Using Collaboration to Fight Obesity and Improve a Competitive Position

Making use of collaboration can be an important component of an organization's business strategy. In this blog, we have often advocated collaboration between weight loss centers and other organizations as a way to improve a competitive position, while fighting overweight and obesity. A relationship formed between The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Subway Restaurant Franchise illustrates this kind of collaboration. NIH, Subway, and other organizations, have come together, under an NIH program called “We Can!,” to work with parents and children to fight childhood obesity.

The NIH is a component of an agency within the federal government. That agency is the Department of Health and Human Services. And the agency has the primary responsibility for medical research in the U.S.

The NIH is based in Bethesda Maryland. The organization, which had its start in 1887 in Staten Island, NY, works to determine the cause and treatment of rare and common diseases. The organization carries out investigations within every state in the U.S. and in other countries.

The We Can! program is education oriented. The program helps children who are 8 to 13 years old maintain a healthy weight. As indicated above, a number of organizations have joined the We Can! program. However, in our opinion, Subway stands out as a member of the program because of the organization's attention to weight loss.

Subway restaurants sell mostly sandwiches and salads. And the restaurant franchise is rapidly growing. Much of the growth is no doubt due, in part, to the marketing of low calorie sandwiches. Adhering to a low calorie diet can lead to weight loss success. Jared Fogle followed a low calorie diet heavily dependent on low calorie Subway sandwiches. Fogle lost over 200 pounds by eating Subway sandwiches and engaging in frequent exercise. His weight loss success is highlighted in Subway TV commercials.

We believe that the collaboration between the NIH and Subway will serve a number of useful purposes. The collaboration may entice more restaurants to vigorously market low calorie meals. And the federal government’s involvement with Subway -- and other organizations -- shows that the government views overweight and obesity as major problems.

Weight loss centers might want to consider getting involved with the NIH program. Moreover, weight loss organizations should always be on the lookout for collaborative opportunities that may help the centers fight obesity while strengthening a competitive position.
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Tags: environmental scanning, strategic management, childhood obesity, weight loss marketing