Conflict Resolution at General Hospital - Case Study Example

Conflict Resolution at General Hospital Abstract The case study is related to the General Hospital that has been at a declining stage because of the increasing costs. The aim of the case study has been to identify the conflict management style as practiced by Mike Hammer and to identify the leadership style that he used in order to deal with the problem. It has been recognized that cultural changes has been initiated by Mike Hammer which seemed to be relatively ineffective for the overall organization. The analysis of the case study is aimed at providing answer to various problems faced by General Hospital in order to increase its efficiency. Introduction to the Case Study The case study is all about the General Hospital that has been facing problems and the performance of the organization has been declining. Therefore, the hospital required certain high-speed solution so that the operations of this organization could be improved. It was noted that the CEO of the hospital Mike Hammer identified that the cut in the cost of operation was of top priority and thus increase in the revenues could be the ultimate solution to fix the problem so that the current services could be expanded and the new services could have been added in those areas where the General Hospital could have competed successfully. Conflict Management Styles There are various conflict management styles such as competing/controlling, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating and compromising. Competing conflict management style is generally understood as being assertive and uncooperative. It might be understood as protection of one’s position which is believed to be correct or at this management style the person tries to win. Accommodating is just the opposite of the competing. In case of accommodating the individual tends to gratify the problems of the other people whilst sacrificing his personal concerns. Avoiding is the style of managing the conflict where the individual doesn’t pay due attention towards the conflicts and thus doesn’t makes any attempt to solve it (AFC-ISPI, n.d.). Compromising is an attempt made by the individual to resolve the conflict by means of identifying the solution that is accepted to both the parties to certain extent but not fully satisfactory to any one of them. Collaborating aims at cooperating with the other party for their concerns to be realized and thus enabling to express ones own concern with the aim towards finding a mutually and completely satisfactory solution (Wright State University, n.d.). After having analyzed the case study, it can be revealed that the collaborating conflict management style is practiced to resolve the problem that was pertaining in the organization. Collaborating involves working closely with other person in order to find a feasible solution to the problem fully satisfying the concerns of both the persons. In the case study, Mike Hammer hired Marge Harding in order to work together on the matters. In addition to this, by doing so the concerns of both (Hammer and Harding) would be satisfied since Mike Hammer’s aim was to reduce the cost and Mage Harding wanted to take up the challenge since the work could provide her the chance to get the CEOs position after few years. This makes it evident that the collaborative conflict management style has been applied in the case study. Hammer’s Leadership Style Leadership style is a process whereby the direction is provided, plans are implemented and thus the people are motivated to work in an organization. It is worth mentioning that the leaders might not use one particular style when executing the above functions. Various styles are used; most of them may even use multiple styles. The diverse leadership styles as exercised by the leaders are authoritarian, democratic and laissez fair. In case of authoritarian leadership styles, the leader tends to work well when there is not enough time but may not perform well with the teams. They often tell others the things that they want done and the method of doing it. The case of democratic leadership style is quite different from that of the authoritarian leadership style. When exercising the authoritarian leadership style, the leader also lets others participate in the decision making process. However, the final decision making authority remains with the leader himself. The leader promotes others to participate and thus delegates various tasks that need to be accomplished by his followers. He also tends to value the group discussion. When exercising the Laissez fair the leaders permit participation of others in the decision making process, however he himself is responsible for the decision. The work of others is just to evaluate the context and identify the task that needs to be done and thus the methods to do it. The leader is responsible to set the priorities as well as delegation of the task and has quite a few controls (Louisiana Tech University, 2009). After analyzing the case study, it can be demonstrated that Mike Hammer has been following Laissez Fair leadership style in order to manage his team. It has been apparent that Mike Hammer involved Marge Harding for achieving inclusive cost control in the hospital. With the appointment of Marge Harding, it was believed that it would be possible for Mike Hammer to change the culture of the organization and thus achieve the goals of the organization. Mike Hammer felt that under his leadership style it would be possible for the management team to get the work done as directed by him. Change Approach Used It is quite challenging to change the behavior along with the attitude of even one person which implies discontinuing the behavior that is not wanted in the organization and thus instilling certain new behavior. When basic changes needs to be made in the complex organization then it becomes utmost central for the managers to pay more attention towards the human side of implementing the changes which is referred as change management. It has been noted that the change management approach that is human focused may encourage the employees to provide their valuable inputs when the change efforts is at the early planning phase. This phase is critical so as to acquire authority within the broader organizational context, identification of the areas of potential resistance and thus preparing the employees for the near future. It consumes enormous time to congregate the information in the early planning stage; however it is the key for the implementation of change. However, it is to be remembered that the large scale changes need to be led by the team having leadership qualities such as authority to lead the efforts, a person who can be trusted to spread the news of the benefits that change can bring to the organization, and thus has the skills to attain early wins so that he can keep the momentum building until it tends to achieve the goal (Booz Allen Hamillton Inc, 2004). In the case study, Mike Hammer has tried to bring cultural changes in the organization. He wanted to lessen the cost and thus increase the revenues. It was observed by him that the approach of the physicians were the only factor that led to the inability of the hospitals to regulate the cost. Therefore, he wanted the staff physicians to become more cost sensitive while making decisions. However, it can be observed that Mike Hammer was not successful at implementing changes in the organization. Even though he appointed various personnel who had been quite experienced at dealing with the situation, still his efforts were in vain. Conclusion and Recommendation The case study has been dealing with the conflicts that arose in the General Hospital related to the cost cuts as identified by Mike Hammer to be hampering the success of the organization. Collaborative conflict resolution technique has been identified as being practiced by Hammer. It has further been identified that Mike Hammer has been using Laissez Fair leadership style in order to manage the team. In addition to this he has tried to bring cultural changes in the organization that seems to be ineffective. It would thus be recommendable for the General Hospital to understand the human behavior and the likely impact of change in the organization. The conflict that arises because of the change needs to be handled effectively. References AFC-ISPI, (No Date). Conflict-Management Style Survey. Section 1: Survey. Retrieved Online on May 21, 2011 from http://www.afc-ispi.org/Repository/Conflict-Management%20survey.pdf Booz Allen Hamilton, (2004). An Overall Approach to Change Management. Media. Retrieved Online on May 21, 2011 from http://www.boozallen.com/media/file/139773.pdf Louisiana Tech University, (2009). Leadership Style. Definition of Leader. Retrieved Online on May 21, 2011 from http://www.advance.latech.edu/pdf/Leadership_Styles.pdf Wright State University, (No Date). Conflict Management-Style and Strategy. Leader Letter. Retrieved Online on May 21, 2011 from http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/conflict.htm Bibliography Lawson, J. W. & Connant, C., 1994. Integrating Cases. Organisational Behavior. Read More