At the end of 80s, Multistate Health Corporation was focused on provision of indigent people and those who represent less able members of society. The strategy was quite successful until the changes that occurred in the external environment. Specific attention should be given to shifts in insurance policies and governmental regulations.
The strategic planning involved the establishment of standardized price that replaced the “cost-plus” system of payment (Blanchard & Thacke, 2010b). The pressure was also posed by the federal government to make the hospital reduce their costs. However, the integration of new technologies was expensive and, therefore, it was impossible to implement them under those circumstances.
Currently, the MHC has a three-dimensional structure in which each subsidiary has a chief executive officer who reports to the vice president. The divisions are represented within MHC and have their own staff including regional staff and corporate staff that connect all the regions into one model. Regional staff is involved into the corporate staff.
Each corporate division possesses employment department, payroll and compensation office, employee and labor relation department, director training and development department and, finally, organizational development. The leaders focus on a specific target group of patients.
To respond to the challenges of the external environment, the company has worked out a two-prolonged strategy that touches on technology integration and efficiency improvement. The first aspect is necessary to introduce because it can significantly contribute to cost reduction, as well as define further plans for development. Second aspect focuses on advancing the competence and education of human resources.
It also refers to the governmental grants and investment that would serve the needs of the less fortunate population. Although their competitive strategy is effective, it does not align with the existing trends in managed care.
This is of particular concern to reasonable distribution of responsibilities among the personnel. There should also be a balance between technology integration and training program that would allow manager to coordinate actions effectively.
Within the context of mission and values of MHC, the implemented strategy can be improved significantly as soon as the hospital introduces right people to the right places. Each employee should be assigned with a strict set of duties to take greater control of the entire procedures.
Additionally, the company should also consider how human resources information system could be improved to monitor the changes and introduce improvement to the recruitment process.
Orientation on technology and efficiency improvement is beneficial because it provides new directions for the development of the hospital. However, certain changes should still be implemented in terms of the allocation of human resources and ethical framework within which they operate.
At this point, the main emphasis should be placed on the analysis of collaborative techniques that nurse leaders employ because high quality of information storage, as well as high competence of the personnel is not enough for ensuring exceptional quality of care.
Implementing HRIS introduces a number of advantages to the hospital in relation to higher accuracy of information exchange and process, as well as greater efficiency in data collection.
Paper recording is out-of-date because it is very time-consuming and, therefore, employees should learn to work with digital information to foster date gathering and analysis. Additionally, it is also possible to launch a training program that will allow nurses and their leaders to get a better idea of how electronic databases should be used.
Design Consulting
Fitzco Solution Consulting provides design of laboratories, departments, and management to meet the specific requirements of each organization. Training services are also included into responsibilities that the consulting company takes for their clients and, therefore, the design process is carefully considered throughout all stages of its accomplishment (FITZCO, n. d.).
A combination of process improvement, outsourcing and training can promote the facility development. Unlike, APS, Inc, which was chosen by my classmate, this company is more person-oriented because it does not only provide updated technology, but also introduces training programs for employees who should master new equipment and develop new strategies for processing and analyzing digital data.
In addition, the company introduces specialized equipment for laboratories, which is not presented in APS, Inc.
Dotmar Case Study
While implementing Kaizen at Dotmar, specific focus was made on employees who acquire new skills and who should be encouraged to gain knowledge on recent innovative techniques introduced at the market (Blanchard, & Thacker, 2010a). Trainees should address the new methods of educating employees to define their merits and shortcomings. They should also be oriented on enhancing workers’ competence.
Due to the fact that the new strategic direction at Dotmar refers to customer service and investment, the main objectives of employees’ training should include:
- Ability to meet consumer demands and recognize new potential buyers;
- Developing strong communication and collaboration skills;
- Enhancing employees’ readiness to challenges and risky situation, which will help them deal with conflict consumers and make important decisions in critical situations;
- Introducing a healthy environment under which human values are highly appraised.
For the identified groups of employees, a number of organizational constraints could arise, including, economic, social, and environmental factors. To begin with, economic obstacle relate to the external stakeholders, influencing the welfare of employees.
Social backgrounds of the personnel should also be considered to be able to define their needs. Finally, environmental concerns can also be an obstacle to employee training. Therefore, the design process should strike the balance between technical skills advancement and performance assessment.
Hardware Store Case Analysis
The main purpose of TNA, or training needs analysis, is aimed at defining the reasons for the lower level of employee performance than it was expected.
Therefore, this procedure is indispensible for highlighting the causes of low performance and defining new approaches to improving employees’ competence and skills (Blanchard, & Thacker, 2010c).
Sometimes managers do not consider it important to conduct needs analysis because company’s performance is high. However, implementing TNA is still beneficial because it will find new ways for improving performance and increasing competitive advantage.
Proactive TNA are implemented to meet the established TNA practices. In other words, they are necessary for defining whether employees have sufficient knowledge and skills to accomplish organizational goals. The needs analysis of this type is designed to prepare employees for new positions and responsibilities.
Unlike proactive method, reactive TNA is more concerned with the differences in job performance, which allows a manager to decide whether this shortcoming could be fixed or not. With regard to the above-presented descriptions, it is purposeful to state that reactive
TNA is much more effective because it does not only rely on the consistency with existing standards, but also conducts a comparative analysis of employees’ productivity. It also provides explanation for competencies which are important for highlighting the main characteristics of job position.
Due to the fact that reactive TNA is concerned with a complicated picture of organizational performance, I would also choose this method for conducting the needs analysis at my university because it produces accurate results on students’ performance, as well as define what strategies should be implemented to change the situation for the better.
The assessment process should be systematic and involves several stages of analysis performed at different departments. Further, the results should be processed to define the discrepancies in performances of the analyzed departments. Finally, as soon as the examination is over, it is possible to make amendment to the department that experiences the lowest rates of performance.
Certainly, a mere performance assessment can provide results for further investigation. However, it does not provide the pitfalls that an organization may encounter. The results of the employees’ productivity could further be examined in comparison with other outcomes to define whether their results conform to accepted standards.
Such an approach to appraising the company’s productivity is much more efficient because it introduces a holistic strategy of evaluating the overall productivity of the organization. Additionally, identifying the drawbacks and discrepancies in performance motivates managers to interview those people and define what constraints these employees face while taking duties and responsibilities at an organization.
Introducing self-rating is an important process, creating an opportunity for employees to estimate their personal contributions to the company.
Such a procedure does not only provide information about the level of employees’ objectivity, but also expands on the comparative analysis of workers’ behavior. Therefore, TNA is much more effective as compared to one-dimensional assessment of employees’ skills, experiences, and knowledge.
References
Blanchard, P. N. & Thacker, J. W. (2010a). Dotmar Case Study. In. P. N., Blanchard & J. W. Thacker (Eds.). Effective Training: Systems, Strategies, and Practices. (pp. 1-3) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Blanchard, P. N. & Thacker, J. W. (2010b). Effective Training: Systems, Strategies, and Practices. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Blanchard, P. N. & Thacker, J. W. (2010c). Needs Analysis. In P. N., Blanchard & J. W. Thacker (Eds.). Effective Training: Systems, Strategies, and Practices. (pp. 96-149) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
FITZCO (n. d.). Fitzco Solutions Consulting. Web.