Abstract for:Balancing Growth and Service Quality In an Online Veterinary Services Business

We use system dynamics to model the strategic architecture of a firm that provides cloud-based services to veterinary clinics.  The goal is to assess the firm’s best potential strategies for profitability, growth and quality service provision. Simulating various scenarios, we determined that the company is in a “Growth and Underinvestment” systems archetype.  Domestically, the firm could grow by increasing its outside and inside sales forces, but only if it is willing to live with increased service problems. Were the firm to increase its indirect work force, it would noticeably reduce its service problems, but its domestic customers and profits would grow only minimally.  Globally the firm has better choices. Were it to expand to a new global region, it could achieve good customer growth, better service and good profits, but only if it increases its sales capacity—and increases its indirect service capacity even more than that.