HA605Leadership

Leadership

Unit Learning Outcomes

ULO #1: Determine the style of leadership that is most effective when it comes to advancing business goals and objectives by taking into consideration existing group dynamics. (CLO 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7)

ULO #2: Design tactical strategies intended to garner personnel support for management lead initiatives so as to maximize their potential for success. (CLO 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7)

ULO #3: Compare and contrast sources of power, organizational politics, and influence. (CLO 2, 4, and 7)

Rakich, J. S., Longest, B. B., & Darr, K. (2010). Cases in health services management (5th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Health Professions Press.

Introduction

Epilogue: Shirley Carpenter, Chief Executive Office, Westmount Nursing Homes, took a deep breath and looked at her watch. It was 3:40 p.m. and just 20 minutes were left to get ready for her meeting with the board. She knew there was going to be a difficult confrontation and believed that many board members would call into question her leadership skills and administrative judgment. She felt that her well-earned reputation as a brilliant strategist and dynamic change agent would be put to a severe test. She needed to find a way to calm the widespread fear that the total quality management (TQM) initiative she had worked so hard to implement at Westmount Nursing Homes was badly off the rails. She wondered what had gone wrong and how it could be saved.

This case illustrates a number of organizational behavior and leadership concepts, and then frames them in the context of a “real world” scenario. While Ms. Carpenter had experienced a largely successful career in senior leadership positions in her prior organization, this wasn’t indicative of how she would be perceived within her current firm. This may be counterintuitive. After all, if someone has been a successful executive in one company, why would they be less effective as a leader in another organization? Simply put, there is no one style of leadership and not all leadership styles are appropriate for all business settings. To truly be success as a leader, you need to be able to adjust aspects of your leadership style to conform to the unique aspects and needs of the business unit. Failure to take this latter point into consideration can serve as a catalyst for organizational disruptions that manifest in to behavior issues and operational inefficiencies.

Directions

Case study: Carefully read Westmount Nursing Homes, Inc., Case #16, located on page 245, in your Cases in Health Services Management book (5th edition), and complete the below task.

Ms. Carpenter is curious as to why her effort to create a culture that embraces total quality management has been unsuccessful and how she might be able to get this initiative back on track. There are some in the organization that recognize the importance of quality management and appear eager to engage in process improvement initiatives, whereas others are less than enthusiastic. Functioning as an external organizational consultant, students are to critically examine the circumstances which led up to the board meeting with Ms. Carpenter. Assuming the board keeps Ms. Carpenter in her current position, and then officially supports the change in corporate culture to one that embraces quality management, what actions should be taken to get the TQM initiative back on track? The students will prepare a formal proposal for Ms. Carpenter that includes a detailed analysis of the circumstances which led the board meeting, and then provide an action plan for getting the quality management initiative back on track. The focus shouldn’t be limited to the TQM initiative, but take a broader look at the leadership and organizational dynamics of Westmount Nursing Home, Inc.

The students are expected to carefully read the assignment instructions, then thoroughly and explicitly address each component of this assignment. The proposal should reflect higher level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation), which is essential for someone being prepared to serve in an operational capacity within the healthcare and related industry. There is no minimum number of references that need to be utilized to support the completion of this assignment; however, it is generally understood that any good case study analysis will incorporate the appropriate quality and quantity of scholarly sources to support any suppositions and recommendations. The submission will not exceed four (4) pages in length, excluding the title and references pages. The document must adhere to the APA writing style