Case Study of Glengarry Regional Medical Centre Essay Example

to congest the hallways. GRMC is currently taking steps to address this problem in the short term. Furthermore, employees at the hospital have had to adjust their working styles due to frequent changes in leadership, as each new administrator has their own operational preferences. As a result, GRMC has been unable to establish a cohesive management approach, leading to decreased employee morale and confusion regarding job responsibilities.

The second concern is regarding power and politics, specifically the appointment of administrators. These administrators are selected by the local county judge based on their personal qualifications and political affiliations instead of their skills and experiences. Consequently, they may be forced to resign or take on different roles.

The third issue concerns reward and motivation. Motivation serves as a means of encouraging staff to reach specific goals and targets. Employees are not likely to accept being underpaid willingly, as this suggests their performance is not valued at a high level (Larry, 2002). Consequently, providing suitable rewards is beneficial for boosting employee morale and improving company productivity.

Newly elected CEO Arnold Benson of GlenMed faced financial problems from the start. One issue stemmed from the building program finances. Additionally, employees were promised a 7 percent pay increase at the beginning of the year. However, Benson did not fully meet their demands and reduced the growth rate to 2 percent. This decision has caused the employees to feel dissatisfied and believe that Benson, as the hospital administrator, cheated and deceived them. Consequently, they no longer have faith or trust in him. Furthermore, this situation will impact employee motivation and morale, ultimately leading to a decline in GlenMed's

performance.

The issue at hand concerns communication within companies. In many organizations, there exists a separate dynamic between managers and employees, resulting in disengaged staff and low productivity (Stacey, 2005). Effective communication can help reduce gossip and break down barriers between these two groups. However, the top-down communication approach employed by GRMC is not suitable. Due to various changes, the morale of hospital employees seems to be negatively affected. The top-down communication style is demoralizing because employees are only expected to follow orders from higher authorities without expressing their opinions. This lack of engagement leads to low work efficiency.

Benson did not inform employees about his procedure for parking fee charges on time. Instead, he decided to delay the announcement to gauge employees' reaction after reducing their pay rise. This lack of timely communication can be seen as a sign of distrust since employees were not given the information and decision promptly.

During a certain period, the hospital introduced a management development program aimed at training department heads and supervisors who chose to participate voluntarily in the training. All participants were obligated to fill out an evaluation form. Unfortunately, several forms were not returned as the feedback requested the inclusion of the name of each department head, along with at least one positive and negative quality for each person mentioned. This posed a challenge as participants were not familiar with the conditions of others. Furthermore, some managers were concerned about potential misuse or repercussions from sharing personal information.

The final issue is a problem with decision making. A previous administrator was terminated by the hospital. Multiple employees voiced concerns that her

decisions were incorrect, resulting in the loss of a significant amount of money in a span of two years. Additionally, the decision-making approach is not suitable for the hospital. A top-down approach would lead to a management crisis at GRMC as it compels staff members to strictly adhere to specific directives. This approach fails to encourage motivation and initiative among employees in the workplace.

Benson also makes some small mistakes when making decisions, which, when combined, can have a significant impact on the organization (Marie, 1998).

Benson dissolved the advisory group as he deemed it unnecessary for the hospital. Although employees did not resist this action, it also posed a potential threat to the company.

Benson arranged a weekend retreat to improve the hospital's operations, but it was met with resistance from most managers. The retreat was scheduled on Valentine's Day, causing conflicts for many due to existing plans or objections from their spouses. As a result, the plan had to be canceled.

3.0 The reasons behind the symptoms experienced within the company

Upon examination of the situation, various factors are revealed that contribute to the aforementioned problem. Firstly, it is evident from the case that the population has been consistently increasing by 1,150 individuals annually. This indicates a significant need for medical equipment, which unfortunately has not been promptly met by the company. The main cause of this issue stems from inadequate leadership within the hospital.

The problem at hand can be analyzed using Lewin's Planned Change Model, which consists of three stages: Unfreezing, Moving, and Refreezing (Bernard, 2004). In the Unfreezing stage, the company fails to consider

whether the hospital should expand its medical equipment to accommodate the population growth, leading to the emergence of a problem. In the Moving stage, plans and actions need to be implemented beforehand by the board so that the community can have access to a medical center that meets their needs. Finally, in the Refreezing stage, GRMC is unable to anticipate the benefits and drawbacks of completing the expansion project.

Additionally, the organization is faced with issues related to power and politics.

The GRMC serves as the administrator role in this hospital, however, it has not effectively managed the hospital. The issue stems from administrators being chosen based on qualifications and political status rather than genuine medical management experience. This has led to a loss of confidence and morale among employees within the organization. Despite managers' attempts to motivate employees, none have been successful. It is clear from practice that these administrators lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and initiative to handle the hospital business and master the situation. According to Jaffe and Scott's (1999) framework for designing change, each level of leadership in the organization should assume important tasks. Benson needs to align the top leadership members, make a case for change, and champion new ways of doing things.

There are various reasons behind the issue of communication in hospitals.

Communication, the process of transmitting and understanding information between individuals, has experienced a significant breakdown in this case. Benson's leader stands out for their vast knowledge, mild manners, and easygoing nature. However, despite being aware of the hospital's current state, they lack effective communication skills as a leader. This hinders their ability

to effectively convey information to all employees (Lee and Krayer, 2003). Additionally, with each department in the hospital having its own manager, message and communication transfer becomes even more complicated. Consequently, leaders face challenges when communicating with one another.

The communication methods available are Email, Phone, and Face to Face. When a leader needs to communicate with the staff, it is important to have a clear purpose and anticipate the expected results, whether positive or negative. The most effective method should be chosen among these three options. In the case of this hospital, GRMC needs to change its organizational culture as their communication channels are vanishing.

Fourthly, the issue of rewards and motivation arises due to several reasons. One factor is the inadequate management of GRMC, which negatively affects employee morale, motivation, and trust. The global financial crisis is another reason as it compels the company to reduce expenses for survival. Additionally, Benson, like other leaders, lacks integrity and transparency when it comes to sharing information about worker benefits. Furthermore, the employees' motivation is affected because they are only compensated based on standard norms, which increases their dissatisfaction with their leader and reduces job satisfaction.

According to Cummings & Worley (2005), organizational systems are influenced by inputs such as industry structure and the general environment, which in turn affect design components like technology, structure, and strategy. In the case of this hospital, inadequate leadership and an ineffective organizational structure contribute to problems. Additionally, the general population has increased and the hospital expansion has been delayed, further impacting the design components. These issues result in poor organizational performance and low employee satisfaction. To

address these problems, Benson's leader should first improve the general environment and industry structure at the organizational level before addressing other levels such as groups and individuals.

The inadequate decision-making at GRMC can be blamed on three primary factors. First, the local county judge lacks an understanding of the appropriate leadership style for the company. Different industries demand different types of leaders, and this specific administrator may not have been a good fit for the hospital industry, causing her to fail. Furthermore, GRMC still relies on a top-down approach to decision-making that is unsuitable for a hospital setting, resulting in considerable confusion.

The problem with Benson is that he has too much faith in his ability to make decisions and predict outcomes. As a result, he decided to disband the advisory group and ignore input from employees. Furthermore, Benson failed to carefully consider the situation, causing him to overlook the possibility that many staff members might already have plans on Valentine's Day when he organized a department leader outing.

In this section, we will discuss the potential recommendations and suggestions that can be made.

The analysis has identified the issues with GRMC and their causes. To effectively address these problems, the following recommendations are suggested:

The main priority for the GRMC is to locate a new manager who is appropriate for the hospital.

The appointment of the GRMC administrator depends on their personal qualifications and political beliefs, rather than their knowledge of the hospital industry or day-to-day operations at GRMC.

To address this issue, GRMC must designate a manager who possesses expertise and substantial experience. The ideal candidate

should have a strong emotional quotient (EQ) to skillfully manage relationships with subordinates. Additionally, they should be capable of supervising the hospital's operations and ensuring its profitability.

Furthermore, it is important for GRMC to meet the needs of its employees.

Benson unilaterally broke the employees' promised 7% pay raise, reducing it to 2%, which caused significant employee dissatisfaction.

The crisis of confidence stems from the staff's hostile attitude towards Benson and their refusal to collaborate with him. Therefore, it is essential that upper management ensures employee salaries are raised to an acceptable level.

The stakeholder perspective, which is one of the four perspectives of organizational effectiveness, highlights the importance of meeting the needs of stakeholders like employees, suppliers, and customers (Polonsky, Schuppisser and Beldona, 2002). To adhere to this perspective, Benson must prioritize fulfilling employees' needs. Even during financial difficulties, it is essential for Benson to involve employees in decision-making instead of making decisions alone. Despite the challenging financial situation, he should actively participate in meetings and communicate with employees to address their increasing desire for higher wages.

One way in which GRMC can enhance its communication is by altering its approach.

The hospital was in disarray, making the top-down approach impractical for GRMC. In this scenario, Benson should explore alternative approaches such as bottom-up to enhance communication efficiency.

According to Volker (2002), the bottom-up approach to communication is a channel that allows messages to be transmitted from lower levels of the organization hierarchy to higher levels. Unlike other forms of communication, this type is not controlled by the company and enables staff members to freely express their

opinions without direct intervention from management. As a result, it reduces the authority of administrators in consistently giving work instructions while promoting an environment where employees can openly discuss and participate in conversations about various topics.

Hence, it is advantageous for Benson to utilize a bottom-up approach. Despite the negative effects of a harsh environment on employee morale and efficiency, this approach fosters a sense of belonging within the organization, ultimately increasing motivation levels.

Furthermore, GRMC has the ability to alter the approach to decision making.

In order to give low-level management more authority over the company's operations, GRMC needs to adopt a bottom-up decision-making approach and revise its communication method.

According to Willem (1991), a bottom-up approach to decision making entails engaging lower-level employees in problem-solving within their respective areas of expertise. This enables high-level management to provide broad guidance, while subordinates can take appropriate actions based on the present circumstances. In healthcare sectors such as hospitals and medical industries, emphasis is placed on problem solving rather than decision making. Hence, it is crucial for hospitals to prioritize patients' needs, develop feasible strategies, and involve upper management in the decision-making process.

In addition, it is important to have transparency in information.

While many companies recognize the significance of promoting information management, there is a growing number of managements that choose not to share information and directives with their staff. This occurs when they believe it might be detrimental to employees and customers or when they are unsure about its positive effect on the company (Claude, 2009). However, if management fails to promptly communicate this information to their subordinates,

it can lead to misunderstandings once employees eventually become aware of the situation.

Regarding the car parking charge matter, Benson chose not to inform the employees about his decision. He wanted to gauge their reaction after a recent unfavorable incident where their request for pay increases was denied. This way, he anticipated the staff might feel a sense of distrust.

Another aspect that Benson should work on is improving his communication skills.

Benson, an administrator, lacks fundamental communication skills when interacting with his employees. According to Toni Rosenbaum (2005), communication can be categorized into three aspects: information transmission, verbal or nonverbal language, and the exchange process involving symbols, signs, or behavior among individuals. Mindy, Cheng, and Sonja (2006) argue that effective communication is essential for managers as well as employee-to-employee relationships. It can enhance employees' perception of their manager's actions and improve overall attitude, ultimately fostering a harmonious work environment and enhancing organizational performance. However, despite Benson conveying requirements or instructions to the staff, he fails to consider the emotions of the employees and encounters resistance towards his decisions. This indicates that Benson lacks proficiency in delivering messages effectively and earning the trust of his team members. To enhance his communication skills, Benson should contemplate attending training courses while also prioritizing improvement in GRMC's organizational climate.

The text stresses the significance of a leader's role in establishing personal authority and building friendly relationships with employees. Hong and Kaur (2008) highlight that negative perceptions of organizational climate can cause employees to contemplate quitting their jobs. However, a positive climate or an approachable leader can make employees feel valued and respected, ultimately fostering

commitment to the organization.

To ensure a positive work environment, Benson needs to build a good relationship with the company staff. It is also important for him to keep employees informed about internal and external matters, including the financial limitations that prevent higher wages.

Lastly, Change agents are beneficial to Benson.

The term "change agents" refers to individuals who possess enough power and knowledge to direct and facilitate the change effort. In the case of the hospital, the employees were dissatisfied with the way the leadership change was being handled, resulting in opposition to any decision made by Benson. To effectively manage the subordinates, Benson should form a team consisting of members who possess certain cultural qualities, superior authority, and sufficient power. This team can be utilized by Benson to shift the employees' ideas and thinking. Attempting to solve the issue of distrust on his own would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible. After all, individual capabilities are limited, and the staff already harbors resentment towards the company, making Benson appear weak when attempting to implement change. Conversely, establishing additional teams is an effective approach as team members play vital roles within the organization, increasing the likelihood that employees will follow their opinions and subsequently improve the perception of both Benson and the company.

The conclusion is given a style of "text-align: justify".

The text discusses the growth and challenges faced by Glengarry Regional Medical Centre (GRMC), a general hospital. GRMC experienced expansion as well as various issues over the years. The new administrator, Benson, initially believed he could successfully manage the hospital but encountered resistance from his staffs due to inappropriate

behavior and wrong decision-making. Ultimately, Benson had to accept the failure of running the company. This case study highlights the complexity of company management and emphasizes the importance of considering various organizational aspects and making careful decisions linked to a company's success. It concludes that becoming an exceptional administrator in a corporation is a difficult task.