HCA 545 Week 1 Strategic Management and Organizational Change

Sample Answer

Nurse Managers and leaders are highly interested in exploring the ways in which the structure of their organizations influences their performance and competitiveness. Often, the type of structure used in an organization influences the efficiency in which various organizational tasks are undertaken. An example is its impact on the rate at which decisions are made and implemented. It is expected that tedious decision-making process will be encountered in organizations where there is discussions and negotiations at different levels of the organization (Hatch, 2018).

Therefore, this essay examines the various types of organizational structures in healthcare and ways it affects the processes and effectiveness of change. It also examines the need for organizations developing strategic models that address the concept of change. The paper also explores the differences between organizational change and transformational change and the sources of leadership models that promote success in health organizations.

Types of Organizational Structures

There exist different health organizational structures. One of them is the functional organizational structure. The functional organizational structure is characterized by a pyramid shaped hierarchy that defines the various functions that are undertaken by senior management positions in an organization. The model is particularly relevant in most organizations due to the variety in the nature of services that it offers to their populations. The structure is also associated with features such as the existence of strict chains of command, lines of reporting, and span of control.

The nature of this organizational structure has some implications in organizational processes and effectiveness of change. The existence of strict chains of command implies that opportunities for change are limited. The management must first perceive the need for the change prior to its implementation in their organization. The structure also limits the creation of working environment where open communication and innovation are encouraged (Morgan & John, 2014).

Therefore, functional organizational structure does not favor the adoption of change in health organizations. The second type of health organizational structure is matrix organizational structure. This model recognizes that the use of strict functional structures might limit flexibility in organizations. Often, the organizations are characterized by having multiple chains of command. The employees are responsible to more than one manager. There is flexibility in the roles and balance of power among the senior management personnel.

The implication of this organizational structure encompasses the fact that the adoption of change is easy in such organizations. Employees have the autonomy to engage in innovative ways of providing healthcare. There is also flexibility in the adoption of health interventions that would otherwise contribute to evidence-based practice (Dai & Tayur, 2018). Therefore, this organizational structure favors change and adoption of flexible processes that improve performance and competitiveness.

Moreover, service line management structure also forms an organizational structure in health care. In this structure, the manager is selected to lead a specific clinical service line. The manager is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring adequate staffing, budget, resource acquisition, and financial control in the line of service provision. An example of such structure is the creation of a cardiology unit in an institution of healthcare. The utilization of such a structure has been associated with various benefits including easy decision-making, communication, and flexibility in implementation of change (Morgan & John, 2014).

Therefore, the flexibility in the adoption of clinical processes that promote change is high in such structures. It is therefore important that organizations develop a strategic management model that addresses both concept of change for growth and sustainability. The need is attributed to the fact that the environments where organizations undertake their activities are characterized by constantly changing consumer needs. This implies that the strategic model should not only meet the demands of the actual needs but also the perceived needs too. It also implies that health organizations should have visions that address their long-term needs (Morrison, 2019).

Organizations can accomplish this mission by embracing various interventions. One of them is adopting the use of responsive business models. The models should allow flexibility in the interventions that are used to meet the needs of the business. The other intervention involves encouraging innovation among the employees. The employees should be encouraged to try their novel ways in which the organizational tasks can be undertaken.

Through it, health organizations understand the critical determinants of ways in which sustainability of their interventions are achieved. The last way is aligning the strategic interventions with the expectations of the employees (Morrison, 2019). The alignment increases the relevance of the interventions, hence, their sustainability in the organization.

Organizational Change and Strategic Change

Certain subtle differences exist between organizational change and transformational change. One of them is that organizational change entails assessing the past, using it to compare with the present and determining the ideal future of the organization. Transformational change, on the other hand, focuses on redefining the current state of an organization. It compares the current organizational state with the expected future needs of the organization.

The goals of organizational change are largely obtained from assessing the present as well as the past state of the organization. The above differs in transformational change where the goals are identified by assessing the present to the future needs of the organization. The outcome of organizational change encompasses the fact that the organization will be different from what it was in the past. However, in transformational change, the organization will be different from its present state.

Lastly, organizational change aims at introducing new organizational aspects such as beliefs, values, and practices. Transformational change, on the other hand, aims at modifying the existing organizational aspects (Hatch, 2018). Therefore, it is incremental rather than being sudden, as in the case of organizational change.

Examples of Leadership Models

Organizations can obtain examples of leadership models that have proven successful in today’s healthcare environment from a number of sources. One of them is benchmarking other successful organizations. Healthcare organizations can identify a successful organization using a specific leadership approach and modeling its processes.

The other source is evidence-based data. The management can perform a critical appraisal of the existing leadership models and utilize one that has optimum outcomes as reported in researches. The last source entails improving on the existing leadership models. The management can focus on eliminating the weaknesses in their current model, as a way of making it responsive to the identified and perceived business needs.

Assessing Leadership Effectiveness

The effectiveness of leadership in an organization can be assessed with the use of a number of tools. One of them is the use of simulations. The leader can be exposed to multiple simulation exercises. He or she is then observed to determine their effectiveness in facilitating the realization of the set organizational goals. Questionnaires can also be used to determine the effectiveness of the leader.

The employees can act as a source of vital information about the effectiveness of the leadership styles used in the organization. Lastly, assessment methods such as the 360-degree evaluation can be used to determine leadership effectiveness (Hatch, 2018). This method provides all-round feedback on the effectiveness of leadership approaches used in an organization.

Conclusion

In summary, organizational structure influences the performance of health organizations. It determines the effectiveness of the processes that are used to facilitate change. It is therefore important that health organizations focus on embracing interventions that promote transformation in organizational processes. The interventions should also enhance the efficiency and effectiveness in task undertaking.

References

• Dai, T., & Tayur, S. (2018). Handbook of healthcare analytics Theoretical minimum for conducting 21st century research on healthcare operations. Hoboken, NJ, USA Wiley.
• Hatch, M. J. (2018). Organization theory Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. Oxford, UK Oxford University Press.
• Morrison, E. (2019). Ethics in healthcare administration A practical approach for decision makers. Burlington, MA JONES & BARTLETT LEARNING.
• Morgan, J., & John Wiley & Sons. (2014). The future of work Attract new talent, build better leaders, and create a competitive organization. Hoboken, NJ Wiley.