Strategic Planning is a set of procedures
You report to the hospital CEO.
SST. Albertan is owned and operated by an order of Catholic nuns, who have for 100 years taken great pride in their service to the poor. Your Job description says that one of your duties is to organize and implement strategic planning for the hospital.
Since coming to the hospital three weeks ago you have quickly realized that the hospital as had a revenue shortfall the last two years because too many patients from the surrounding neighborhoods did not have insurance and could not pay their bills. As you are thinking about the strategic planning part of your job reflect on the course readings in the area of planning and decision-making and in your essay discuss two related questions: A.
What does strategic planning mean, and how should you think about organizing tasks to do strategic planning for a nonprofit hospital corporation that Is owned and operated by a religious group?
Is the strategic perspective likely to be different than if this was a corporate business? Strategic Planning is a set of procedures for making decisions about the organization’s long term goals and strategies. When thinking about organizing tasks to do strategic planning for a corporation owned and operated by a religious group, I believe that one has to consider that In the planning phase there may be conflict between the owners and the planners unless their beliefs (I. E. Elisions, financial, goals, purpose, etc. ) are on par with one another. Because of this fact, it is necessary for the planner(s) and decision maker(s) to be Gilligan while they muddle through the barriers.
I also believe that through meticulous scenario planning, those barriers can be broken through and overcome. The Strategic perspective would likely be different If this were a corporate business mainly because most corporate businesses tend to have more structure within their organization.
When there Is structure, there tends to be more certainty behind the programmed decisions that are made on a day to day basis. Though perfect certainty is rare, as the text states, having more certainty will likely lower the risk involved with decision making as well. Based off of the facts known from the question, it does not appear that the Nuns have a lot of structure within their business.
Though the hospital has been around for 100 years, It also appears that their business practices have not adapted to the changing business environment, B.
Since you are new to the organization, you don’t have personal experience with the decision-making environment and process in which any strategic plan would be considered. Based on the class readings what style and approach would you expect has probably been used to make major decisions at the hospital in the past? And owe will you want think about strategic decision-making in the weeks and months ahead? The style and approach that has probably been used to make major decisions at the hospital is more than likely a group approach.
One of the issues with making decision amongst a group, and an issue that I believe would occur among an order of Nuns is grouping. I believe grouping is appropriate, based on the information given, because it describes a scenario where a group of people operating as a single body “choose not to disagree or raise objections because they don’t want to break up a positive team spirit.
The text further states that “some groups want to think as one, tolerate no dissension, and strive to remain cordial. “Such groups are overconfident, complacent, and perhaps too willing to take risks. ” I believe that all of those characteristics describe the Nuns and their situation that is in front of them. I would want to consider keeping the group approach, since that is what the Nuns are used to, while making minor adjustments to it. First and foremost, I would promote vigilant decision making, or “decision making that carefully executes all six stages of decision making, including making provisions for implementation and valuation.
In promoting vigilant decision making you are allowing for creativity within decision making and possibly opening doors for other alternatives that may not have been thought of or considered previously. In the last decade Thomas Friedman was well known for his description (and advocacy) of globalization of the world economy. Based on your reading of his article (that summarizes the main points of his bestselling book “The World is Flat”), briefly indicate what you think Friedman means by globalization, and what he thinks are the major consequences of this development.
Then, pretend you are Friedman. The two Fallows articles on China were written several years after “The World is Flat” was published.
If you were Friedman, how would you interpret and respond to what Fallows has to say about developments in China between 2007 and 2009 based on what you know about his views from the article? I believe that Friedman uses the term globalization to describe a world that is quickly shrinking and becoming more competitive every day. He separated Globalization into 3 parts, Globalization 1. Occurring from 1492 to 1800, Globalization 2. Occurring from 1800 to 2000, and Globalization 3. 0 occurring from 2000 to the present day.
He characterized the beginning stages of Globalization (from 1492-1800) as an age of expansion where the world shrunk from “Large to Medium” and the driving force behind the shrinking world was “countries globalization for resources and imperial conquest. ” In the second stage (1800-2000) he characterized globalization as further expansion that caused the world size to shrink from “Medium to Small. He said that the driving force behind the second phase was countries globalization for markets and labor. The third and current phase (2000-Current Day) is the phase that Friedman stated that the world is shrinking from “Small to Tiny’ and it is characterized by “Individuals and because it’s shrinking the world, flattening the playing field, and empowering individuals. Globalization can be witnessed by the common person in part to worldwide access to the internet.
A small business or consumer in Random Town, Georgia can purchase, exchange, or sell goods to a business partner in Random Prefecture, Japan without having to leave the comfort of their place of employment or mom due to the technological advances that have ignited the quick burning flame that is Globalization.
I also believe that Globalization is a worldwide phenomenon that also affects the education world as well. A prime example of Globalization is me taking this class. I live in Georgia and I am a Graduate Student in a school located in SST. Louis, Missouri.
Globalization has allowed me to work towards an advanced degree from the comfort of my office at home, without ever having to step foot in a classroom that is approximately six or seven hundred miles away. Today this is the arm for people that choose to go to school online, whereas 30 years ago it was practically unheard of.
I believe that some consequences that come with Globalization include a more competitive/cutthroat business market, better informed and smarter consumers, and better products at cheaper prices due to disruptive technologies coming about as a result of outsourcing.
One more consequence of Globalization that Friedman spoke of was the United States falling behind countries that, before globalization, would not have been able to compete with countries as powerful as the United States. Countries like the United States were powerful due to the resources that they had access to. Those same resources are now readily available to countries that initially did not have them. If I were Friedman I would interpret and respond to what Fallows has to say about developments in China by stating that China is exploiting Globalization in a way that it is going to hurt them in the future.
One of the side effects of globalization is a smarter consumer base. I believe that once consumers are keenly educated to China’s shady business practices and how they treat their laborers, I believe that consumers will be quick to take their equines elsewhere, especially if they are able to find better products for cheaper prices, which is likely if history continues to repeat itself. Clayton Christensen is best known for his articulation of the idea of “disruptive technologies”, which is a cheaper competitive product. Think about the original Apple Ill computer compared to IBM mainframes.
The Apple was much less powerful, but also much cheaper and it disrupted the comfortable IBM world of 1980. ) How does Christensen discussion of competitive advantage seem to relate to the articles several years earlier by Mentoring and Porter. Is Christensen perspective closer to Mentoring or Porter? Why? Christensen discussion of competitive advantage relates to articles by Mentoring and Porter because in it he describes the same changing business environment that Mentoring and Porter make references to.
I believe that Christensen perspective is closer to Integer’s because he describes in his article that today’s competitive advantage may be tomorrow’s disadvantage unless strategist can “stay attuned to changes in underlying conditions. ” Mentoring is a staunch advocate for scenario based planning which is eradicated on being aware of and being able to adjust to changes or problems that planning and on what works whereas Christensen tends to focus a little bit deeper into why these plans work and under what conditions do they offer certain competitive advantages.
Finally, which of these perspectives on strategy seem to be the best way to think about strategy? Why? I believe that the perspective that is the best way to think about strategy is a mixture of Integer’s scenario based planning along with a little bit of Christensen competitive advantage perspective because in a perfect world, NY business would want to have the inside track on the latest trends and changes in their pockets while developing or updating their strategy plans.
Having that information will make planning a lot easier and much more efficient because it will prevent having to take unnecessary risks and it will help minimize mistakes. If a corporation can competently utilize both perspectives while formulating their business plans they would be able to consistently stay a step or two ahead of their competition. Having a leg up on your competitors is a sure way of maintaining longevity and survival in the business world.
