Determination of a Strategic Plan - Coursework Example

Implementing a Strategic Plan IMPLEMENTING A STRATEGIC PLAN Introduction Implementation refers to the process through which plans and strategies are converted into actions, specifically in order to accomplish the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. For any organization, including hospitals, strategic plans have minimal impact if the organization does not have the means to implement their strategy. Indeed, Swayne et al. (2012) argues that implementation of a strategic plan plays a critical role in the strategic planning process, while also noting that organizations seeking to design and develop strategic plans should also include processes through which the plan will be applied. Particular processes for strategy implementation may vary depending on the organization, which is highly dependent on the actual strategic plan’s details (Swayne et al., 2012). As hospital administrator, the implementation of the strategic plan is almost as critical as the strategy. In order to improve the hospital staff’s productivity and performance in light of cyclical contractions in the state and federal economies and local market and an organizational culture resistant to change, the hospital has chosen to integrate training and development with its current and future needs to drive a high performance culture. 1. Analytical Tool to Determine Effectiveness of Strategy In identifying whether the adaptive strategy to use training and development as a way of creating a high performance culture, the value chain analysis will be used, specifically to understand how this strategy will create customer value (Walters & Rainbird, 2014). The value chain analysis is mainly based on the concept that the main reason why organizations like hospitals exist is to create customer value, in this case involving the provision of healthcare to the hospital’s patients. In analyzing the strategy, the hospital’s processes will be sub-divided into different sets of activities that add customer value. This will allow it to assess its internal capabilities more effectively through the identification and examination of every activity, after which every activity that adds value is considered as a source of the hospital’s competitive advantage (Walters & Rainbird, 2014). By identifying different activities involved in providing healthcare to patients, the hospital can increase differentiation or reduce costs. In this case, there are three steps to conducting a value chain analysis, which are separation of activities, allocation of costs to these activities, and identification of those activities that are essential to market success and customer satisfaction (Walters & Rainbird, 2014). In the first step, the hospital will separate its operations into support and primary activities. The primary activities are those, which are involved in creating the health service, including in-bound logistics, operations, out-bound logistics, marketing and sales, and services. Service delivery components, including hospital policies and guidelines and nursing leadership, emerge as the most important primary activity, which means that the learning and development strategy will mainly target this activity. Support activities are those which facilitate primary activities, including procurement, technology development, HR management, and hospital infrastructure. Costs will then be allocated to these activities, after which those that are critical to market success and customer satisfaction, such as nursing leadership, hospital guidelines and policies, HR management, and IT management will be targeted for value addition (Walters & Rainbird, 2014). 2. Solutions to External and Internal Barriers to Proposed Strategy Cyclical contractions in state and federal economies and local market factors constitute a major external factor that could influence implementation of the strategy, including through changes in demand and access of services and in the financial status of hospitals and practitioners. To surmount this issue, the hospital should keep its focus on providing value for the customers (Swayne et al., 2012). It is not sufficient for the hospital to cut on costs in this situation but, rather, there should be active attempts to increase service quality to provide patient value. As such, economic conditions lead to a shift towards a more retail-oriented environment, the hospital focus attention on high-volume, high-cost, and problematic processes as a way of adding value and increasing competitive advantage (Swayne et al., 2012). For example, since patient throughput is normally inefficient and problematic, which may adversely affect hospital revenue that is essential to implementing an L&D culture to increase performance, this process should be made more efficient. The hospital’s organizational culture is an internal factor that could hinder implementation of the identified strategy. This will require the hospital and its administrator to ensure that staff buys into the change, specifically by changing the culture. To do this, the hospital should establish a multi-disciplinary strategic management group that regularly meets in order to find a common ground that fosters trust and address challenges to implementation of the learning and development strategy (Swayne et al., 2012). The suppliers, patients, and staff should be provided with a voice with which to influence hospital procedures and policy, in which case their recommendations should be considered to improve acceptance of the change. In addition, the strategy should have a mission and vision statement to foster a sense of ownership among staff (Swayne et al., 2012). This will also have the added effect of uniting different management teams behind the strategy. 3. Strategy’s Target Market Segment The market segment to which the hospitals expected high performance services, following implementation of the strategy will be marketed to will be selected on the basis demographic characteristics, insurance status, and medical conditions within the local market (Dey, 2013). Segmentation that is based on insurance status is mainly related to the hospital’s characteristics, rather than to its community, with Medicaid patients being more likely to visit hospitals with fewer service offerings and lower costs. The Affordable Care Act made Medicaid more widespread, which gives the hospital an opportunity to expand its market share and target the Medicaid-eligible market segment. Exposure to health plans for this target segment is limited and includes people who are disenfranchised, particularly those who have been laid off or work part-time with limited eligibility to benefit. This segment includes people who previously failed to meet age, household, or disability Medicaid requirements, as well as those who have previously never attempted to seek health coverage. This segment is also budget-conscious and tends to seek out value in the services they receive (Dey, 2013). Thus, market differentiation points for this segment will focus on affordability and provider excellence, rather than on amenities. 4. Service Activity for Marketing the Strategy The best service activity for marketing this strategy in achieving a high performance organization through learning and development is through the use of after-service activities, which are also referred to as back office strategies. It is at this point that the target customers will have the final contact with hospital staff and the organization, as well as where the next appointment is built for further service (Lim & Ting, 2012). The follow up and follow on activities can be used to enhance customer satisfaction via the marketing and clinical aspects. Follow up activities include calling up the patient to ensure that that the treatment is working, as well as that everything is going as planned and whether there is need for additional prescriptions. The hospital can also carry out patient satisfaction surveys at this point to determine whether the patients’ treatment, while also identifying ways in which to reduce unnecessary anxiety, complications, and possible pain (Lim & Ting, 2012). The learning and development strategy aimed at achieving a high performance organization will be critical to the hospital staff’s ability to provide these services, and it is expected that the patients will notice this change. The follow up activities prove to the patients that the hospital cares. Billing activities, which are also carried out at this point, could be used to describe patient decisions on whether they have received value for their money or not (Lim & Ting, 2012). By redesigning the billing process as part of the strategy, which will reduce customer complaints and market enhanced performance from the hospital. Avoiding billing errors, addressing complaints, using understandable medical terminology, and explaining service charges will also increase customer satisfaction and promote the hospital’s performance levels. Follow-on activities, which involve the last stage of customer contact after treatment, will also be used to identify performance failures and rectify them immediately, further promoting the hospitals increased capacity to provide value for its customers (Lim & Ting, 2012). 5. Support of Strategic Direction within the Hospital’s Culture and Structure The hospital’s culture involves a set of intangible assumptions, values, and beliefs that the staff does not question but which have the ability to profoundly influence how they react, behave, and think (Bock et al., 2012). In order to achieve a high performance hospital through learning and development, there is need to move staff from accepting the present set of values in order for them to behave and think differently. The most important aspect in changing the culture is nursing leadership, which is responsible for increasing organizational urgency to take ownership of the changes. Thus, the leadership team must work together in creating a shared direction and understanding of the changes, seeking to identify ways to adapt the culture to the required changes. The leadership team will become the culture carriers with several responsibilities, including explaining why change is needed, communicating the vision, actively sponsoring the change, and outlining aspects involved in activating the change (Bock et al., 2012). An effective organizational culture is essential to implementing this strategy, especially since it identifies where authority on decision-making lies, identifies levels of authority, and sets up communication networks for sharing information about the strategy. For instance, Bock et al. (2012) notes that ambidextrous organizational structures are particularly effective in enabling both disruptive and incremental innovations, of which the later will be the target in implementing the strategy. In this case, a matrix organizational structure would best fit the implementation of the strategy because it is highly responsive to highly dynamic external environments. This structure is designed for achievement of specific outcomes through the use of specialists, who will be essential in the learning and development strategy. It superimposes the organization’s horizontal divisions and reporting mechanisms onto hierarchical functional organization structures. This allows for decentralized decision-making, improved monitoring of the hospital’s external environment, fast response to change, efficient utilization of support systems, and flexible resource use (Bock et al., 2012). 6. Effective Use of Strategic Resources in Achieving Strategic Goals Financial resources play a critical role in determining the successful implementation of strategic direction, as well as assessing the performance of the organization following implementation of the strategy. Implementation of resource management controls and procedures, including maximization of opportunities and management of costs, is essential to ensuring the strategy is implemented effectively and efficiently (Andersén, 2011). Since some of the intentions may outweigh available financial resources, it is important to identify present and future availability of resources, prioritize these against strategic goals and objectives, and use evaluation procedures to ensure maximization. Human resources are also a critical part of the implementation process for this strategy, especially since these resources will be the target for training and development. The HR department is responsible for the creation of training programs, which will then strengthen service quality among the staff. Improving employee skills, for example, will increase organizational and individual performance, aiding in achieving effective implementation of the strategy (Andersén, 2011). Information technology resources will be equally important for the implementation of this strategy, especially in ensuring all departments have increased information access for more efficient and effective implementation and sustenance of the strategic change. IT design factors that should enhance strategy implementation include the development of methodologies that facilitate corporate strategy bi-directional communication from top to bottom, as well as attaining information flow in the hospital (Andersén, 2011). This will ensure that all information about the strategy is available when needed in an accurate, quality-oriented manner. Robust IT is essential for the staff to focus on enhanced workflow. Finally, the hospital’s facilities are also important to implementing the strategy. The disposition, acquisition, or improvement of physical facilities should be determined on the basis of their relationship with other aspects of the hospital, in which total investment and potential returns play a role in identifying the strategic direction’s financial implications (Andersén, 2011). Physical facilities like clinics are of value to the hospital depending on their location in relation to the target segment, as well as their efficiency in relation to the competition. 7. Tracking Effectiveness of Strategic Plan The strategic plan should be aligned to the hospital’s mission and vision, which emphasize high quality services for patients of all backgrounds and the achievement of patient care excellence respectively. To ensure that the strategy remains aligned with the mission and vision statements, three evaluations tools will be used. The first is performance monitoring, which is used to collect information on how the program is operating, whether the strategic objectives are being attained, and to identify failures in the strategy’s production of program outputs (Donaldson, 2012). In addition, performance indictors like customer satisfaction can also be used to monitor service quality and reporting on strategy productivity and efficiency. Another evaluation tool that can be used is process analysis, which involves collection of data in a focused, systematic manner to determine whether the strategy implementation is as specified (Donaldson, 2012). Moreover, it will also identify unintended and unanticipated outcomes and consequences that may lead to divergence from the mission and vision statements, while also helping the hospital administration to understand the strategic plan from the perspective of the community, participants, and staff (Donaldson, 2012). This latter point is important because involved parties are the main targets of the hospital’s mission and vision statements. Therefore, understanding their buy-in of the strategic plan provides a good measure of how the strategic plan is aligned with their needs. Finally, cost-studies involve the third potential strategy for measuring alignment of the strategic plan with the organization’s mission and vision. This tool collects information about direct cost expenditures, cost of financial and human resources diverted from other areas, and facility costs of the strategy (Donaldson, 2012). Resource costs related to human, facility and financial resources are essential to identifying what is required to ensure the strategic remains on schedule. References Andersén, J. (2011). Strategic resources and firm performance. Management Decision, 49(1), 87-98 Bock, A. J., Opsahl, T., George, G., & Gann, D. M. (2012). The effects of culture and structure on strategic flexibility during business model innovation. Journal of Management Studies, 49(2), 279-305 Dey, D. K. (2013). Market segmentation techniques in the health care industry. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(7), 253-258 Donaldson, S. I. (2012). Program theory-driven evaluation science: Strategies and applications. London: Routledge Lim, W. M., & Ting, D. H. (2012). Healthcare marketing: Contemporary salient issues and future research directions. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 5(1), 3-11 Swayne, L. E., Duncan, W. J., & Ginter, P. M. (2012). Strategic management of health care organizations. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Walters, D., & Rainbird, M. (2014). The value chain. Bradford, England: Emerald Group Pub Read More