DIFFERENTIAL ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS OF BLUE CROSS - BLUE SHIELD AND COMMERCIAL INSURERS FOR COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE.

The dissertation details organizational characteristics of the non-profit, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, (BCBS), sector and the profit seeking commercial sector of the market for group health insurance. The effects that these internal and external stimuli have on the product that each firm type brings to the market are described verbally, modeled mathematically, and depicted empirically. The purpose for all of this is to support the contention that the managers of non-profit firms are no more prone to slack or inefficient management than are managers of profit seeking firms in markets where the two compete.