Authority is the power or right given to an executive or a managing officer to perform or manage designated actions which will influence directly the actions of other individuals through which organizational goals and objectives are realized. Authority is formally given and includes the right to, commit resources, command situations and give directions that should be followed. It is accompanied also by transparency and accountability.
An organization refers to a group of people who have a responsibility of managing and structuring in a way that makes them meet their targeted objectives. For a company to meet its goals, it must have a credible structure of management (Berger, 2005). A structure refers to a collection of component or items or services which are related with each other within the particular organization (Business Dictionary, 2013). An organizational structure is a hierarchy of people and departments that are interrelated.
A structure can be defined also as the way in which information flows within the organization. The structure of the organization determines when and how information is distributed as well as the person that makes those decisions based on the information available. It states also how tasks are carried out. That is to mean, the division of labor. The structure of the organization is significant since it ensures there is a smooth flow operation of a business and it clearly states its functions and their workers.
In the structure of the organization, there must be a deciding head in that structure which helps in the definition of the chain and structure of command. This is a significant factor in the ability of an organization to reach its goals. If authority and goals structure are not compatible, the goals may be improved to the extent that means become parts of the goals themselves.
In the case of a hospital, it is an organization with different groups of people grouped according to their functions in the hospital. These are as follows:
Board of Directors
They are members of the locality who are elected to represent interests of their community at the hospital. They not only regulate the operations of the hospital but also make major decisions regarding the management of the hospital including hiring and firing of the executive.
Executive leadership
These are people that run the hospital on a daily basis. Having many independent directors in an organization may mean that the management will be left out of the decision make process? Nevertheless, the executive is critical.
Quality improvement committee
This group is responsible for assessing the quality of health services being offered. The then makes recommendations to the various departments and their heads. These recommendations are left to the departments.
Medical staff
These are people that offer medical services directly to the public. Nurses and doctors are good examples.
Middle management
Middle management is the ones who are involved in day to day operations. They are the ones who are in charge. The head of the nursing department is a good example.
These are people that work in the various departmental units of the hospital.
Communication
Collection of data and its preparation of reports thereof must be prepared by the health management department and information systems. Output of performance activities are communicated from the department of the middle level management. However, the leadership in the executive eventually belongs to the Board of Directors.
Education
Workers and other staff members will be educated about this project through workshops and other group meetings. Their responsibilities will be given to them by mostly departmental heads.
Annual evaluation
In establishing an evaluation process, the board and Executive leadership should develop a policy statement on performance evaluation that addresses goals for the hospital (Daltson, 1998).
External entities
The decisions made by the hospital will be approved by outside forces like government agencies. In addition, other accrediting bodies will also help in the decision makin. These are the bodies that set minimum standards required which the hospital has to work towards achieving (Iowa Hospital Association, 1999). Otherwise if they don’t meet such stands, they will be for instance deregistered and stopped from operating.
References
Berger, A. N., Petersen, M. A., Rajan, R. G., & Stein, J. C. (2005). Does Function Follow Organizational Form? Evidence from the Lending Practices of Large and Small Banks Journal of Financial Economics, 76(2), 237-69.
BusinessDictionary.com - Online Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://businessdictionary.com
Dalston, J. W. (1998). Effective Practices in CEO Performance Appraisal. Texas Hospital Trustees, Spring Forum.
Iowa Hospital Association (1999). Trustee Guidelines for CEO Evaluation. Iowa Hospital.
