f the major variables in a model. Thus, matrix structures other than 2X2 are used.
There are several matrix models that are used in the evaluation of strategic planning for organizations with diversified business portfolios is the application of matrix techniques (Sen, 1997). These matrix models differ from one another primarily with respect to the major interaction variables by which they are defined. The purpose of this study is to review and assess several of these matrix models for the appropriateness of their application in the evaluation of diversified business portfolios in the health care services delivery industry.
The research performed as a part of this study is important because of the increasing trend toward integration in the health care services delivery industry (Blumenthal, 1996). Along with the increasing role of diversified systems in the delivery of health care services comes increasing concerns over the changes that this increasing role for integrated systems may have on the availability, accessibility, and affordability of health care in the United States. Diversified integrated health care systems must have effective and efficient ways in which to evaluated their strategic planning if the potentially adverse outcomes of their strategic decisions on the availability, accessibility, and affordability of health care are to be identified and avoided.
The research performed for this study was limited to a literature survey. Changes in relation to the issue investigated are both new and dynamic; thereby compromising at this time the use of case study research or quantitative analysis. Literature was surveyed that was relevant to those matrix evaluation techniques that are used widely by diversified organizations in the evaluation of strategic planning, as well as to literature that linked the application of such techniques in the health care services delivery industry.
Literature is reviewed that is r...