Josiah was excited about the opportunity presented to him by his new job. Stagnant during the past two years in his position as a secondary school athletic trainer and teacher, he had decided on a career change to rejuvenate his love for athletic training. Josiah was a creative and innovative person who enjoyed taking risks and seeking new solutions to problems. The offer to work for a local orthopedic practice was especially appealing to him given the potential profit-sharing bonuses based on increased patient volume. Josiah had a wife and two young kids, and he viewed this new job not only as a professional challenge but also as an opportunity to enhance his earning status. Despite the orthopedic practice being located in the same town that Josiah resides in, he hadn't known much about it. He was aware of the two physicians who worked there, but he rarely saw them out in the communitythey didn't cover high school sporting events and they didn't advertise their practice aggressively. Josiah wondered whether they would truly be open to new ideas and to what extent they would be willing to commit funds toward the marketing of new ideas. During his interview, Josiah got the sense that they wanted him to lead this initiative. He knew he could provide many ideas; he now simply had to identify methods to pitch those ideas to the physicians in a convincing manner. 

Questions for Analysis 1. What are the first steps that Josiah should take in developing his marketing plan? 2. What types of community-based services available to Josiah might increase patient volume without leading to large increases in overhead expenses? 3. Josiah has no formal experience or training in the area of business marketing and development. What resources should he tap into while keeping his initiatives confidential? 4. Regardless of the types of programs that Josiah suggests and ultimately implements, what time frame should he build his business plan on to assure that these programs will have a chance to reach benchmarks and measurable outcome goals