthcare providers to enhance customer participa-
tion and improve customer satisfaction, experience and loyalty. The authors bring to light the
changing roles of the healthcare customer and discuss how care should be delivered to promote
customer loyalty. The chapter also advocates for cooperation between the healthcare professional
and the customer in co-creating healthcare, and for a holistic service delivery that could result
in overall positive experiences.
Technology in Healthcare
Advancements in technology not only improve the healthcare delivery systems but also provide
avenues for customers to seek information regarding their health conditions and influence their
participatory behaviours or changing roles in service delivery. As a result, this part of the book
is dedicated to addressing technological issues and related applications in healthcare delivery.
Chapter 19, by Appiah, Sam-Epelle and Osabutey, discusses technology and health services mar-
keting in Africa. In this chapter, the authors explore how technology is impacting developments
in the African healthcare sector – with a keen focus on health service quality. The chapter also
highlights some current challenges facing the healthcare sector in Africa, and how entrepreneurs in
some of these countries are innovatively overcoming some of these obstacles, mainly with low-cost
solutions and strategies. Relatedly, Chapter 20 discusses the application of technology in healthcare
6 Health Service Marketing Management in Africa
delivery in Africa. Tweneboah-Koduah and Gli present an overview of the role of technology in the
delivery of healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter clearly highlights opportunities which
information technology presents for improving quality of life on a continent that is geographi-
cally dispersed and coupled with high rate of poverty. Furthermore, the chapter captures some
top technological trends advancing efficient healthcare delivery in Africa such as telemedicine,
virtual reality, mobile financial services, and cloud technology, internet of things, drone technol-
ogy, counterfeit detectors, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital communication tools. Chapter 21,
the final chapter of the book, by Odoom and Agyeman, touches on technology and social media in
healthcare delivery. This chapter discusses the role or opportunities that social media and health-
care technology can offer to the healthcare system, innovation and improvement. It highlights some
types of healthcare technologies that will guide research and development, along with some current
examples. Some action steps are also suggested to influence the adoption of technology into routine
health practices in sub-Saharan Africa.
CONCLUSION
This book presents significant insights into healthcare service delivery by applying key marketing
and management principles to enhance performance, sustenance and wellbeing. The book show-
cases a number of illustrations of best practices and also highlights some challenges within the
African healthcare sector. One unique aspect of this book lies in the discussion of forward-looking
recommendations and strategies that seek to transform the healthcare service sector. Overall, this
contemporary book seeks to serve as a reference resource to practitioners of a sector that has been
largely neglected within the developing country contexts.
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Danaher, T. S., and Gallan, A. S. (2016). Service research in health care: positively impacting lives. Journal of
Service Research, 19(4), 433–437.
Hasumi, T., and Jacobsen, K. H. (2014). Healthcare service problems reported in a national survey of South
Africans. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 26(4), 482–489.
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2 The Societal and
Healthcare Context
Lydia Aziato, Lillian Akorfa Ohene, Charles Ampong Adjei
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Healthcare has a globally understood definition of being aimed at achieving optimal health for
all individuals across the life span. There are cultural variations across each society that influ-
ence the healthcare choices and practices used in that specific area. The cultural variations in the
African context have led to a lot of disparities in healthcare services. For example, religiosity and
use of unsafe traditional medicine have negatively impacted access to healthcare services in many
African communities. Healthcare is dynamic and modern technology has led to many innova-
tions and advanced techniques in health. This requires that healthcare institutions in Africa should
improve and develop their infrastructure and equipment to meet global standards as well as pro-
vide high-level training of healthcare professionals. The explosion of information made available
by medical research and the worldwide web has created highly informed clients even within the
African context. Thus, the dynamics and competition in healthcare demand a closer discourse and
understanding of the societal factors that influence healthcare.
training and education of contemporary health professionals, which increased the hope of recovery
for the sick (Weakland, 1992).
For the greater part of the nineteenth century, it was common practice for physicians to attend to
middle-to-upper-income patients in their homes, rendering institutional care mostly for the socially
marginalised and the poor (Wall, 2013). However, during the latter part of the century, societies
became increasingly more industrialised and mobile. Medical practice also continued to evolve in
a more sophisticated and complex manner (Sather, 1992; Stone, 1984). The introduction of indus-
trial medical equipment and intricate procedures thus gave rise to the wider patronage of hospitals
across classes, as complex care could not be given in the home. This resulted in the gradual shift
towards professionalism of healthcare services and then a competitive care environment which
contributed to the development of modernised hospitals (Bullough, 1994; Risse, 1999).
Fast forwarding to the early twentieth century, the power of science has impacted heavily on
decisions and practices of hospitals (D’Antonio, Connolly, Wall, Whelan, & Fairman, 2010). In
the contemporary twenty-first century, economic factors continue to dominate and direct the
establishment and operations of healthcare institutions (Swain, 2016). The economic variations
between regions have reinforced disparities in the establishment and practices of health institu-
tions. Therefore there is the need to look at globalisation as a key player in healthcare delivery.
2.3 GLOBALISATION
In recent times, healthcare industries have been increasingly challenged by globalisation. The
demand for good health for all populations and the progressive interconnectedness of countries
around the globe (Huynen, Martens, & Hilderink, 2005) appear to account for some of these
changing global trends. Given the effect of globalisation on every aspect of society (Mittleman &
Hanaway, 2012; Segouin, Hodges, & Brechat, 2005; Walpole et al., 2016), this section describes
the implications of globalisation, particularly for the healthcare industries, and how healthcare
organisations could derive maximum benefits from this global transformation occurring at an
unprecedented rate over the past decades. Various scholars have tried to delineate the concept of
globalisation which has informed the development of several frameworks (Huynen et al., 2005;
Woodward, Drager, Beaglehole, & Lipson, 2001). Some of the scholars tried to explain the linkages
between globalisation and health (Woodward et al., 2001) and others sought to identify the features
of globalisation (Huynen et al., 2005). Nevertheless, globalisation remains a complex phenomenon
which has attracted different opinions in the past century, particularly as to how it happens, its
main drivers, and its actual timeframe (Lee, 2004).
The most critical discussion in the academic and policy circles centres on whether globali-
sation is good or bad for human health (Lee, 2004). From the perspective of the World Health
Organisation (WHO, 2019a), globalisation presents both positive and negative effects on health. In
fact, the frequently changing trend of disease occurrence places much emphasis on the global uni-
fication, integration, and cooperation which are key benefits of globalisation (Ergin & Akin, 2017).
In the healthcare environment, globalisation has led to improved medical care in many countries
(Murphy, 2007). For example, the development of new medicines, advancements in medical inves-
tigations, and adoption of equipment which influences the care of patients have all occurred due to
globalisation. Now, medical inventions such as the computerised tomography (CT) scan and less
invasive surgical interventions are becoming common in most locales including Africa. Although
the CT scan was invented in 1972 by engineer Godfrey Hounfield in England and a physicist Allan
Cormack in the United States, due to globalisation it has spread worldwide (Castillo, 2012).
Globalisation can also have negative effects on economies and societies, especially those of
low-income countries (Aluttis, Bishaw, & Frank, 2014; Kalipeni, Semu, & Mbilizi, 2012; Kasper
& Bajunirwe, 2012). A typical negative consequence of globalisation is the migration of healthcare
providers from low-income countries with poorer economic conditions to high-income countries
(Kalipeni et al., 2012; Kasper & Bajunirwe, 2012; WHO, 2019a). In many countries, the migration
The Societal and Healthcare Context 9
phenomenon deprived these poorly resourced countries of their critical health staff, which to date
appears to have had adverse effects on their health systems. It is estimated that 56 per cent of
Ghanaian trained doctors and 24 per cent of nurses are working in high-income countries within
Europe and North America (International Organisation for Migration, 2009). These and other fac-
tors might be accounting for the reduced competitive advantage of African countries in the inter-
national market within the healthcare industry. It is therefore crucial that these countries explore
more proactive interventions to build customer-d riven health organisations paying particular atten-
tion to the societal and the healthcare context.
Establishing attractive markets in today’s healthcare industry requires the provision of top-
notch services that meet the needs and demands of consumers irrespective of their geographical
location. This opinion has previously been expressed by Segouin et al. (2005) who believed that the
provision of quality healthcare at a lower cost could be to the benefit of low- and middle-income
countries. Countries in Africa ought to commit more resources to research to validate the effec-
tiveness of the available indigenous medicinal plants by drawing lessons from China where herbal
medicines are integrated into the formal health system and remain attractive to the global commu-
nities. Lessons can also be drawn from countries such as Iran and India that are known to provide
affordable and quality medical services that attract diverse healthcare consumers from different
parts of the world. However, the realisation of these benefits can only happen when low-income
countries, particularly those in Africa, build a strong health delivery system.
Another important factor influencing healthcare services is socio-economic status (SES) of cli-
ents. Evidence shows that individuals with low SES are more often afflicted by diseases (Flaskerud
& DeLilly, 2012) and less likely to be able to afford the cost of care. It is therefore imperative that
people are empowered through education, employment, and enhanced income to improve their
lives. Furthermore, issues of quality of healthcare services cannot be underestimated in this regard,
particularly from the perspective of consumers (Abaerei, Ncayiyana, & Levin, 2017). Thus, the
quality of healthcare services hinges on the amount of funding that goes into the service provision.
Exploring innovative ways that can enhance resource mobilisation at the facility level would be
beneficial. In addition, reduction in wastage in the health system may also yield positive effects.
Such innovations can be linked to the influence of technology in healthcare.
reduce readmission rates. With the advent of hospitals being charged penalties for readmissions,
remote monitoring tools available to patients at home may be a prudent way for hospitals to avoid
such charges. Also, the use of sensors and devices used on the body are additional aids to early
detection of abnormalities (Pramanik, Upadhyaya, Pal, & Pal, 2019). These devices are simple
machines which could send alerts to health professionals for timely interventions. Undoubtedly,
modern trends in health services require adoption of technology for effective and efficient care out-
comes. However, there are increased calls to investigate the role of technology in the cost of health-
care delivery (Anand, 1996). For the purpose of sustainability, much is desired from organisational
and community leaders in evaluating the spending on new technologies and their efficiencies.
midwives in private practice in Ethiopia, Ghana, Zambia, and Burkina Faso have better conditions
of service compared to their counterparts in the public sector (McCoy et al., 2008). It is imperative
for employers of health professionals to conduct market surveys and offer competitive salaries and
incentives so that they can maintain and attract expert service providers. Poor conditions of service
could result in loss of skilled employees to their competitors (Dash & Meredith, 2010). When the
staff are paid the right salary, they give of their best and the customers will also be satisfied and
continue to seek health services at the facility (Willis-Shattuck et al., 2008). Reducing waiting
time, creating effective interpersonal relationships and mutual respect, and adhering to ethical
standards would enhance customer satisfaction (Agung, 2018; Bakari Salehe, 2016).
After Jem had left, Kimmensen turned slowly toward Susanne. She
sat quietly, her eyes on her empty coffee cup.
Waiting, Kimmensen thought.
She knew, of course, that she'd hurt him badly again. She expected
his anger. Well, how could he help but be angry? Hadn't any of the
things he'd told her ever made any impression on her?
"Susanne."
She raised her head and he saw the stubborn, angry set to her
mouth. "Father, please don't lecture me again." Every word was low,
tight, and controlled.
Kimmensen clenched his hands. He'd never been able to understand
this kind of defiance. Where did she get that terribly misplaced
hardness in her fiber? What made her so unwilling to listen when
someone older and wiser tried to teach her?
If I didn't love her, he thought, this wouldn't matter to me. But in spite
of everything, I do love her. So I go on, every day, trying to make her
see.
"I can't understand you," he said. "What makes you act this way?
Where did it come from? You're nothing like your mother,"—though,
just perhaps, even if the thought twisted his heart, she was—"and
you're nothing like me."
"I am," she said in a low voice, looking down again. "I'm exactly like
you."
When she spoke nonsense like that, it annoyed him more than
anything else could have. And where anger could be kept in check,
annoyance could not.
"Listen to me," he said.
"Don't lecture me again."
"Susanne! You will keep quiet and listen. Do you realize what you're
doing, flirting with a man like Messerschmidt? Do you realize—has
anything I've told you ever made an impression on you?—do you
realize that except for an accident in time, that man could be one of
the butchers who killed your mother?"
"Father, I've heard you say these things before. We've all heard you
say them."
Now he'd begun, it was no longer any use not to go on. "Do you
realize they oppressed and murdered and shipped to labor camps all
the people I loved, all the people who were worthwhile in the world,
until we rose up and wiped them out?" His hands folded down whitely
on the arms of his chair. "Where are your grandparents buried? Do
you know? Do I? Where is my brother? Where are my sisters?"
"I don't know. I never knew them."
"Listen—I was born in a world too terrible for you to believe. I was
born to cower. I was born to die in a filthy cell under a police station.
Do you know what a police station is, eh? Have I described one often
enough? Your mother was born to work from dawn to night, hauling
stones to repair the roads the army tanks had ruined. And if she
made a mistake—if she raised her head, if she talked about the
wrong things, if she thought the wrong thoughts—then she was born
to go to a labor camp and strip tree bark for the army's medicines
while she stood up to her waist in freezing water.
"I was born in a world where half a billion human beings lived for a
generation in worship—in worship—of a man. I was born in a world
where that one twisted man could tell a lie and send gigantic armies
charging into death, screaming that lie. I was born to huddle, to be a
cipher in a crowd, to be spied on, to be regulated, to be hammered to
meet the standard so the standard lie would fit me. I was born to be
nothing."
Slowly, Kimmensen's fingers uncurled. "But now I have freedom.
Stepan Dubrovic managed to find freedom for all of us. I remember
how the word spread—how it whispered all over the world, almost in
one night, it seemed. Take a wire—twist it, so. Take a vacuum tube—
the army has radios, there are stores the civil servants use, there are
old radios, hidden—make the weapon ... and you are free. And we
rose up, each man like an angel with a sword of fire.
"But if we thought Paradise would come overnight, we were wrong.
The armies did not dissolve of themselves. The Systems did not
break down.
"You take a child from the age of five; you teach it to love the State, to
revere the Leader; you inform it that it is the wave of the future, much
cleverer than the decadent past but not quite intelligent enough to
rule itself. You teach it that there must be specialists in government—
Experts in Economy, Directors of Internal Resources, Ministers of
Labor Utilization. What can you do with a child like that, by the time it
is sixteen? By the time it is marching down the road with a pack on its
back, with the Leader's song on its lips? With the song written so its
phrases correspond to the ideal breathing cycle for the average
superman marching into the Future at one hundred centimeters to the
pace?"
"Stop it, Father."
"You burn him down. How else can you change him? You burn him
down where he marches, you burn his Leaders, you burn the System,
you root out—everything!"
Kimmensen sighed. "And then you begin to be free." He looked
urgently at Susanne. "Now do you understand what Messerschmidt
is? If you can't trust my advice, can you at least understand that
much? Has what I've always told you finally made some impression?"
Susanne pushed her chair back. "No. I understood it the first time and
I saw how important it was. I still understood it the tenth time. But now
I've heard it a thousand times. I don't care what the world was like—I
don't care what you went through. I never saw it. You. You sit in your
office and write the same letters day after day, and you play with your
weapon, and you preach your social theory as though it was a
religion and you were its high priest—special, dedicated, above us all,
above the flesh. You tell me how to live my life. You try to arrange it to
fit your ideas. You even try to cram Jem Bendix down my throat.
"But I won't have you treating me that way. When Anse talks to me,
it's about him and me, not about people I never met. I have things I
want. I want Anse. I'm telling you and you can tell Bendix. And if you
don't stop trying to order me around, I'll move out. That's all."
Clutching his chair, not quite able to believe what he'd heard, knowing
that in a moment pain and anger would crush him down, Kimmensen
listened to her quick footsteps going away into her room.
CHAPTER IV
He was waiting out on the patio, in the bright cold of the morning,
when Jem Bendix brought the plane down and picked him up. Bendix
was pale this morning, and puffy-eyed, as though he'd been a long
time getting to sleep and still had not shaken himself completely
awake.
"Good morning, Joe," he said heavily as Kimmensen climbed in
beside him.
"Good morning, Jem." Kimmensen, too, had stayed awake a long
time. This morning, he had washed and dressed and drunk his coffee
with Susanne's bedroom door closed and silent, and then he had
come out on the patio to wait for Jem, not listening for sounds in the
house. "I'm—I'm very sorry for the way things turned out last night."
He left it at that. There was no point in telling Jem about Susanne's
hysterical outburst.
Jem shook his head as he lifted the plane into the air. "No, Joe. It
wasn't your fault. You couldn't help that."
"She's my daughter. I'm responsible for her."
Jem shrugged. "She's headstrong. Messerschmidt paid her some
attention, and he became a symbol of rebellion to her. She sees him
as someone who isn't bound by your way of life. He's a glamorous
figure. But she'll get over it. I spent a long time last night thinking
about it. You were right, Joe. At the moment, he's something new and
exciting. But he'll wear off. The society'll see through him, and so will
Susanne. All we have to do is wait."
Kimmensen brooded over the valleys far below, pale under the early
morning mist. "I'm not sure, Jem," he answered slowly. He had spent
hours last night in his chair, hunched over, not so much thinking as
steeping his mind in all the things that had happened so suddenly.
Finally, he had gotten up and gone into his bedroom, where he lay on
his bed until a plan of action slowly formed in his mind and he could,
at last, go to sleep.
"It's not the matter of Messerschmidt and Susanne," he explained
quickly. "I hope you understand that I'm speaking now as someone
responsible to all the families in this area, rather than as the head of
any particular one. What concerns me now is that Messerschmidt is
bound to have some sort of following among the immature. He's
come at a bad time. He's in a good position to exploit this business in
the Northwest."
And I'm going to die. Kimmensen had to pause before he went on.
"Yes, in time his bubble will burst. But it's a question of how long that
might take. Meanwhile, he is a focus of unrest. If nothing happens to
check him now, some people might decide he was right."
Bendix chewed his lower lip. "I see what you mean, Joe. It'll get
worse before it gets better. He'll attract more followers. And the ones
he has now will believe in him more than ever."
"Yes," Kimmensen said slowly, "that could easily happen."
They flew in silence for a few moments, the plane jouncing in the
bumpy air, and then as Bendix slowed the vanes and they began to
settle down into the valley where the office building was, Jem asked,
"Do you have anything in mind?"
Kimmensen nodded. "Yes. It's got to be shown that he doesn't have
the population behind him. His followers will be shocked to discover
how few of them there are. And the people wavering toward him will
realize how little he represents. I'm going to call for an immediate
election."
"Do you think that's the answer? Will he run against you?"
"If he refuses to run in an election, that's proof enough he knows he
couldn't possibly win. If he runs, he'll lose. It's the best possible move.
And, Jem ... there's another reason." Kimmensen had thought it all
out. And it seemed to him that he could resolve all his convergent
problems with this one move. He would stop Messerschmidt, he
would pass his work on to Jem, and—perhaps this was a trifle more
on his mind than he'd been willing to admit—once Messerschmidt
had been deflated, Susanne would be bound to see her tragic error,
and the three of them could settle down, and he could finish his life
quietly.
"Jem, I'm getting old."
Bendix's face turned paler. He licked his lips. "Joe—"
"No, Jem, we've got to face it. Don't try to be polite about it. No matter
how much you protest, the fact is I'm almost worn out, and I know it.
I'm going to resign."
Bendix's hands jerked on the control wheel.
Kimmensen pretended not to see it. For all his maturity, Jem was still
a young man. It was only natural that the thought of stepping up so
soon would be a great thrill to him. "I'll nominate you as my
successor, and I'll campaign for you. By winning the election, you'll
have stopped Messerschmidt, and then everything can go on the way
we've always planned." Yes, he thought as the plane bumped down
on the weathered plaza. That'll solve everything.
That night, when he came home, he found Susanne waiting for him in
the living room. She looked at him peculiarly as he closed the panel
behind him.
"Hello, Father."
"Hello, Susanne." He had been hoping that the passage of a day
would dull her emotional state, and at least let the two of them speak
to each other like civilized people. But, looking at her, he saw how
tense her face was and how red the nervous blotches were in the
pale skin at the base of her neck.
What happened between us? he thought sadly. Where did it start? I
raised you alone from the time you were six months old. I stayed up
with you at night when your teeth came. I changed your diapers and
put powder on your little bottom, and when you were sick I woke up
every hour all night for weeks to give you your medicine. I held you
and gave you your bottles, and you were warm and soft, and when I
tickled you under the chin you laughed up at me. Why can't you smile
with me now? Why do you do what you do to me?
"I heard your broadcast, of course," she said tightly.
"I thought you would."
"Just remember something, Father."
"What, Susanne?"
"There are a lot of us old enough to vote, this time."
CHAPTER V
Kimmensen shifted in his chair, blinking in the sunshine of the plaza.
Messerschmidt sat a few feet away, looking up over the heads of the
live audience at the mountains. The crowd was waiting patiently and
quietly. It was the quiet that unsettled him a little bit. He hadn't said
anything to Jem, but he'd half expected some kind of demonstration
against Messerschmidt.
Still, this was only a fraction of the League membership. There were
cameras flying at each corner of the platform, and the bulk of the
electorate were watching from their homes. There was no telling what
their reaction was, but Kimmensen, on thinking it over, decided that
the older, more settled proportion of the League—the people in the
comfort of their homes, enjoying the products of their own free labor
—would be as outraged at this man as he was.
He turned his head back over his shoulder and looked at Jem.
"We'll be starting in a moment. How do you feel?"
Jem's smile was a dry-lipped grimace. "A little nervous. How about
you, Joe?"
Kimmensen smiled back at him. "This is an old story to me, Jem.
Besides, I'm not running." He clasped his hands in his lap and faced
front again, forcing his fingers to keep still.
The surprisingly heavy crowd here in the plaza was all young people.
In a moment, the light flashed on above the microphone, and
Kimmensen stood up and crossed the platform. There was a good
amount of applause from the crowd, and Kimmensen smiled down at
them. Then he lifted his eyes to the camera that had flown into
position in front of and above him.
"Fellow citizens," he began, "as you know, I'm not running in this
election." There was silence from the crowd. He'd half expected some
sort of demonstration of disappointment—at least a perfunctory one.
There was none. Well, he'd about conceded this crowd of youngsters
to Messerschmidt. It was the people at home who mattered.
"I'm here to introduce the candidate I think should be our next League
President—Secretary Jem Bendix."
This time the crowd reacted. As Jem got up and bowed, and the other
cameras focussed on him, there was a stir in the plaza, and one
young voice broke in: "Why introduce him? Everybody knows him."
"Sure," somebody else replied. "He's a nice guy."
Messerschmidt sat quietly in his chair, his eyes still on the mountains.
He made a spare figure in his dark clothes, with his pale face under
the shock of black hair.
Kimmensen started to go on as Jem sat down. But then, timed
precisely for the second when he was firmly back in his chair, the
voice that had shouted the first time added: "But who wants him for
President?"
A chorus of laughter exploded out of the crowd. Kimmensen felt his
stomach turn icy. That had been pre-arranged. Messerschmidt had
the crowd packed. He'd have to make the greatest possible effort to
offset this. He began speaking again, ignoring the outburst.
"We're here today to decide whom we want for our next president.
But in a greater sense, we are here to decide whether we shall keep
our freedom or whether we shall fall back into a tyranny as odious as
any, as evil as any that crushed us to the ground for so long."
As he spoke, the crowd quieted. He made an impressive appearance
on a platform, he knew. This was an old story to him, and now he
made use of all the experience gathered through the years.
"We are here to decide our future. This is not just an ordinary
election. We are here to decide whether we are going to remain as
we are, of whether we are going to sink back into the bloody past."
As always, he felt the warmth of expressing himself—of re-affirming
the principles by which he lived. "We are here to choose between a
life of peace and harmony, a life in which no man is oppressed in any
way by any other, a life of fellowship, a life of peaceful trade, a life of
shared talents and ideals—or a life of rigid organization, of slavery to
a high-sounding phrase and a remorseless system of government
that fits its subjects to itself rather than pattern itself to meet their
greatest good."
He spoke to them of freedom—of what life had been like before they
were born, of how bitter the struggle had been, and of how Freemen
ought to live.
They followed every word attentively, and when he finished he sat
down to applause.
He sat back in his chair. Jem, behind him, whispered:
"Joe, that was wonderful! I've never heard it better said. Joe, I ... I've
got to admit that before I heard you today, I was scared—plain
scared. I didn't think I was ready. It—it seemed like such a big job, all
alone.... But now I know you're with me, forever...."
Still shaken, still sick, Kimmensen sat in his office and stared down at
his hands. Twenty-eight years of selfless dedication had brought him
to this day.
He looked up at the knock on his open door, and felt himself turn
rigid.
"May I come in?" Messerschmidt asked quietly, unmoving, waiting for
Kimmensen's permission.
Kimmensen tightened his hands. "What do you want?"
"I'd like to apologize for my performance this afternoon." The voice
was still quiet, and still steady. The mouth, with its deep line etched at
one corner, was grave and a little bit sad.
"Come in," Kimmensen said, wondering what new tactic
Messerschmidt would use.
"Thank you." He crossed the office. "May I sit down?"
Kimmensen nodded toward the chair, and Messerschmidt took it. "Mr.
President, the way I slanted my speech this afternoon was unjust in
many respects. I did it that way knowingly, and I know it must have
upset you a great deal." His mouth hooked into its quirk, but his eyes
remained grave.
"Then why did you do it?" Kimmensen snapped. He watched
Messerschmidt's face carefully, waiting for the trap he knew the man
must be spinning.
"I did it because I want to be President. I only hope I did it well
enough to win. I didn't have time to lay the groundwork work for a
careful campaign. I would have used the same facts against you in
any case, but I would have preferred not to cloak them in hysterical
terms. But there wasn't time. There isn't time—I've got to destroy this
society you've created as soon as I can. After tonight's election, I
will."
"You egomaniac!" Kimmensen whispered incredulously. "You're so
convinced of your superiority that you'll even come here—to me—and
boast about your twisted plans. You've got the gall to come here and
tell me what you're going to do—given the chance."
"I came here to apologize, Mr. Kimmensen. And then I answered your
question."
Kimmensen heard his voice rising and didn't care. "We'll see who
wins the election! We'll see whether a man can ride roughshod over
other men because he believes he has a mission to perform!"
"Mr. President," Messerschmidt said in his steady voice, "I have no
idea of whether I am supplied with a mission to lead. I doubt it. I don't
particularly feel it. But when I speak my opinions, people agree with
me. It isn't a question of my wanting to or not wanting to. People
follow me."
"No Freeman in his right mind will follow you!"
"But they will. What it comes down to is that I speak for more of them
than you. There's no Utopia with room for men like you and me, and
yet we're here. We're constantly being born. So there's a choice—kill
us, burn us down, or smash your Utopia. And you can't kill more than
one generation of us."
Messerschmidt's eyes were brooding. His mouth twisted deeper into
sadness. "I don't like doing this to you, Mr. President, because I
understand you. I think you're wrong, but I understand you. So I came
here to apologize.
"I'm a leader. People follow me. If they follow me, I have to lead them.
It's a closed circle. What else can I do? Kill myself and leave them
leaderless? Someday, when I'm in your position and another man's in
mine, events may very well move in that direction. But until the man
who'll displace me is born and matures, I have to be what I am, just
as you do. I have to do something about the Northwesters. I have to
get these people back together again so they're a whole, instead of
an aggregate of isolated pockets. I have to give them places to live
together. Not all of us, Mr. President, were born to live in eagle rooks
on mountaintops. So I've got to hurt you, because that's what the
people need."
Kimmensen shook in reaction to the man's consummate arrogance.
He remembered Bausch, when they finally burst into his office, and
the way the great fat hulk of the man had protested: "Why are you
doing this? I was working for your good—for the good of this nation—
why are you doing this?"
"That's enough of you and your kind's hypocrisy, Messerschmidt!" he
choked out. "I've got nothing further I want to hear from you. You're
everything I despise and everything I fought to destroy. I've killed men
like you. After the election tonight, you'll see just how few followers
you have. I trust you'll understand it as a clear warning to get out of
this area before we kill one more."
Messerschmidt stood up quietly. "I doubt if you'll find the election
coming out in quite that way," he said, his voice still as calm as it had
been throughout. "It might have been different if you hadn't so long
persisted in fighting for the last generation's revolution."
CHAPTER VI
There was only one bare overhead bulb in the tabulator room. Bendix
had brought in two plain chairs from the offices upstairs, and now
Kimmensen sat side by side with him, looking at the gray bulk of the
machine. The room was far down under the building. The walls and
floor were cement, and white rime bloomed dankly in the impressions
left by form panels that had been set there long ago.
The tabulating recorder was keyed into every League communicator,
and every key was cross-indexed into the census files. It would
accept one vote from each mature member of every League family. It
flashed running totals on the general broadcast wavelength.
"It seems odd," Bendix said in a husky voice. "An election without
Salmaggi running."
Kimmensen nodded. The flat walls distorted voices until they
sounded like the whispers of grave-robbers in a tomb.
"Did you ask him why he wasn't?" he asked because silence was
worse.
"He said he didn't know whose ticket to run on."
Kimmensen absorbed it as one more fact and let it go.
"The first votes ought to be coming in." Bendix was looking at his
watch. "It's time."
Kimmensen nodded.
"It's ironic," Bendix said. "We have a society that trusts itself enough
to leave this machine unguarded, and now the machine's recording
an election that's a meaningless farce. Give the electorate one more
day and it'd have time to think about Messerschmidt's hate-
mongering. As it is, half the people'll be voting for him with their
emotions instead of their intelligence."
"It'll be a close election," Kimmensen said. He was past pretending.
"It won't be an election!" Bendix burst out, slamming his hand on his
knee. "One vote for Bendix. Two votes for Mob Stupidity." He looked
down at the floor. "It couldn't be worse if Messerschmidt were down
here himself, tampering with the tabulator circuits."
Kimmensen asked in a dry voice: "Is it that easy?"
"Throwing the machine off? Yes, once you have access to it. Each
candidate has an assigned storage circuit where his votes
accumulate. A counter electrode switches back and forth from circuit
to circuit as the votes come in. With a piece of insulation to keep it
from making contact, and a jumper wire to throw the charge over into
the opposing memory cells, a vote for one candidate can be
registered for the other. A screwdriver'll give you access to the
assembly involved. I ... studied up on it—to make sure
Messerschmidt didn't try it."
"I see," Kimmensen said.
They sat in silence for a time. Then the machine began to click.
"Votes, coming in," Bendix said. He reached in his blouse pocket. "I
brought a communications receiver to listen on."
They sat without speaking again for almost a half hour, listening.
Then Kimmensen looked at Bendix. "Those'll be his immediate
followers, voting early," he said. "It'll even out, probably, when most of
the families finish supper." His voice sounded unreal to himself.