Directional Strategy Report Assignment for a Health Care Organization

Overview

Create a 3–5-page directional strategy report, as if you were preparing to present your assessment to a representative panel of employee stakeholders of a health care organization.

Note: The assessments in this course are presented in sequence and must be completed in order.

Directional strategies allow organizational leaders to define what the organization should be doing and how the organization plans to achieve results. As industry dynamics shift, strategies need to be adjusted. Directional strategies are all about sustainability. For example a directional strategy of growth needs to be carefully evaluated with respect to internal capacity, external community fit, and financial feasibility.

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By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Analyze organizational structure, design, culture, and climate in relation to environmental forces. ?Analyze an organization’s mission, vision, and values statements in terms of directional strategies.

?Analyze the gap between the desired outcome and the actual state of the current environment.

Competency 3: Recommend an organizational structure and design to optimize a strategic plan. ?Examine organizational ethics as expressed in mission, vision, and value statements, and its relationship to health care strategy.

?Propose changes to vision, mission, and values statements that align organizational structure and strategies.

Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in health care administration. ?Write in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner, supporting conclusions with relevant evidence.

?Follow current APA guidelines for format and style.

Context

The primary directional strategies discussed in strategic management literature are mission, vision, and values. It is important to note that strategic goals also provide direction to the organization and are an important part of the strategic planning process.

The process of creating authentic and congruent vision and mission statements hinges on filtering the creation process through an organization so that ownership of the strategic plan is shared by everyone. All employees should have a say in their specific goals within the structure of an organizational strategy.

Read the Assessment 3 Context document for additional information about the following topics:

Strategy Formulation Process.
Directional Strategies.
Creating Momentum.

Questions to Consider

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

In a health care organization or your choosing, what are the major categories of employee stakeholders (such as, executives, senior management, middle management, caregivers, maintenance, administrative support personnel, volunteers, et cetera)?
What role does the board of directors play in your health care organization?
What are the important elements of an effective board of directors?
What is the process your organization uses to select members? ?How effective is that process?
What are industry best practices for selecting board members for a health care organization?
How well does your organization’s strategies align with its published vision, mission, and values?
How does this organization’s environment support or hinder its alignment with its vision, mission, and values?

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context.

Library Resources

Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2013). Strategic management of health care organizations (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ?Chapter 5: Directional Strategies.
Kotalik, J., et al. (2014). Framework for ethical decision-making based on mission, vision and values of the institution. HEC Forum, 26(2), 125–133.
Kronenburg, M. A. (2014). Evaluating important healthcare management competency areas and preparation for healthcare reforms. International Journal of Business and Public Administration, 11(1), 31–40.
McSherry, R., &Warr, J. (2010). Implementing excellence in your health care organization: Managing, leading and collaborating. Berkshire, GBR: Open University Press.
Newhouse, J. J., &Balotsky, E. R. (2013). Factors motivating hospital CEOs to commit to ethical integration in their institutions: A quantitative analysis. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 10(2), 46–54.
Scott, B. C. (2015). Hospital boards—Why quality and safety matter. Physician Leadership Journal, 2(1), 62–64.

Functional Level Strategy in an Organization

The functional level strategies have to reflect the business, and reaching corporate goals requires the involvement of several functional areas. Therefore, to increase market share, the functional level strategy might include marketing to improve brand recognition, quality improvement for the end products and the hiring of specialized personnel. When these strategies are met, departmental management can create individual assignments geared to support sectoral objectives. The functional level approach should have the following key variables:

Alignment. The functional strategies must align with business and corporate strategies alike. If the corporate approach is to improve the level of market share and the business strategy involves the improvement of brand identification, the functional strategy should not include updating the security systems because it is not in alignment with the other strategies.
Detail. The functional strategy should have a high level of detail. There should be specific goals for each department, and the respective managers should have specific criteria through which the successes of the team are measured.
Existing Resources. Each functional strategy in place has to use current resources present in each department, whether they are personnel, equipment or opportunity. The business should not base the marketing department strategy on inaccessible or imaginary resources.
Progress. When trying to assess the level of progress being made, it is possible to get caught up in the available data. The management should consider what the corporate and business level strategies are and then provide frameworks to assist in determining whether there is progress toward these objectives.

Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

Kukreja, D. (2013). Strategic planning: A roadmap to success. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved from
http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/strategic-planning-a-roadmap-to-success/
Parsons-Miller, S. (2016). Directional Strategy Report Assignment for a Health Care Organization. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/directional-strategies-development-strategy-healthcare-organization-81073.html
Bradley, J. (2016). Operational versus functional level strategy. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/operational-versus-functional-level-strategy-61306.html
Johnson, S. (2015). The triangle of corporate strategy. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/triangle-corporate-strategy-68313.html

Assessment Instructions

Note: Assessments 1 and 2 must be completed before beginning this assessment.

Analyze the relevance of the organization’s directional strategy, including its vision, mission, values, and organizational culture. The goal is to focus upon application of the concepts and new insight. Keep it brief and substantive. Note: Feel free to construct images/diagrams to summarize information where appropriate (for example, TOWS matrix…).

Complete the following:

Review the mission, vision, and values statements of your health care organization.
Examine how well each statement addresses the components of a directional strategy.
Analyze the gap between the desired outcome and the actual state of the current environment.
Analyze the organization’s directional strategy, including its vision, mission, and values.
Examine the strategic “fit.” ?Does the directional strategy fit the environment?

?Is the organization headed in the right direction given the environmental assessment?

?Does growth make sense right now or does maintaining the status quo or even contraction make better sense?

Recommend changes you would make to ensure a foundation necessary for the current structure and strategies of the organization. Note: Support your recommendations with relevant resources from the literature.

Additional Requirements

Length: 3–5 double-spaced, typed pages.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
Resources: Use evidence from the literature to support your recommendations.

Directional Strategy Report Assignment for a Health Care Organization