Bloodbuy Case Study

Where does the business idea of Bloodbuy come from?

Godfrey, CEO of Bloodbuy, realised how inneficient the blood market was when an ice storm struck Dallas. Some hospitals were in shortage of blood while some blood centers had stock. With Further investigations, Godfrey discovered that beyond a mismatch between supply and demand, the blood market suffered on the demand side because of the monopolies enjoyed by some blood centers. IT systems lacked considerably.

At the time described in the case, would you consider Bloodbuy an interesting

investment? Why? 

Good investment

 On the demand side such a service was very attractive because it lowered the buying Price of blood by breaking local monopolies.

 Complexity on the market because blood is composed of may different elements (plasma, platelets etc.) with different shelf lives, different departments in hospitals with different needs, and high regulations concerning blood storage and the like.

 Disasters had repeatedly involved actors of the blood supply chain in public scandals due to bad management (9/11 example). Meaning there was an awareness for the challenges faced in the supply chain

 Waste management for Blood centers who were caught up in contracts and one-off deals with clients

Bad investment

 Declining demand and supply on the market due to the economic crisis

 Hospitals and blood centers facing financial difficulties

 Because health institutions may not have been ready at that time for several reasons:

o outdated hardware infrastructure necessitating some heavy investments for replacement

o Bureaucracy processes which significantly slowed down the process of implementing a new IT system