New Age Radiology of Dr. Spiller - Case Study Example

Purchasing and Resource Management Question One Like any other profession, purchasing should be taken seriously with the applications of all necessary ethics. For one to become a purchasing manger it is very necessary for him to go through the required training so as to be fully prepared on matters concerning purchasing procedures. Many companies have lost huge sum of money as a result of failing to use the right procedure in purchasing and also failing to hire purchasers who are supposed to take that important role of procurement. In this context there is no any justification for Dr. Spiller of having followed normal purchasing procedures, selecting the appropriate supplier and even in approving the price for this high -intensity x-ray processor. There is no way that Dr. Spiller would have followed the right purchasing procedures without involving Rose Silver who is the manager in -charge of purchasing and from whom the final decisions regarding hospital purchases are expected to come from. Rose is a professional purchaser who ought to be consulted on matters related to purchasing in the whole business organisation. Failure to consult her might lead to a professional blunder and unnecessary misunderstanding amongst the management staff in the organisation a thing that would slow down productivity and overall development of a firm. The exercise of selecting suppliers is a long on and it involves calling for interested suppliers to apply for tenders with the management. It is from these applicants that the most competitive and appropriate supplier is found. The head of radiology department made his purchases decisions in such a hurry that there was no time to compare and choose from a number of suppliers. He seems to have settled on only single supplier who is New Age Radiology Inc. a move that can even compromise with the quality of the equipment supplied. In using method of selecting the right supplier Dr Spiller was supposed to involve the purchasing manager who would have made major contribution in the selection of the most suitable supplier.1As a trained marketing manager Rose has all the knowledge in selecting a better supplier from a given group of applicants. Through contacting a number of suppliers the purchasing manager will be able to come up with the best price for the good quality equipments. Most likely she would not go for the cheapest because the more cheap the equipment is the higher the chances of it being of a poor quality. Again he cannot go for the extremely expensive one so as not to strain the hospitals budget although this does not imply that she will ignore the aspect of quality. There is no justification that Dr. Spiller went through the above process in selecting New Age Radiology as the hospitals major supplies. His, appears to be haste decisions made by someone who was not interested to gather the views of the most appropriate person in the field of purchasing. He went ahead and told Rose that everything was in order and the machine was sold in the prices but he could not explain how this was arrived at. Question Two Dr. Spiller's approach can culminate into immeasurable risk and associated ethical problems. Failing to select a supplier from a wide base of applicants will lead to the sole supplier taking an advantage of monopoly which will end up in poor quality supply of equipment. The supplier may end up supplying a faulty X-ray processor that will not give the required services to the hospital. This will mean extra expenses in the repair of the faulty equipments or purchasing a new one to replace the faulty one if it is beyond repair. A thing that will add up to increased expenditure for the hospital thereby forcing the hospital to realize low profits or even loses. Another risk is on the price which he approved without contacting Rose who was the right person in recommending the best price to pay for the purchased machine. Following the fact that Dr. Spiller is not a specialist in the purchasing field chances are high that might have approved and already overcharged price resulting to an increased financial burden to the Heights General Hospital. The radiology department head may end up ordering the wrong model due to his failure to consult with the engineering and production managers on the right specifications if the model to use , their make and the right procedures of detecting whether a given model is an imitation or not.2 Being the concerned staff in the operating, servicing and repair of machines and equipments in the entire hospital the engineering manager with his production counter part would have offered valuable information on the right model to order with all the required specifications. One of the ethical problems is that Dr. Spiller will not relate well with other people in the organization. The purchasing director, for instance will feel that Dr Spiller is taking up her duties and responsibilities a thing that can result in perpetual conflicts amongst themselves. This is likely to affect the operations in his department and that of the entire hospital. Rose silver will feel that her office and its responsibilities is not recognized a thing that can greatly de-motivate her. This is likely to stir problems in the entire company bringing division amongst employees a thing that can work against the repute and future progress of the hospital. The Accounting department can fail to pay for the ordered equipment arguing that the hospital could not be in a position of getting such a lump sum amount of money to finance the intended purchase. These can perpetuate conflicts between the accounting head and the head of Radiology. Dr. Spiller will bear the blames of failing to consult with the heads accounting department so as to know whether the hospital will be able to meet the expected cost in ordering of new equipment or not. (Taha, 1992) Question Three Rose Silvers area of responsibility involves ensuring that best prices are arrived at in the determination of correct prices of various purchases made. This she will do after inviting many suppliers to bid for the supply of Radiology equipment. From the suppliers she will know how each vendor is charging for the supply of the X-Ray processor. It is through these different prices that she will arrive at the best prices depending with the quality of the processor machine and the amount of money the hospital is willing to pay for the same. Rose should be involved in all the negotiations taking place in the hospitals department regarding the purchase of any equipment to be used by the hospital. Her experience in the purchasing field will be very helpful for various departments and the entire hospital on agreeing on what to buy, from where and for how much should it be paid for.3 In her previous employment in a company that dealt in electrical cooking utensils Rose was responsible for the purchase of raw materials and assorted components. These indicate that her vast knowledge and experience in electrical components and raw materials can be very important in her new employment. In Heights general hospital she will be responsible for the purchase of components and raw materials for the many electrical types of equipment that are used in the hospital's operation s. In the purchase of the high -intensity X-Ray processor Rose would therefore have been very resourceful in recommending the best material to be purchased and also in the assessment of various components of the x-ray processor. She would also recommend the best suppliers in the repair, maintenance and operating supplies. She would also offer valuable inputs in the extensive data collection on the planning phase of pre-negotiations procedures so as to come up with the best binder as well as maintaining a high quality product.4 Question Four According to Buchanan, (1989) in order to ensure that every thing goes smoothly right from ordering, receiving and to the installation Rose needs assistance from the various departments in this organization some of which are discussed below.; She will need the Accounting department so as to know whether there are enough funds required in the purchase of given equipment. This will give her a go ahead or else stop her depending on the availability of the required funds. The production department will be very helpful in giving the right specifications of the kind of equipment they want ordered, this will mostly depend with the production capacity or the efficiency if the specified machine. The inventory department must be involved so as to keep proper records on all the equipments ordered, those delivered and those that are yet to be delivered. This will make it easy for her to establish whether a particular supplier delivered the ordered equipment with the specified model numbers or not. Engineering department cannot be ignored. This will ensure that equipment purchased is tested to ascertain that it is of the expected quality and that each component is functioning well and in the right order. Quality leadership should be a major responsibility of a purchaser so that she can better define requirements of the customer in terms of high valued quality that will offer better services to the field of heath care. 5 As a purchaser she should emphasize on value purchasing. With this she should recognize that, cost is only but one component of value. Good quality, high level of benefits attached, high level customer service and a good impact on proper functioning of the patients are some of the important components of the value equation. This is a relatively new approach for many purchasers because all the necessary tools for measuring quality are new. Health care purchasing should be viewed in terms of value the same way we look at value when making purchases for other goods and services. There should be an organized system providing the right inducement for the involved parties' i.e. the purchaser, the patient and the supplier to coordinate in a manner that will result in highly improved care and quality outcomes and a resultant constructive impact on productivity at the work place and the cost of the equipment. Rose silver should avoid concentrating much on cutting the costs of equipments to be purchased in the hospital as this can result in purchasing of poor quality equipments. She should take the full role of leadership provision and ensuring that quality measurement is observed. 6 Question Five To bring business expertise in the role of a purchaser in the hospital Rose must convene a meeting with all the departmental heads in the hospital so as to discuss and arrive at a mutual agreement that she is the one authorized to make any purchases regarding the company. She should put it clearly that no form of purchases is going to be carried out without her knowledge and most importantly her approval. As the purchasing manager Rose Silver should take full control of purchases in the company by actively involving herself in any negotiations regarding the company purchases. She should evaluate the usefulness of any equipment to know how beneficial it will be for the company before making any move for its purchase. 7 She should emphasize on announcing for tenders through the local newspaper so as to get as many supplier as possible from whom he can choose the best amongst them. She can then use the right tendering process by inviting tender applications from various vendors from whom he will be able to come up with the best successful supplier. This will assist in arriving at the best offer for the business. References Buchanan, R. (1989): Improving Performance by using Best Demonstrated Practices, Fellowship of Engineering, London, Macmillan Gummesson, E. (2000), Qualitative Methods in Management Research., New York: Thousand Oaks Hertzberg, F. (1968): "One more time: how do you motivate employees" Harvard Business Review, vol. 46, Issue. 1 Jacobson, B. (2001): Virtual Worlds and the Design Enterprise: Post-technological, New York, Berkeley Miles, R. and Snow, C (1978): original strategy structure and process, New York, McGraw Hill, Taha, H. (1992) Operations Research, London, Macmillan Read More