Case Study
Organizational development is a continuous process that an organization improves its performance and growth. A CEO of ABC Hospital (unknown) was concerned about the low rate of development in the hospital despite the great opportunity and strategic location of the facility. The revenue and profit were relatively low, while the facility remained behind in the adopting modern equipment. After inviting us to look at the potential issues affecting the organizational development, we came out with three issues that were of great concern. First, the morale of the nurses and support employees was relatively low, which led to poor performance.
Secondly, there was a poor relationship between the key internal players, including the nurses, managers, and the doctors. Further investigation revealed that the nurses and unit managers blamed doctors for being arrogant. The doctor had less regard to the directives by the unit managers and would shout at the nurses while attending to patients. Thirdly, there was the problem of the privileges enjoyed by the doctors. In fact, doctors were treated as hospital’s partners as demonstrated in the manner they handled their clients. They were allowed to have their private practice at the hospital with their clients, and they would transfer the clients to other hospitals. In this aspect, the culture implies that it would be hard for the hospital managers to control the doctors.
Questions and Answers
What are the Potential Interventions Required to Address the Problems in the Case?
The case study reveals some issues affecting the effective organizational development. Three interventions are of great importance. First, the nurses and the support team should be encouraged to appreciate one another, a situation that will improve their morals. Secondly, the relationship between the stakeholders, including the doctors, unit managers, and nurses should be improved. Thirdly, the unit managers should be given more power to leadership authorities and responsibilities, while their engagement with the doctors should be reviewed.
What Strategies or Approaches Should be used to Resolve the Issues?
The first approach required should involve the moral aspect of the nurses and the support staff. Further analysis of their working conditions and terms of engagement should be reviewed. The human resource manager should ensure that the workload assigned to each of the nurses and support employees is manageable. The working hours should be considered, and the compensation should be commensurate with their efforts. Secondly, the hospitals should train its unit managers to exercise their leadership and authority in their positions. The training should assist them to be assertive when dealing with the doctors and nurses.
Therefore, the managers should take the responsibility of resolving the relationship issues. In fact, doctors should be superior to unit managers and the nurses, but they should not be allowed to run the hospital services alone because they can demoralize others stakeholders in the organization. In addition, the doctors should be treated as employees, though at a higher level, not as hospital’s partners. Doctors should not undertake private practice inside the facility or move their clients to the hospital of their choice. The CEO and other executive members should foster patient-based care to attract more clients, rather than giving specific priorities to the doctors. In essence, any patient visiting the hospital should receive the assistance from the organization without being moved to other facilities by the doctors.
What Constraints are there in the Implementation of the Strategies Identified?
The first constraint that ABC hospital is likely to face is the lack of adequate resources that would improve the morale of the nurse and support employees, as well as, the training of managers. The other conspicuous constraint is the resistance from the doctors. In fact, some of the doctors would not support the reforms affecting them, and they would seek to leave the organization altogether. However, the CEO and his executive should remain firm and ready to face the anticipated challenges.