Paul Levy Essay

How would you describe the situation impose inherited at the caperMC? What challenges did he face? Why did preliminary turnaround labours fail? (4 points)Two unique corporate cultures, Beth Israel Hospital and Deac unmatchedss Hospital merged in 1996 to get going Beth Israel Deaconess (BID). To compete with Partners, BID and a few other hospitals combined forces and formed Care Group Systems (CGS). scatty leadership commitment, BID was in chaos and consistently posted operating losses in millions of dollars per yr. Additionally, although counsel on numerous occasions, BID was inept in implementing restructuring plans and consequently had excessive employee turnover, which resulted in poor persevering care.Succinct and expert advice to reorganize BID was never implemented. Although BID would agree to depart, execution was postponed or ignore due to the myriad level of management and bureaucratic processes within each department, which appeared to function indep demiseently of one another. Unable to move forward, management was locked in mental prisons. Groupthink was universal practice for making essential occupation decisions, which resulted in escalation of commitment in continuing past practices and refusal to accept recommended diversitys. BID could be referred to as egoistic as the organization maintained the status quo.As President and CEO, impose was expected to create a rapid turnaround of the deteriorating financial condition of the hospital. He was also expected to stop the several year trend of flawed implementation of restructuring recommendations. Furtherto a greater extent, he was working under intense scrutiny and pressure from umpteen officials, including the Attorney Generals Office of the demesne of Massachusetts, the BID Board of Directors ( pattern) and the Board of Directors of the BID put up company, CGS.How did bill get started in his newborn job? What were his objectives and what did he accomplish 1) prior to his firs t mean solar day of work? 2) on his first day? 3) during his first week? (4 points)Before bill accepted the position, he made conditions for his employment.These conditions holdd that he be employ before the hunting watch Group Report was released, that the BOD be considerably reduced in size and that the BOD stay out of the day-to-day trading operations of the hospital. Even as he talked to the search team, he knew the responsibilities and his own abilities.Levy wanted to be hired prior to the hunter pass over so that he could use the report in ways that he thought would be best. The second condition was to shrink the BOD from a 44-member aggroup to a more-manageable group of 18 members, which was concluded just a few months after Levys appointment as CEO. The third condition of employment, that the BOD remain out of the day-to-day operations, showed that he believed in a reach of command. Levy clearly communicated any meeting between board members and mental faculty req uired prior approval.On his first day, he sent every employee of the hospital a memo that included A counter of an open administration A warning that the hospital had been given this one last chance for a turnaround A promise to post the findings and recommendations of the Hunter Consulting Group Encouragement to employees to read and make comments regarding the report A promise that changes would be implemented and measured Warning of an unavoidable elimination of several one hundred staff positions in the hospital A promise that the staff reductions would be carried out as humanely manageable and people would be treated with dignity and respect His expectation of successful turnaround of BID because of the employees, their commitment, their strong sense of teamwork, and their ability to succeedIn his message, Levy also conveyed that He considered all staff (not just key players) to be team members All team members must share a common goal of carrying out the kick There is a sense of urgency The Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had legitimate authority and control over the future of BID Staff would be held responsible for their actions Levy would be open, honest and inclusive with information, even in the case of bad news blue quality care was essential to BIDs future Together, the BID team could show the knowledge domain successLevy created a sense of reality for employees whom previously had been told half-truths, lies or nothing about the flagitious nature of BIDs problems. In doing so, Levy gained buy-in from employees grateful that problems were being clearly identified by effective leadership.Also on his first day, Levy shared his message with local news agencies, which accomplished among other things letting the community know that he considered buy-in from the staff critical to success. According to his daily calendar, Levy spent much of his first week meeting with BID staff.What (if anything) was distinctive about the way Levy went about formulating, announcing and implementing the recovery plan? How did he overcome resistance? (3 points)Levys practice of speaking with staff likely induced his ability to gather as much information as possible regarding the current mood and culture. This information was essential to develop and implement a plan. Initially, his recovery plan had to include huge cost-saving initiatives. He had already set the stage for a massive lay-off by posting the Hunter Report for all employees to read. Therefore, it was relatively easy for him to fire/permanently lay-off 150 people by the end of the month. After all, he was only doing what the experts recommended. Who could argue with that? At the same time, purchasing controls were implemented in an effort to reduce costs.The next week, he rolled out additional strategic efforts. His plan was three-fold regain a reputation for quality patient care and maintain an academic status adopt some of the recommendations of the Hun ter Group Report, implementing change and, analyze why previous restructure plans failed and why this new one would work. some other of Levys implementationplans was to promise low and deliver high. In other words, he knew the grandeur of meeting deadlines and plans by being conservative and not over-estimating. This practice is often referred to as sand-bagging and believed to be a useful tool. Levys liveliness was not to be deceitful rather, it is a way of retention forward momentum by delivering good news.How did Levy tackle the problem of the BIDMCs curious unfitness to decide? (3 points)It was not until Levy came in and talked with the doctors and staff, really listening to each others problems and concerns that change could happen. Levy realized that the culture of BID played a signifi fuckt occasion in the organization. batch reacted and performed their jobs considering how they had performed their jobs in the past. The current structure and hierarchy defined who the ch iefs were and the importance of their roles. They were caught up in this psychic prison. Levy had to help them overcome it by making sure they realized that they were not wrong and that they just needed to be open to change. Levy tried to get to the underside of the human emotions for these chiefs and let them see the gather of changes. He made sure to give credit but also expected results and acceptance of the new strategic plan. While there is no indication as to which personnel were fired/laid-off, it was clear to the stay staff that Levy was in charge and that slackers would not be tolerated. This is a powerful motivator (albeit via fear) to go by resistance.Also prior to Levy, it seemed that committee meetings often resulted in groupthink. Levy knew that the chiefs were usually involved in those meetings, and that there was now a tremendous need to see results from those meetings. In the past, no one spoke up at meetings. Many participants kept quiet instead of actually sayi ng what they thought. Staff members were afraid to disputation the boat. Once Levy came on board, many decisions and changes were implemented via steering committees instead of from the chiefs. This was a significant change in the hierarchical structure. No longer did all decisions and ideas come straight down from the boss in the tower. This change allowed staff members to get involved and present ideas. Ultimately,it would be staff members whom had a key role in the implementation of turnaround plans. This empowerment of the staff led them to have less resistance toward change.In describing his leadership style, Levy speaks of the CEO as teacher. How has he defined that role? Why has he elect to focus on it? What skills does it require? (3 points)Levys leadership style is a strategic facilitator, through developing employee ownership by illuminating the nature of the problem and seeking their involvement in finding solutions. Levy believed it essential to build a core management team that is in accord with the plan, mission and values and who are willing to assume risk in embracing change. The CEO role is to assume the management team and remove those who are obstructionists. The byproduct is improved decision-making and accountability. He uses peer pressure as an accountability tool so there is public acknowledgment of responsibility for specific tasks. By redirecting comments from naysayers, Levy places the onus on others to provide a solution for problems. Additionally, Levy understands the dynamics of each meeting and what can and cannot be accomplished in each.Levy used a human resources view in assessing heterogeneous situations. He leveraged this framework while making a majority of his decisions. He valued feedback from his employees and kept them abreast of pertinent information, which resulted in efficient and satisfied employees. Levy accomplished this literally by roaming the hospital with the intent on knowing the staff in person. He would engage in conversations seeking suggestions for change in their occupational area and reassured skeptics that his plan for change would be successful. Levys efforts to include everyone in the day-to-day progress as well as helping employees find answers to their problems, made the work more satisfying to his employees.What did members of your team learn from completing this case?How might members of your team use this information in their current orfuture jobs?