Leadership in Healthcare - Barriers to Change Health Care Organizations Culture - Coursework Example

Health Care Organization’s Culture Change Name Institution Name Date Introduction An organization’s culture is integrated into the operations and systems, and it is usually extremely difficult to change. It is a challenge to change an organization’s culture because the organization’s culture comprises a combination of numerous factors including assumptions, attitudes, communications practices, values, processes, roles, and goals. It is imperative to note organization’s culture is sustainable since it defines the differences among the organization. It defines the behaviors and values that contributes to the psychological and social environment of an organization. It also defines a shared description about the organization and it refers to the practices, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes and philosophies of an organization. Culture is integral to any organization including healthcare organizations. The aim of this paper is to show that it is impossible for a leader to dramatically change a health care organization’s culture when resistance to change is strong and presents strategies that health care leaders can employ in minimizing resistance to change within their respective organizations. Barriers to Change Health Care Organization’s Culture Cultural Dynamics It is important to understand the cultural dynamics to appreciate barriers to cultural change. The culture of a health care organization can be compared with DNA in the human body. Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker (2013) defines culture as how anything in the organization unfolds. The culture and the organization are interdependent and reciprocal in nature. Therefore, the organization, its strategies, and design influences the culture of the organization and vice versa (Lussier and Achua, 2015). A health care organization’s culture reflects the beliefs and values that are important in its operation. Trying to change the culture of a health care organization can be compared with trying to question everything that the organization champions indirectly. These fundamentals create the major issues in trying to change the culture of an organization. It is comparable with overturning assumptions and believes the organization upholds. Any organization has a definite approach to accomplishing organization requirements, which is incorporated within the culture of the organization (Porter, 2010). Any adjustment or any change to the organization affects every layer of that system. It is imperative to note that organization culture evolves and integrated into the entire operations and strategies of an organization (Mole, 2011). An organization’s identity is premised on its culture, which is also linked to its development and history. Changing the culture translates to changing the history and development of the organization. The leaders and stakeholders of an organization may prefer the culture remains the same rather than losing what is important and associated with the organization. The culture of a health care organization creates its character, complex face, which is unique in nature. It is comparable to human and adjusting a single component affects the entire organization (Graetz et al. 2010). Changing a health care organization requires a huge undertaking because the fabric of the organization is affected and individuals within the organization advancing status quo, may not be comfortable with changes (Lussier and Achua, 2015). The solution to these challenges is to employ strategies that reduce the negative impact of the changes or ensure the stakeholders are comfortable with strategic changes. Insufficient Communication Communication is an integral component that advances the requirement of the change process. The communication process involves the manner in which decisions are formulated and implemented and defers because of organization leadership and cultural orientation of an organization (McGorry, Bates & Birchwood, 2013). In communication, there is internal and external communication. Internal communication involves communicating with individuals within the organization and commonly occurs between the employees and the management (Cavusgil et al. 2014). The external communication includes the organization with external individual or markets forces such as customers and suppliers. Insufficient communication or poor communication process prevents sharing of information regarding the change, and negative perceptions about the cultural change affect implementation of change. In the health care organizations where employees are not informed of strategic changes and management requirements, the change will face fierce resistance (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2012). Many of the employees may interpret change as targeting the employees and may lead to working environment that is not friendly: the employees may see it as a conspiracy. The external stakeholders may create additional challenges if these stakeholders are not involved (Welch et al. 2011). Large or even small changes in the supply chain and even the manner the diagnosis is effected affects the customers and the suppliers (Bowden & Doughney, 2010). Without effective communication, the change faces huge resistance from the external and internal stakeholders because of the poor communication process. Fear of the Future The ideology of fear is that it creates the notion to keep and protect the different stakeholders. Fear of change is the major component that prevents an organization from change since it prevents an organization from taking appropriate changes. The fear of change is attributed to guilt, self-doubt, and anxiety (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2012). Anxiety sometimes can be used to motivate the employees, but anxiety also affects the employees because of the unknown future (Benn, Dunphy & Griffiths, 2014). The anxiety can be advanced by rumors about disregard of values, self-doubt, uncertainty and consequences of change. The fear of the future is associated with numerous factors that contribute to resistance to change. The fear of the unknown is common because the stakeholders do not know what will happen in the future (Hendricks, Cope & Harris, 2010). The fear of failure is attributed to avoiding pain because of failure, and numerous employees prefer status quo rather taking the unproven path. Fear of success is based on the lack of imagination of the potential benefits of cultural changes (Lussier and Achua, 2015). Fear of loss also affects the cultural change process because the employees and other stakeholders think of reduction of profits, loss of salary and employment, and another form of loss. It is attributed to organizational culture, and other stakeholders operate in a comfort zone, and any changes affect the comfort zones (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2013). In addition, the employees have the normal approach of doing things and any cause of discomfort may result in employees employing strategies to prevent change. Furthermore, factors such as employment security may create additional discomforts. Hence, fear is a hindrance in advancing cultural change requirements. Poor Resource Allocation and Lack of Adequate Resources The resource requirements of organizations are different ranging from financial resources to human capital resources. An organization facing a lack of enough working capital can prevent the organization from instituting any changes. The lack of enough financial and additional financial backup affects the entire processes of change (Blashki et al. 2011). Some of the factors affecting financial allocations include the degree of market turbulence, increased competition and fall in the market demand (Bowden & Doughney, 2010). Human resource is important because these individuals formulates and implements strategic requirements contributing change. The assigned employees should have the skills and experiences to advance the strategic and cultural changes (Chirico & Nordqvist, 2010). The human resource has to appreciate the current situation and determine the future of the organization through interrogating the processes, formulating and implementing strategic measures, evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies, and resolutions to identified shortcomings or barriers. Allocation of change resources may support or negate the cultural change requirements. When the management has a poor resource allocation scheme meaning allocating important resources such machinery, time, money and staff may be inappropriate (Britt et al. 2013). The management is required to employ critical and analytical skills in the distribution of different resources to prevent conflicts (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2013). However, the skewed approaches that management sometimes employs in allocating resources worsen the requirements of organization change. Hence, the health care manager is supposed to source the resources and allocate the resources accordingly based on the strategic change requirements. Ineffective Leadership and Management Strategies The type of leadership determines the effectiveness of strategic changes and management requirements. Bad leadership is the major barrier to health care organizational change, and it is normally ignored (Ates & Bititci, 2011). Numerous employees want to be shown the direction, and lack of the direction may make the employees “confused.” Poor leadership misled the employees because the employees make judgments without contribution from the management (Reeves, MacMillan & Van Soeren, 2010). The confusion is attributed to the lack of clarity on changes and formulae to achieve predetermined outcome of the changes. Different types of management strategies exist and employing the appropriate management style sometimes diffuses pressures to change and steps to change. For example, situational leadership may address certain complications of implementation while transformative leadership creates a style in which the organization continues to operate whereas changes are instituted. Hence, determining the appropriate leadership may contribute to the effectiveness of change. Strategies Health Leaders Employ in Minimization of Resistance Conducting assessment is crucial in identifying potential and actual barriers to change. Barriers usually create a gap in current and recommended practices, which negates the requirements of the organization (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2013). It is imperative to create and implement modalities to address these barriers, but the important aspect is the identification of these barriers. The following are some of the strategies that make it possible for a leader to change a health care organization’s culture: Engaging different stakeholders The involvement of the employees is important, and the communication process should be effective. The internal communication should be effective in ensuring the reasons of change and the impact of change so that the employees understand the entire fundamentals of change (Bowden & Doughney, 2010). The external communication is also important because the customers and other stakeholders have to be informed of the changes (Lussier and Achua, 2015). For example, conflicts and misunderstandings may occur when changes such as changes in prices, distribution channels occur, which affects the local customers (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2013). However, communication with these stakeholders ensures they are involved in the change processes, which advances the general requirements of the organization. Hence, engaging the different stakeholders is important in ensuring change is possible. The formulation and implementation of strategic change require the inclusion of different stakeholders especially the employees. The employees understand the way the organization operates and these employees may provide information that guides the change process. The management should determine the wider impact of the strategies on the different facets of the organization. For example, the external environment may dictate some requirements that may be against the strategic changes (Lussier and Achua, 2015). The government usually determines the legislative framework of the healthcare and major cultural changes including the design of the hospital or healthcare facility requires a contribution from the government. Hence, to ensure the cultural change becomes effective, it is crucial to involve the different stakeholders including the suppliers, the government, and other factors that drive an organization to accomplish operational and strategic requirements. Provision of resources Effective allocation of resources is important. The health care manager should review the different strategic requirements and required adjustments. The manager should allocate the resources based on the impact on the organization. For example, redistribution of resources to areas that requires minimal resources but result in large change is important rather that areas that require huge resources with relatively low change. The appropriateness of the resource is also crucial. Different types of resources exist and balancing the requirements of the resources about the wider impact on the organization, and intended goals are crucial (Leonard et al. 2013). The success of any strategic approach is based on the effectiveness of the human resource and whether there are the right people to implement the cultural changes. These employees will also need to be motivated and encouraged to accomplish the proposed changes (Linnenluecke & Griffiths, 2010). The human resource has to understand the current situations and final expectations. In understanding, the employees are able to implement the strategies with defined goals and clarified milestones. Institutional Politics (Internal Politics) The success of an organization depends on internal politics in terms of power and distribution of power. Internal politics usually is a major problem that inhibits the implementation of strategy towards cultural changes (Leonard et al. 2013). The health care manager has to implement approaches in winning the employees and turning the employees towards achieving intended cultural change. The health care manager is supposed to target specific people and illustrate the importance of change so that they become change ambassadors (Linnenluecke & Griffiths, 2010). It is premised on the understanding all the people cannot be converted at the same time. Hence, starting with specific people and allowing the change message to disperse to other stakeholders is important. The employment or appointing of a “consigliere” is important since the individual operates as an insider. The individual should provide information on who is supporting the culture change, who is fighting the culture change, and proposals and views of other individuals in advancing the requirements of change (Ball, Weaver & Kiel, 2013). The aim is to change the internal ideology towards supporting the requirements of cultural change. The consigliere should be able to plant specific information in the organization, which can accelerate cultural change (Paton et al. 2014). The health care manager is supposed to take a systematic approach to ensuring the entire employees and other stakeholders support the cultural changes. Strong Leadership and Management Skills The senior management should play an integral role in advancing the culture change. The tactical leadership should start through identification of areas that requires change, and the other processes involve creating a shared direction and understanding (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2012). The leadership cascades the alignment process through allocating the change strategy through the different management ranks. The leadership explanation the reasons for change and communicating the vision is also crucial (Farmer et al. 2013). Understanding the reasons enables the employees and other stakeholders to support the requirements since the vision and expectations have been clarified even if all the stakeholders are not supporting the ideology or organization change. Providing a description and the processes involved in cultural change enables understanding the requirements of change and bringing together the different players. Each step of the cultural change decisions should be made and decisions instituted on modalities to improve the entire process (Lussier and Achua, 2015). The leadership is supposed to maintain active leadership and sponsorship, role, and responsibility towards organizational design, the hew goals, the new strategies, and other change requirements (Lawn & Schoo, 2010). Hence, supportive leadership towards change requires a divergent approach that brings together different strategic variables and the inclusion of crucial stakeholders. Conclusion The culture of an organization is had to change. The organizational culture defines the underlying assumptions, ideologies and design of an organization. It is a challenge for a health care manager to institute drastic changes in an organization. Some of the barriers include cultural dynamics, insufficient communication, and fear of the future, poor resource allocation and lack of enough resources, ineffective leadership, and management strategies. These are some of the common barriers that affect the general management and running of the various organization. Not all of these problems affects an organization, but a single barrier inhibits cultural change in an organization. It is important to analyze the barriers to enable determination of strategies to counter the barriers. The health care manager has to understand the problems associated with instituting changes and determine the effectiveness of any strategy to be implemented. Some of the solutions to addressing the barriers to culture change include engaging the different stakeholders such as the employees and clients, providing appropriate resources, addressing internal politics, strong leadership, and management styles. The health care manager has to appreciate the benefits of these strategies in normal operation of the organization without the need of culture change. The management of an organization takes different approaches and culture change should not be seen as a single entity rather the organization should be management to take the form of a learning organization. A learning environment ensures the organization develops based on the internal and external forces. The organization develops based on the competencies acquired from different stakeholders. Participating in programs such as training and development are also important rather than waiting until the situation of culture change worsens before introducing changes. Hence, while the organization grows, the culture of the organization has to change to respond to the environmental dynamics. It prevents the growth of barriers to change since the organization has already changed due to the continuous learning and development of the organization. References Ates, A., & Bititci, U. (2011). Change process: a key enabler for building resilient SMEs. International Journal of Production Research, 49(18), 5601-5618. Ball, M., Weaver, C., & Kiel, J. (Eds.). (2013). Healthcare information management systems: Cases, strategies, and solutions. Springer Science & Business Media. 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