Mercy Case

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Case Analysis - Mercy Hospital

October 28, 2017 GROUP 3:
Jomi Alcon
Dennis Magtibay
Abdishakur Muse
Abigail Laus
Sena Lim
I.PROBLEM STATEMENT
Facts of the case
Hospital profile
Mercy hospital is general hospital with 300 beds The investor- owned national hospital chain that
operates mercy is highly regarded in the industry for its innovative approach to hospital management.
Two years ago, Mercy Hospital began affiliating with the medical school of the local university. It was
thought that there would be mutual advantage from such an affiliation. For Mercy Hospital, prestige
was to to be gained from a university affiliation and some cost advantage as well. For the university,
there would be medical resources and a training site for residency and fellowship
The hospital highlights its professional staff and patient -care programs in reaching out to the
community
Characters in the case

David Chadwick President of Mercy Hospital since January 1993
Robert Wilkins: Vice President of Finance
Frank Samuels: Vice President of Human Resource
Joseph Gelarde: Vice President of Operation
Helene Swenso : Vice President of Nursing
Michael Ryan: Associate Vice President
PROBLEMS
Mercy Hospital
The Vice President of Nursing Services, Helene Swenson, is driven to such distraction by her conflict with
two colleagues that she believes there is no alternative but to resign. The conflict is the main cause for
the persistence of other related problems at the hospital as well: an acute nursing shortage, a lack of
professional quality, scheduling problems, and other administrative difficulties. The problems relate to
Swenson's relationship with the vice president and associate vice president of Human Resources, Frank
Samuels and Michael Ryan. She has experienced severe clashes with these colleagues. Her relationship
with Michael Ryan is for example marked by difficulties in terms of management issues; Swenson is
experiencing severe difficulties in managing the administrative side of her duties at the different
hospital departments under her command. Ryan appears to be unwilling to help her with issues relating
to problems like scheduling and other time management problems. With Frank Samuels, Swenson's
problems relate to recruitment and other personnel management issues. Samuels appears to interfere
with duties that are rightfully hers. He refuses to let her use her considerable expertise to make
personnel decisions that are both time- and cost-effective. He also shows resentment whenever she
makes recruitment decisions that he does not agree with. He is also inefficient with completing time-
sensitive duties such as compiling a recruitment handbook, which further interferes with the efficiency
of Swenson's job. The fact that Samuels is often inefficient in performing his duties also interferes with
Swenson's professional image; something that has made her feel resentful and even angry. Helene
Swenson's main problems concern her relationships with Frank Samuels and Michael Ryan. From her
point-of-view, these colleagues make it next to impossible for her to perform her work efficiently or
effectively. Because of the barriers they represent, Swenson is unable to provide the hospital with the
resources it needs to validate its image as advertised. Specifically, the major primary and secondary
problems can be explicated in the following way:
(did not copy table)
THESIS STATEMENT
How should Mr. Chadwick move to solve the current problems existing among the managers of the
hospital?
OBJECTIVES
To reorganize the administration of the hospital
To formulate a solution to the subordinate management problems
To revise Mercy Hospitals organizational structure
ANALYSIS OF SITUATION
The current problem occurred because there is no clear authority for the hospitals organizational chart
except for Mr. Chadwick. Furthermore, the current organizational chart does not show the kinds of
relationships that organizational subordinates will have among each other in order to fix these
problems.
Organizational structure: how tasks are divided and resources deployed. There is huge discrepancy and
problem in the way the tasks are divided and there is also lack of information on how tasks should be
done. For instance, Helena Swenson Vice president completely finishes tasks for inpatient services while
for outpatient services, her responsibilities and Mike Ryans are not well delineated.
Job description: a clear and concise summary of the specific tasks, duties, and responsibilities. There is
some confusion among managers on their specific tasks because the work of each is dependent heavily
on others. Mr. Chadwick needs clarify the confusion that caused ineffectiveness among managers.
Communication and coordination: there appears to be a lack of effective communication and
coordination between Swenson and her two colleagues. Mr. Chadwick should formulate an efficient
communication plan among them.
Development and selection of Alternatives

A sustainable approach needs to be implemented by means of which Swenson, Ryan and Samuels can
function together in a cooperative way without having to defer to Chadwick for every problem situation.
For changes to happen, there is an urgent need to reorganize organizational structure into more
detailed and decentralized. The basic and most significant problem is a lack of communication and
coordination among the vice presidents. These problems are the most significant, as they are the basic
cause of all the other problems at Mercy Hospital. As such, the problems between Swenson and her
two colleagues, Michael Ryan and Frank Samuels, need to enjoy priority attention. Second in order of
priority is the lack of coordination among the various departments at the hospital
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

o Proper communication to address administration issues relating to coordination and scheduling
o Immediate recruitment of competent nurses considering the suggestions of Helen Swenson
o Implementation of team approach to problem solving. The current paradigm at Mercy Hospital
appears to be one of individualism rather than teamwork
o Revise the organizational structure to be more divisive than purely functional
o Re-training and re-education of currently employed nurses

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ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Case Analysis - Mercy Hospital

Characters in the case

Development and selection of Alternatives

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

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