The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Basic Leadership Styles - Essay Example

The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Basic Leadership Styles Essay Case Analysis 2 There appears to be three basic leadership styles. These styles may be titled differently with minor changes in description. However, the styles include: authoritarian ((autocratic), participative (democratic), and delegative (free reign). The authoritarian style leaves no room for advice from followers. The leader just gives orders and instructions and followers do as they are told. The participative style allows followers to have input and participation and the leader makes the final decision. With the delegative style of leadership, followers are allowed to make the decisions with the leader being responsible for the decisions that are made. Clark, D. (1997) cites from The U.S. Army Handbook, 1973 and reports, “A good leader uses all three styles, depending on what forces are involved between the followers, the leader, and the situation.” All three styles can be mixed and employed. The leadership style of Rabkin, Reinertsen, Meltzer, and Levy varied. Rabkin allowed the Beth Israel (BI) Hospital chiefs and leaders to take control after the merging of the BI and the Deacon (D) hospital. This caused problems because the management of the D, who were experts in their field, was left under the authority of the BI officers. This merging did not create unity and teamwork but separation and segregation as two very different cultures were combined. Top physicians left the company which led to more problems. Instead of focusing on administrative gains and office operations, the chiefs and leaders of the BI concentrated on clinical integration. The business aspects were neglected. Poorly executed contracts with insurance companies, lost volume, high expenses, financial problems, and improper incentives between community doctors and hospitals led to huge losses. Essay Case Analysis 3 Reinertsen, CEO of CareGroup and of the BID, led a dysfunctional organizational structure as he did not require the CFO and the COO to report to the president. The chiefs did not trust the president which led the president’s not being involved in important decision making. He was informed after the decisions had already been made. This extremely dysfunctional organizational structure caused officers, management, and staff members not to trust each other. Officers had to go behind each others’ backs to do and undo things and this was highly dangerous as these actions involved very important issues. Then Meltzer became interim CEO when things progressively grew worse. He had a different style of leadership which started with forming a committee to search for a new CEO. Then he took steps in working through the distrust and relationship problems that had formed between the administrative and medical staffs. Meltzer possessed great people skills, honesty, and the ability to praise people for their hard work. This was very powerful and much was accomplished. A steering committee was formed and the services of a consulting firm were employed in order to evaluate the BID, analyze the financial problems, and find solutions. Levy learned by observing others and from others’ mistakes. Before he even applied for the position, he considered his boss and the committee’s concerns and asked their permission. He was able to view both companies as a whole instead of two businesses with different cultures that have just merged. He focused on the business aspect and teamwork. He learned from those who valued and praised employees for their contributions. Levy observed, pointed out, and addressed all these factors listed in this essay. Essay Case Analysis 4 It has been known for quite some time that businesses should put customers (patients and clients) first. Now it is apparent that in order to make patients and clients a top priority, staff must be valued as top priorities also as they are the ones who deal with the patients and the day-to-day operation of the hospital and medical facilities. Bugdacigil (2000) reports, “It is no longer a cliché to say that people are the most important asset of an organization…People are the causal force. Nothing happens without people.” Companies are adopting the concept of organization-specific human capital. “'Human capital' refers to the investment in education and training that is embodied in the worker. Some types of training develop 'general' or 'transferable' skills that can be used equally productively across different organizations. Others provide 'organization-specific' skills that enhance the worker's productivity within the training organization only. These latter skills tend to be those best learned on the job”. By focusing on staff members, top management also give their employees extrinsic and intrinsic values which make them feel empowered and acknowledged for their work. Peters (1997) as cited by Mullins (1998, p.1), “Since the late 1980s all industries…have been paying increasing levels of attention to the management philosophy and style known as empowerment. Empowering the workforce… has been seen to be an attractive and appropriate approach in many service businesses, increasing as it does the level of individual responsibility and flexibility, reducing the number of layers of management and enabling the organization to be more responsive and competitive in the contemporary and fast-changing business environment,” Encouraging teamwork, empowering and trusting employees, making decisions together, developing policies and plans, implementing and enforcing these plans, evaluating and Essay Case Analysis 5 measuring, gaining feedback, monitoring, and adjusting are all actions that must be taken. These steps will help to insure success. Investors in People UK (1996-2005) quotes Hewitt (n.d.) in a case study, “Teamwork is the key to success in any type of business (and) making sure that all parts of the operation are working in perfect harmony is crucial…” This concept is quite different than the governance of the boards of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Partners and CareGroup Systems where plans were implemented, enforced, and followed through. There was no teamwork as The CareGroup had its board and the BID had another board of its own. It was hard to determine which group was in charge of supervising. Determination of who was on the committees were based on such factors as how much they gave to charity, how successful they were in the business field, etc. and not on their job responsibilities and involvement in the day-to-day policies and operations. Positive outcomes of the BIDMC merger include learning (through their mistakes) how to develop policies and plans and how to implement them. Teamwork was another outcome as employees are empowered and not micromanaged. The leadership was determined, boundaries were set, and all learned how to work together. Taking advantage of the skills that each person, each department, and each company possessed was a positive outcome. These outcomes are important as the effectiveness of a company is dependent upon the behaviour of the workforce. It is quite challenging to deal with the workforce’s behaviour and motivation because it is dynamic and competition and the market is constantly changing. In order to manage the dynamics, create a workforce that works as a team, capitalise on the workforce’s assets and skills, and to create a professional, enjoyable working environment, company’s should provide appropriate incentives. A drawback includes the balance of Essay Case Analysis 6 having to focus on the team and also the individual. This is not an easy thing to do. It is important that an organization learns about and integrates theory and concepts from the behavioral and social sciences in order to gain an understanding of human behavior within organizations. (Mangelsdorff, 1998-2001.) It is also recommended that focusing on the individual along with the team (a unit) can help address problems such when a person with good potential is assigned to a poor performing team. Some other drawbacks to be expected are as listed (Disadvantages of Value Based Management, 2006): Holistic management philosophy requires lots of time, money, and patience Measuring the wrong things leads to value destruction Strong management and support is required Comprehensive training and counseling is highly recommended but expensive There are always drawbacks as nothing is perfect. It is also recommended that this company, along with others, invest in organizational studies. Understanding organizations and individuals will give companies a much more balanced and well-rounded approach especially in the case of TCS’s introduction of the EVA system. Wikipedia (2006) explains in more detail, “Organizational studies, organizational behavior1, and organizational theory are related terms for the academic study of organizations, examining them using the methods. The damages that have been done (i.e. top physicians leaving and income losses) due to dramatic and misguided changes are drawbacks. Making dramatic changes all at once and creating fear in people leads to criticism, speculation, poor image, and other effects that fuels the media. In Essay Case Analysis 7 this age of technology, the media also includes the Internet and computer-mediated communication(CMC). Although these things may just be heresy, the role that the media and technology plays is enough to create these “what-if’s” to become reality. It is recommended that the attrition be gradual and that CMC is employed to inform everyone—within and outside of the organization—of the company’s plans. Innovative media tactics and CMC can be used to introduce, present, manage, and gain feedback. The Internet has provided tools that companies can use to research the information that is being broadcasted to the publics and can respond accordingly in order to prevent, minimize, and counterattack. When all the fears, criticism, and drama were going on, the company could employ the tools of technology. Assumptions and speculation can lead to a crisis if not managed properly. There is does not exist a corporation that is immune to crisis. (Coombs, 1999) and organisations can use the Internet in their crisis communication response to employing new/innovative media tactics and utilise the two-way communication benefits the Internet brings. References Bugdacigil, T. (November 14, 2000). The HR Star. (pp. 1-2). Retrieved January 25, 2007, from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156052488X/104-7626281-2381516?v=glance&n=283155. Clark, D. (1997). Leadership Styles. The U.S. Army Handbook, 1973: Military Leadership. Retrieved January 25, 2007, from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html#one Coombs, T. (1999). Ongoing Crisis Communication. Sage Publications. www.english-test.net (2003-2006). Retrieved January 28, 2007, from Read More