solved Consider the strategies needed to adjust to external environmental issues

Consider the strategies needed to adjust to external environmental issues using a specific example either in public health or in your organization (e.g. the pandemic or the somewhat confusing directives from the CDC recently) and assess the effectiveness of the strategies utilized.Please be thorough and thoughful – the post should be at least 4 – 5 paragraphs and the response at least 3 – 4 paragraphs. Please proof your work prior to submission for spelling, punctuation, syntax, etc. for scholarly writing. New Leadership for Today’s Health Care Professionals Chapter 61Chapter 6: Strategic Thinking LeadersStrategic thinking is: • Mental process of synthesizing and analyzing information to envision the strategies and tactics needed to achieve the ultimate goal.• Prerequisite to strategic planning – define the tasks and operational activities need be accomplished to reach an identified or agreed-upon goal.Strategic Management – how assign authority and responsibility to implement and monitor activities to be accomplished to reach goal.Elements of Strategic Thinking:1. Systems perspective – analyze organization as part of interdependent and interactive external environment.2. Mission-, vision-, and values-driven – intention to accomplish value for clients, customers, and stakeholders.3. Opportunity – requires knowledge, experience, and skill to understand when opportunity presents and willingness to risk.4. Time – “seeing” in time to look ahead while being grounded in past – big picture.5. Connection of cause and effect – causation hard to prove but predicting outcome “b” from action “a” critical. If – then concept.Why Focus on Thinking Strategically in Health Care?Leaders of healthcare organizations must think and act strategically since environment is everchanging. Involves not only deciding best course of action and weighing risks and benefits but also making decisions that are consistent, congruent, and in line with the overall mission of the organization.The Rapidly Changing Healthcare EnvironmentHealthcare reform is both political and social. U. S. not really a healthcare system – rather a sick care system – focus not on prevention and maximizing health, focus reactive treating illness.Impacts regulation.The Expected Organizational and System BenefitsStrategic planning not panacea. If organization understands the business it is in and who its customers are and opts to focus on best practices, it will be more likely to be successful. However, the organization must remain responsive in a timely manner to environmental changes in tis industry and be able to realign its strategies as needed. Benefits from strategic planning include organizational development of concept and vision for the future, and an identity (i.e., what the organization is and what it wants[or needs] to become in the future). Needs leadership from all levels.What is the Nature of Strategic Management? Why is it Different from Traditional Management? How Does One Think and Manage Strategically?Strategic DefinitionsStrategy – set of related actions that leadership makes to increase the organization’s performance on agreed upon and significant outcomes and benchmarks. In healthcare, these measures may not be obvious since many are not-for-profits.Strategic leadership – how leaders guide organization through the strategy process, including decisions in formulating and implementing a set of strategies that should provide the organization with achievable outcomes and a competitive advantage.Strategy formulation – method of developing or selecting a strategy. (20%?)Strategy implementation – putting those decisions into effect (80%?)The Process and Schools of Strategic Management ThoughtMany schools of thoughtStrategy competent – has understanding and conceptualization of the strategic development and management process.Strategic planning depends on which element one chooses to focus (or with which one has experience).School of ThoughtCharacteristics: Strategy Formulation as a process ofDesignConception – seeks to attain match between internal capabilities and external possibilitiesPlanningFormal – strategy can be developed in a structured, formalized processPositioningAnalytical – matching right strategy to conditi9ons at hand; generic strategics match generic conditions; use of analysis to identify right relationshipsEntrepreneurial Visionary – strategic planning originates from founder/leader; from intuition, judgment, wisdom, insight of leaderCognitiveMental process – strategies emerge as map/schemeLearningEmergent process – from lessons learned and involves othersPowerNegotiation – between leaders (power holders) CulturalCollective – through collective and cooperative process reflect culture of organizationEnvironmentalReactive – result of response to challenges of external environmentConfigurationTransformation – strategies stable but change with environment; transform organization through changing decision-making structureStrategic DecisionsStrategic management process only starting point for understanding how organizations decide and then act on their initiatives.• Basic level: organizations choose to grow (growth) – mergers, acquisitions, product/market development strategies, • stay same (maintenance) key in economic /environmental uncertainty, • get smaller (contraction) – divesting assets (both capital and labor) – liquidation and harvesting.Strategy evaluations often use market share and market grown as dimensions to guide strategic choices.What are the Characteristics and Competencies of a Strategic Thinking Leader?â–ª Having a vision – – both thinking and communication processâ–ª Understanding the business and its clients – mission (directional strategy) that defines business, customers, uniqueness. Mission statement articulates target customers, principal services delivered, geographical area served, organization’s philosophy and values, distinctive services, uniqueness.â–ª External orientation – systems thinking – envisioning open system and how reacts to environment – issues, trends that impact organization.â–ª Penchant for analyzing data – review/analyze for foundation of creative generation. Must sift through data, convert data to meaningful information, synthesize/bring meaning to decision-making processes. â–ª Creatively generating new ideas – leader must keep organization on course while generating new ways to meet challenges; need creative approaches to recruit/engage others.â–ª Propensity for questioning assumptions – need to guide when/how to question assumptions and traditions – “outside the box thinking” requires logical assessment of assumptions with creative and critical thinking.â–ª Understanding the score of the game – know how game “played” and “scored” through market share and benchmarking.â–ª Knowing that change is inevitable – Nothing remains constant – track trends/issues to develop strategies and address challenges/prepare for future. Change means opportunity.â–ª Knowing that strategic choices require focus and force –Cannot be everything to all. Hospitals must choose focus, and guide implementation for specific success.â–ª Understanding the business they are in – know breadth and nuances of how business works = “business sense.” Knowledge of operations, market, staff, clients. Know what stage of life cycle for each. â–ª Knowing the competition – Awareness of competition aids search for improved services. Need to continuously improve strategic thinking and development to stay “one step ahead.” Known as “intent focuses.”▪ Knowing their customers – customer #1 priority. Healthcare leaders serve many stakeholders – need to manage relationships while viewing customers as driver of strategic decisions.Skills/abilities:➢ Conceptual thinking ability➢ Visionary thinking➢ Creativity➢ Analytical thinking➢ Synthesizing➢ ObjectivityWhat are Some Tools for Thinking Strategically?Elements:❖ Having a systems perspective.❖ Being intent-focused.❖ Having propensity for intelligent opportunism❖ Thinking in time❖ Being hypothesis-drivenApproaches:• Scenario writing – process of describing likely future of environment with variables/issues: economic, political, technological, social, regulatory.• Situation or SWOT Analysis – o Use strengths to take advantage of matched opportunities.o Utilize strengths to address challenges/threats in environment.o Overcome weaknesses that make organization vulnerable to threats.o Overcome weaknesses that inhibit use of opportunities.• Competitor analysis – need to assess threat from competitors .o Define services to be assessed – define one’s status and compare to competitors in area.o Define service area – primary and secondary – % local; % outlying.o Identify competition in all forms – not just specialty but as part of system.o Analyze SWOT of each competitor – provides insight and direction on how to compete.o Synthesize information from analysis – how different/similar; needs assessment for initiatives.• Evaluation of strategic alternativesStrategic Business Unit (SBU) – unit of organization that produces product/services – individual unit of business within organization.Boston Consulting Group Portfolio Matrix:High ↑ ↔ Relative Market Share ↔ LowStars Question MarksCash CowsDogs• Thinking Creatively – logic, inspirationo Be inspired/guided but others’ work.o Create culture of innovation by encouraging collaboration.o The strategic team should develop strong working relationship to promote successful exchange of ideas while avoiding overfamiliarity.o Collect and analyze useful and meaningful data.o Strategic solutions that develop may not be perfect – need planning group to develop/improve them with constructive criticism.Strategic management promotes implementation of leader’s creative vision through:• Developing and effectively communicating the vision.• Defining goals/objectives.• Assigning/delegating tasks and responsibilities.• Expecting accountability (practice makes perfect).• Assessing, evaluating, and revising the strategic process.New Leadership for Today’s Healthcare Professionals Chapter 51Chapter 5: Human Resource Considerations at the TopHealthcare organizations require well trained, highly motivated workforce that works together to produce best quality care for patients or residents.Human Resources Management in HealthCare : The BasicsHRM:• planning, • recruitment, • selection, • rewarding, • training, and • development of organization’s workforce.Requires strategic plan to match workforce plan.Strategic Plan:• mission and vision statement• performance objectives• plan for achieving objectives.• method for evaluating and correcting actions based on outcomes of performance.Legal and Regulatory EnvironmentFederal, state, local laws determine outcomes of hiring processes, compensation and benefits, training, performance evaluation, and work conditions for individuals in healthcare field.See chart p. 90Demographics, Recruitment, Selection, and RetentionHR considerations: racial and ethnic composition of candidate pool.By 2050, racial/ethnic minorities projected to make up over half of all Americans. # adults over 65 will double.Multicultural/multigenerational workforce has become the norm for healthcare organizations.Recruitment determinants:• # employees needed• How many new vs. how many replaced• Address areas with skill deficits• May bank resumes for future• Succession planning: National Center for Healthcare Leadership (MCHL) – process for identifying and training individuals who could perform senior management roles in the future.• Leadership competencies• RetentionMove to: Interdisciplinary teams – clinical and administrative professionals across healthcare disciplines providing care to patients and residents with focus on outcomes .Workplace Rewards – monetary and nonmonetarytotal rewards model:• compensation, • benefits, • work-life effectiveness, • recognition, • performance management, • talent developmentPerformance Evaluation – systematic assessment• giving feedback about performance and identifying individual training needs• providing opportunity to direct employee efforts over next designated time period• providing line managers with basic for recommending promotions, raises, future assignments.• clarifying/reinforcing lines of authority• providing basis and record for disciplinary action when needed.Training and Development -continual due to changes in technologies in delivery of healthcare services• on job training• tuition remission – courses/ certificate• mentoringLabor Unions – negotiate for workers in healthcare setting on issues of pay, benefits, work conditions.Unionization – benefit – collective bargaining agreement enables organization to predict labor costsRole of Strategic Human Resources Management – new standards of inclusion, work-life balance, shift to tying employees’ performance to levels of service reimbursement – new way of thinking about service delivery and work models.Human Resources Metrics: How to Gauge Your Workforce Performance – typical measure used by departments is full-time equivalent (FTE) – best estimate of employees needed given the number of encounters or services, helps to develop appropriate staffing for budgets.1 FTE = 2080 hours/year ( 8 hr./ day, 40 hr. workweek, 52 week/year) – adjusted for vacation days, sick time, and other measures of leave.Other measures: staff turnover rate (#employees leave/yr. divided by total # of employees – double digit% = high turnover rate, vacancy ratesvacancy rate: ration of open, unfilled positions divided by total # positions in organization – if reach double digit affects performance of facilitymany use dashboard – mission, vision, goals translated into financial and operating performanceAmerican Society of Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) – metric• Retention and separations (measures staff turnover and years of service)• Workforce productivity and profitability ( labor costs and overtime pay)• Staffing and hiring (cost of hiring and time to accept a job)• Workforce diversity (diverse personnel headcount)• Human resources cost and structure (HR cost and training cost)• Compensation and benefits (benefits costs and healthcare costs per employee)New Directions in Strategic Human Resources ManagementTalent management in healthcare organizations – attracting best members of training healthcare workforce while continuing to engage and develop existing employees – persistent theme in strategic HRM.