A Case Study of Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Introduction and Background
The American workforce has gone through a series of changes since the 21st century as the cultural composition changes over and over. Through research was done, it has been revealed that the women labor force in the Army medical center has continuously increased as since 1990 according to the case study. Likewise, the composition of the Asians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and Alaskan Americans have taken the same trend of increasing in this field thus contributing to an increasing cultural diversified workforce in the medical center. As such, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) is an 850-bed military medical care located in Washington D.C. WRAMC is one of the medical centers that has a high number of diverse group of both the civilian and military employees. The fact that this health care institution is composed of the diverse workforce, there is a need for managing this diversification and reap the best from it. As such, the Commander of the Army established a Council Diversity Advisory Council (CDAC) to assist in creating a work environment that exploits the diversification while respecting and recognizing this diversification.
Problem statement
The WRAMC management suggests that there must be a way of enhancing the cultural diversity within the organization as a way of ensuring that the organization benefits. As a result, CDAC was developed to improve the cultural climate while providing a way of measuring the cultural environment within the institution. As such, the case study aims at determining the way WRAMC employees perceive cultural climate compared to other Army facilities. Similarly, the case study aims at determining the way various cultural groups within WRAMC perceive the cultural environment.
Specific questions about the case study
1. What are the benefits of a diversified culture?
The case study claims that CDAC was formed to overcome the negative effects of the work diversification while increasing its benefits. In this case, therefore, the case study provides the weaknesses associated with a diversified workforce where conflict within the organization is a major point of concern of the case study. Moreover, the fact that most of the diversified workforce are expected to increase the performance of an organization, the study claims that these expectations yet a weakness of workforce diversification. The case study also reveals that workforce diversity can as well result in the problems associated with stereotyping.
2. What are the positive impact of work diversification?
The case study claims that embracing a diversified workforce is one approach to establishing a competitive advantage for the organization. This is in connection with the fact that a diversified work force introduces new ideas and creativity to the organization. Likewise, diversification provides a way of handling a diversified population of patients thus allowing this medical center to perform to its capability as the study shows.
3. What have other researchers found about work diversification?
According to the case study, workforce diversified is a broad term that cuts across the age, education, personality, background and gender of an employee amongst other factors. Importantly, the study claims that cultural diversity in health care institutions determines the way people approach the health-related issues. As such, for the institutions that are seeking success upon a diversified workforce requires managers to get a way through which each employee contributes to the organization’s operations. Finally, other researchers have revealed that managing a diversified work force is a tough task thus managers should constantly be on the lookout for the new ways of enhancing the performance and contribution of the employees in an organization.
Conclusion
Indeed, diversity and change are a continuous feature of every organization and the skills to run it is seen as a main competence to the success of corporation. This, therefore, requires an organization to develop an effective way through which it can be managed to ensure that it brings forth benefits to the organization. Efficient management of this diversification is a sure way of excelling for the health care institutions as it introduces creativity and ideas that are needed to handle a diversified population of the patients.
References
Brannen, K.R. (1995). A Comparison of Perceptions of the Cultural Climate at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Washington, D.C.
Burnes *, B. (2004). Kurt Lewin and complexity theories: back to the future?Journal of Change Management, 4(4), 309-325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1469701042000303811
