St. Clare Hospital is an organization that is established on the specific goals and objectives. One of the goals is to remain viable and sustainable in the competitive health sector industry. The hospital is inspired to offer its services to patients at a fee, which factor in profits. The hospital is a crossroad considering its profit margins is dwindling. As such, one way of maintaining the profit margin is cost controls. Whereas cost control has worked in some organization, others like St. Clare Hospital face a myriad of challenges. Basing a conclusion on the case of the hospital, it is evident that cost control may have detrimental effects on the staff morale and consequently the quality of services that are delivered. The hospital is cutting cost by laying off some staffs as exemplified by the firing of radiologist Dr. Harris. The ramifications of the actions are inconsistence quality from the outsourced imaging results. The actions of the CEO and the COO of the hospital cultivate and enhance conflicts in the organization.
Conflicts are inevitable in any large organization. As much as some executives may lay a conducive groundwork for the staffs to inhibit or suppress the emergence of conflict, the dynamic nature of business environment may lead to the onset of controversial and conflicting issues ( Wallensteen, 2015 ). For instance, the operations of the hospital were perfect and smooth before the realization that it was becoming unsustainable and immediate mitigation action was necessary. The conflicts that are evidenced in St. Clare are resulting from the measures that the organization’s executives have taken to solve the current stalemate. The conflicts that are occurring in the hospital fit in the organizational phenomenon. The dispute involves two sides, which is the management of the hospital and the staff physicians. The two groups illustrate the dissonance, lack of agreement, and incompatibility. As such, two types of conflicts that define the situation at the hospital are intrapersonal conflicts and interpersonal conflicts.
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Seemingly, the intrapersonal or individual conflict that is demonstrated in the case of St. Clare Hospital affects mostly the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and the Medical Director (MD). All the three executives of the hospital have an essential duty of ensuring that through effective leadership the hospital steers into the future. Such implies that they should espouse the goals of the hospital to the rest of the staffs. The executives of the hospital face goal conflict. The operations and competitiveness of hospitals are premised on the provision of quality services ( Frates, 2014 ). This means that one of the goals of the hospital is to be a leader in the provision of the quality care to the patients. On the other hand, long-term objective of the hospital is to be sustainable. By cutting cost, one goal is advanced while the other is hampered. The preliminary action of the COO clearly illuminates the effects of lowering cost. The interpersonal conflict involves the staff physicians and the hospital management. The vertical conflict that is illustrated in the case shows the disagreement between the measures taken by the executives and what the physicians feel is right.
The most explicit conflict management style that is evident in the case is forcing or standing the ground. The COO faces the goal conflicts and feels that by firing the radiologist, one of the problems will be solved. The COO sacks the radiologist Dr. Harris against the support of the staff physicians. The COO demonstrates the conflict management style that is protected by the formal authority she holds in the organization. As such, she satisfies her interests while disregarding the interest of the other conflicting party. Forcing style of conflict management works for the short term. For instance, by firing the radiologist, the hospital probably recorded a reduction in the cost. However, the ramifications of forcing style are grave. The misinterpretation of the images leading to inaccurate conclusions is a challenge to the organization considering the amount of money the hospital can be fined when a complaint is raised in the courts. Such implies that exercising of power that borders lack of democracy in an organization as a way of solving conflict has grave implications than expected.
The disgruntlement by the staff physicians seems to be an issue that the medical director Dr. Wiseman wants to solve amicably. By convening a meeting with the staff physicians, a productive outcome of the meeting can only be realized by the adoption of conflict management style that is different from the one used by the Chief Operating Officer Ms. Wendy Jones. The most probable conflict management styles that Dr. Wiseman will use include compromising and collaborating. By compromising, the two conflicting parties will find partial solutions to the critical challenges of discussion. Compromising provides an equal platform and initiates commitment by the parties to hold to their end of the deal ( Avruch & Black, 2014 ). Collaborating seems to work for the meeting between the medical director and the staff physicians. This type of conflict management style involves the cooperation of conflicting parties and understanding the concern with the aim of finding satisfactory solutions in a win-win outcome.
The solution of the conflict between the hospital management and the staff physicians requires an act of commitment and good faith from both parties. The first strategy that should be used in this process is to start a discussion. Through discussions, the parties will engage in comprehensive analysis of the critical issues by exploring all aspects. The yields of discussion are common understanding and agreement on the bargaining ground ( Avruch & Black, 2014 ). The input of all members is pivotal in avoiding intergroup conflicts that may arise if some members feel that their contribution to the issues of concern has been ignored. Enhancing communication is critical if finding solutions to the challenges facing the hospital ( Frates, 2014 ). It is an overt understanding that the management of the hospital lack clears communication strategies, an act that is amplifying, and escalating tensions in the organization. Through open communications, the physicians will have an avenue of channeling their grievance and a guarantee of timely feedback. Again, the executives should desist from issuing threats and provocative move as it catalyzes tensions in the organization.
Another important strategy that needs to be used in this case is overcoming the notion that conflict is a battle to be won. In other words, “us versus them” mentality impedes conflict resolution process, as some group tends to be patronizing and domineering. Taking the conflict as a show of might for either party can be lead to severe consequences for all the participants. For instance, if the doctors take a hardline position on their demands, the hospital management may take drastic measures by exercising their formal authority, which includes sacking the doctors. The doctors who have faced the ax will encounter financial challenges due to unemployment. On the other hand, the hospital will probably some of its prized and experienced doctors, a fact that compromises the quality of services the patients will receive in the hospital. From this analysis, it is noted that effective conflict resolutions play a vital role in the enhancing organization goals.
St. Clare Hospital is grappling with two issues that include reducing cost and legal liabilities. The first recommendation for the hospital in reducing the cost is to align the cost to strategy. The management of the hospital should clearly define the strategy of the organization and differentiate good cost from bad costs. The hospital can also reduce the cost by using modern technology that promotes efficiency. Research has consistently shown that the use of advanced technology in organizations increases productivity and performance while reducing the operational costs leading competitive edge of the organization ( Bates et al., 2014 ). The hospital should consider delivering cost optimization as a technique for the transformation of the hospital. This recommendation requires stable and robust leadership from the hospital management.
The first recommendation for the hospital to reduce legal liabilities is to understand what causes the legal liabilities. By using the principle of “prevention is better than cure,” the hospital will conduct a comprehensive study to unearth all the factors and drivers of legal liabilities. By understanding the factors causing legal liabilities, the hospital will formulate concise mitigation measures to reduce the occurrence of liabilities. The second recommendation is for the hospital to establish strict standards and safety policies that all the staff regardless of position held in the organization. Stringent rules and regulations deter the act of negligence from the staff ( Hennes, 2014 ). Lastly, the hospital should acquire good insurance. Avoiding legal liabilities is difficult especially in the health sectors. Acquisition of good insurance lays the groundwork for the hospital to deal with any arising legal matter that is inevitable to control ( Hennes, 2014 ).
In conclusion, the paper has focused on the fundamental issues that are affecting the effective functionality of St. Clare Hospital. The emergence of conflict between the two parties is impeding the operations of the hospital. The resultant effect of the conflict is poor service delivery and impracticality of the hospital. By adopting an appropriate conflict resolution style, the hospital can find a satisfactory solution. The recommendations provided are critical in facilitating achievement of organization goals by reducing cost and legal liabilities.
References
Avruch, K., & Black, P. (2014). Conflict resolution in intercultural settings: Problems and prospects. Manchester University Press.
Bates, D. W., Saria, S., Ohno-Machado, L., Shah, A., & Escobar, G. (2014). Big data in health care: using analytics to identify and manage high-risk and high-cost patients. Health Affairs , 33 (7), 1123-1131.
Frates, J. (2014). Healthcare Management: Theory in Action . Bridgepoint Education Inc.
Hennes, K. M. (2014). Disclosure of contingent legal liabilities. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy , 33 (1), 32-50.
Wallensteen, P. (2015). Understanding conflict resolution . Sage.
