Managing Health Services - Essay Example

?Running Head: MANAGING HEALTH SERVICES Health Sciences and Medicine  Topic: Managing Health Services Lecturer: Presentation: 1. Describe your understanding of the term ‘organizational culture’. List the observable aspects of a culture and identify how you have either experienced them or witnessed them in organizations you have been a part of in recent years. Organizational culture refers to the values and beliefs that add up to the unique socio-psychological setting of an organization. It represents how members of a particular organization behave and relate to each other in their day to day activities as well as how the organization as a unit relates to the external environment. Organizational culture is based on shared beliefs and attitudes that are entrenched in the organization fundamentally relating to its history, present and future prospects. It develops over time with most of the positive characteristics that benefit the organization being retained while those with negative outcomes are rejected and avoided. Any new member in the organization is obligated to understand the organizational culture and practice it in all the organization’s deliberations. An organization’s culture can positively or negatively influence its endeavors. A strong and cohesive culture is necessary for competitiveness to be maintained (Hoe 2003). There are various aspects of culture that are observable in any given organization. Employee motivation is one the aspects that is critical to the overall organizational productivity. According to Morris (2002), happy employees are productive employees. If the management is able to maintain a culture of employee satisfaction it is likely to retain workers and also attract professionals in the labor market. Team building is also a significant aspect that enhances workplace relations as well as accomplishment of tasks in the workplace. Corporate social responsibility allows the organization to give back to the environment in which it operates. It also ensures that the employees’ wellbeing is taken care of. Integrating all members of the organization in the decision making process is also an important aspect that allows creativity among the employees. Open communication allows effective information flow thereby promoting awareness of organizational goals. Leaders must communicate their vision to their subordinates for it to generate meaning in their efforts to steer the organization to success (Schein 2000). 2. Culture is difficult to change and requires effort. Based on your readings on the topic, what conditions would need to exist if culture was amenable to change? Organizational culture requires effort to change especially due to the fact that most of the aspects are entrenched in the organization and are viewed by some people as the basis for success while others blame it for failure. It is necessary for the organization to maintain flexibility in its operations to allow new inventions and positive change. Some organizations have deep rooted cultures that are not easy to change and any change is met with resistance. Kesler (2002) recognized the role played by leadership in shaping organization development. Leaders should have clear value base for change to be accomplished. Employees should also be able to change behavior in order for change to take place. Their feelings are often overlooked in planning change, which leads to resentment and non-compliance. Workers should be adequately informed to prepare for change. Extensive research should also be conducted to ensure that change generates value (Hoe 2003). 3. Explain, in your own words, what organizational politics is and describe briefly its role in organizations Organizational politics involves actions by individuals in pursuit of self interests in complete disregard of other peoples’ interests in the organization. Organizational politics largely disagrees with the principle of shared goals, thereby being portrayed in a negative viewpoint. Nevertheless, it is an inescapable aspect in organizations that people shun to talk about. It plays a significant role in determining the workplace relations as well as dealings with the external environment. Organizational politics adversely affects employees in the lower cadres. It is associated with disquiet among employees, low job satisfaction and commitment as well as decreased ability for the organization to retain employees. Leadership is largely influenced by organizational politics and it can either increase or decrease organizational productivity depending on the personalities of leaders that determine the leadership styles they employ. 4. What differentiates power from empowerment in organizations? Power is an aspect that is manifest among various individuals or groups within an organization. It is the capacity to persuade and influence others to adopt ones ideas in accomplishing organizational goals. It involves developing ideas and getting them accepted by others. On the other hand, empowerment involves promoting the capacity of people to reflect, act and take control of their own decisions in line with the organizational goals. It allows people to assume responsibility of their own destiny (Bennett & Durkin 2000). Empowered employees in organization are allowed to participate in management and decision making while powerful individuals expect uncontested adherence to their demands. Dissenting ideologies are discouraged by those in power. Power in organizations can come from delegation of authority through popular vote, personality, expertise and knowledge while empowerment is a process that originates from an individual, making it possible for him/her to act and be in charge of decisions and day to day activities in an independent way (Schein 2000). 5. Write a short explanatory essay on organizational change. Introduction Organizational culture may have positive outcomes for the organization for a short period. However, due to constant changes in the operating environment it is necessary for management to maintain flexibility which can allow the organization to accommodate improvements, which make change inevitable. This essay presents a critique of organizational change. The concept of organizational change has been defined, and various types of change have been highlighted. It also addresses the processes of decision-making, communication, conflict management, influencing as well as implementing change. It also identifies various barriers to effective change and how they can be managed effectively. The concept Organizational Change Organizational change is the transformation of an organization from the existing status to a desired state in future. It is a change of organizational culture that allows new values and beliefs to be integrated in the organization. It arises after introducing a new way of thinking and undertaking tasks in the organization. The change is mainly aimed at helping the organization to adapt to changes in the operating environment. Generally, the concept of organizational change encompasses changes affecting the entire organization rather than some minor changes that may affect individual or particular software (Bennett & Durkin 2000). A change affecting an organization’s mission, goal or overall organizational structure may be considered as organizational change. Some of these changes may lead to change of the organization’s business name such as mergers and acquisitions. Organizational change can be triggered by factors such as technological advancement, increased competition and quality standards among other aspects of the external environment. On many occasions, organizational change is associated with basic and radical transformations in the manner in which an organization operates (Bridges 2003). Types of Change Review of organizational strategy is one of the organizational changes that are necessary to enhance accomplishment of organizational goals in an environment with increasing competition. Generally, the external environment exerts pressure on the organization making a change in strategy inevitable. The organization changes its basic approach in regard to its operations. Structural change is also influenced by the external environment and may affect the distribution of power and authority in the organization. It also affects the management procedures and systems. Change may involve introduction or deduction of policies, mainly in a bid to improve organizational performance (Mourier & Smith 2001). Process adjustments are among the changes that lead to the integration of new machines and plants than enhance production and assembly of manufactured goods. An example of process oriented change is the introduction of robots to assist in vehicle assembly. People centered changes are mainly focused on altering the disposition of human resources through empowerment, training, team building or changing the manner in which employees relate with the management (Ivancevich et al. 2007). An organization may engage in employee motivation to enhance commitment and retention. Technological changes are necessitated by advancements that increase organizational productivity. Adoption of new production technologies may increase efficiency and overall output. Introduction of computer systems in many organizations to replace manual work is an example of technological change (Kotter 1996). Address how processes of decision-making, communication, conflict and how to manage it, influence how change is implemented Flexibility in decision making is important for change to be accomplished. In other words, change managers need to disregard the manner in which they have always approached matters related with decision making. They need to allow flexible practices that broaden their scope of thinking, which allows them to identify new opportunities and methods of working. Rigidity in decision making hampers innovativeness in organizations since they do not open up to change (Szamosi & Duxbury, 2002). Lack of proper communication between staff and the change managers is usually a major issue that leads to the loss of opportunities to bring change to organizations. The information acquired from research and development may not be useful if there are no measures to ensure that every person in the organization is informed regarding the outcome of the research (Bridges 2003). Conflict of interest in regard to organizational change may hamper the change process if members of the organization do not agree on how to deal with the change. According to Ivancevich et al. (2007), to avoid conflict, the interest of the people in the entire organization is important regardless of whether the change affects them directly or indirectly. All people should be informed regarding the change and how it might affect them. Barriers to Effective Change Resistance to organizational change is a major issue that is associated with a negative attitude among members. Resistance may be passive whereby the employees fail to recognize the use of the new procedures and systems without the knowledge of the change managers. Some people may hamper the change process if not given a chance to air their views to the change managers. They mainly focus on the gains that they are likely to realize from the change, and usually have certain targets that they would like to accomplish if their views are considered. If managers ignore their demands, such employees may take an unnecessarily long time before accommodating the changes, which may delay success in the organization (Lines, 2004). The views of the change managers regarding the change process may also act as barriers to the accomplishment of change. Bridges (2003) argues that managers make the mistake of forcing the changes to give the results that they expect, rather than allowing the change to yield even the unexpected. In other words, if the process does not result in what the managers would like to see, it is thought to be a failure. This prevents the management from exploring new opportunities presented by the changes. To overcome these barriers, it is important for change managers to be open for new ideas that may be significant in the change process, which encourages all the stakeholders involved to participate and own the organizational objectives, thereby making it possible for change to be accomplished (Kesler 2002). Conclusion Organizational culture embodies how members of a particular organization behave and relate to each other as well as with the external environment. Employee motivation, team building, corporate social responsibility and open communication are among the observable aspects of organizational culture. Organizational politics may result to low morale and lack of job satisfaction. Power is manifest among individuals and corresponds to authority by virtue of position in the organization. Empowerment involves promoting the capacity of people to take charge of their own actions. Organizational change can be triggered by factors such as technological advancement, increased competition and quality standards. Organizational change may include; a review of organizational strategy, structural change, process adjustments and people centered change as well as technological change. Resistance to organizational originates from negative attitude among members. To overcome barriers to change, it is important for change managers to be open to new ideas from other members of the organization. Reference Bennett, H. & Durkin, M. (2000), “The effects of organizational change on employee psychological attachment”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 15(1), pp 126-147 Bridges, W. (2003). Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, 2nd edition Da Capo Press. Hoe, S. (2003), “Understanding Organizational Culture”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 24(2), pp. 100-110 Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R. & Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational Behavior and Management, McGraw-Hill/Irwin Kesler, G. C. (2002), “Why the leaders never get deeper: Ten insights about executive talent development”, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 25(1), p 32. Kotter, J. P. 1996. Leading Change, 1st edition, Harvard Business Press. Lines, R. (2004), “Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement”, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 4(3), pp 193-377 Morris, R. (2002). Harvard Business Review on Culture and Change, Harvard Business Press Mourier, P. & Smith, M. R. 2001. Conquering Organizational Change: How to Succeed Where Most Companies Fail, Project Management Institute Schein, E. (2000). Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass Szamosi, L. T. & Duxbury, L. 2002. “Development of a measure to assess organizational change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 15(2), pp 184-201 Read More