Part I Organizational Structure
The structure of the organization is a plan layout of how responsibilities, activities and duties of the organization are to be carried out. Hence, the structure of the organization defines how certain aspects of the operation of the firm are organized towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of the institution (Pugh, 1990, p. 64).The organizational structure usually details the roles that each part of the organization is mandated with which includes individual responsibilities (Russell, 1992, p. 640). The Island Urgent Care (IUC) organizational Structure is a lean structure with a hierarchy that is headed by the founder Robert Ruggeiri, who is also the managing director at the institution. He is immediately assisted by a Vice President, who deputies him (Ruggeiri-IUC President). The IUC will be run by a board of directors who are directly accountable to the vice president and the president of the IUC. The board of directors will be mandated with the responsibility of managing the daily duties of the organization. The board will be mandated with various responsibilities one of which is the approval of physicians who will undertake duties in patient care at the institution. Moreover, the board of directors is solely mandated to communicate the vision and mission of the ICU to all physicians and support staff in the institution. This is meant to build and focus team effort in the franchise.
This structure is founded on the objectives of the institution as enshrined in its mission and vision statements. Primarily, the main aims of the IUC is to provide quality, efficient and reliable healthcare to patients in the Island of Hawaii. In this regard, the hospital recognizes the healthcare challenges in the Island and is focused in the provision of quality healthcare through compassion, integrity and responsiveness. Employing the organizational structure presented coupled by the acquisition of physicians that are certified by the board of directors to execute the mandate of the IUC; it is expected that the institute will make substantive gains in improving the quality of healthcare in the island of Hawaii.
Part II Environmental Analysis
According to Sethi (1979, p. 63) analysis of a business’s environmental conditions encompasses the evaluation of the social, political, economic and cultural aspects that affect the internal and external operational capacities of the business. This, therefore, requires a scrutiny into the internal and external environmental factors that present challenges and opportunities for the organization.
An overview of the strengths of the IUC reveals that its selection of physicians who are board certified to execute the mandate of the healthcare center makes it an effective and efficient provider. Further it is located strategically ensuring access by patients is comforting advantageous to patients. The clinic has also been around for quite a long period hence the longevity of its existence presents it with the advantage of tenure. Another advantage of the longevity of existence of the clinic and its physicians is that it is well known in the region and hence receives the support respect of the neighboring community.
Besides these strengths, there are opportunities for expansion of the clinic by establishing extensions to facilitate reach of healthcare services and facilities in the region. Along with these expansions the clinic can also explore the provision of physical therapy services as well as marketing its services to reduce the waiting time at the ER on non-acute cases. Similarly, the clinic could adopt an electronic heath care records system to integrate resources and ancillary services enhancing its effectiveness and efficiency.
Nonetheless, a few challenges stand in the way of the clinic’s effectiveness and efficiency. An environmental analysis reveals that its main weaknesses are in the high standards of living which makes it impossible to maintain permanent staff. Secondly due to growing demand for space, it is quite expensive to acquire land for expansion. These with effect result in stifling the growth of the clinic that are made worse by threats such as increasing competition from other entrants into the healthcare franchise in the island. Other than direct competition there is also the threat of aid agencies that offer healthcare services at very low to no costs. This makes the sustainability of the clinic as a franchise quite difficult given the investments made by other healthcare competitors providing services similar to IUC’s.
Part III Financial Plan
The financial plan of the IUC is founded on the strategic plans that it has established based on the organizational structure which it has focused to adopt given the resources at its disposal. This model is a functional model which hunger and Wheelen (2007, p. 61) observe that “it is appropriate for a medium size firm which is intent on focused service or good provision in the industry.” In this regard, IUC is focused on the provision of quality healthcare services on the Island of Hawaii. The budget is tailored around the structure of the organization which ensures that resources are allocated according to functions. Essentially, there are two categories of costs in regard to the expenditure on the budget which include; direct costs and indirect costs. Direct cost relate to those that touch on the day to day operations of the clinic. They include costs such as employee pay, rent, IT maintenance and supplies or equipment costs. Indirect costs in the budget encompass rental facilities, acquisition of more space, facilities maintenance and depreciation among others.
Another pertinent concern of the budget projections of IUC is funds for contingencies that are purposely meant to cater for unforeseen or emergency situations that require immediate financing. The contingency fund may come in handy in a situation such as catering for the salaries of workers at new clinics that have not yet begun generating income until they are stable enough to do so. In this regard contingency planning or provision of contingency funds in the budget, plans ensure that the operations of the IUC cannot be compromised due to a shortfall in financing especially when necessary for the growth and expansion of IUC.
Therefore, the budget for the IUC is tailored to fit the expectations of service delivery as detailed in its organizational structure. It is also sufficient in ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of operation since it categorizes costs as either direct costs or indirect costs making distinctions of expenditure easy to interpret and address. Further, the budget also includes contingency funds which serve to sustain the functions of the firm in case of emergencies (Hunger & Wheelen, 2007, p. 61).
Part IV Implementation
The strategic plan proves fruitless if it is not implemented for the projections made during the planning process to be realized. In this regard, the development of an implementation agenda will adopt five main stages namely; aligning initiatives, aligning budget and performance, aligning structure with strategy, engaging the staff and evaluation. First, aligning the initiatives requires that the goals and objectives of the organization are set and that everyone in the organization is aware of them. More often than not strategies will fail due to resistance to change therefore adaptability to change must be a priority in aligning initiative to the goals of the organization (Berg, 2012).
Secondly, aligning budget requires that the implementation of the strategy be furnished with necessary resources that will enhance the smooth implementation of the strategy. Thirdly, aligning the structure of the organization to the strategy means that the arrangement of duties and responsibilities in the organization should correspond to the goals envisaged in the strategy (Pugh, 1990, p. 64).
The fourth element in the implementation of the strategy is ensuring that the staff at all levels are working towards the achievement of the goals of the strategy. It requires the effort of influential employees as well as teamwork and coordination to ensure the smooth implementation of the strategic objectives. Employee engagement requires opening communication lines or channels so that different people can partake in the strategy implementation by sharing information and seeking clarifications (Berg, 2012).
Lastly, the fifth and final aspect of the strategic implementation plan is to develop an evaluation mechanism where gains in the strategy’s implementation can be measured and assessed. This also means that there is some level of openness to adaptability where certain aspects of the strategy that are seen not to work well can be adjusted by the introduction of new plans. Hence, the purpose of evaluation is to identify flaws and make changes as appropriate (Berg, 2012).
Part V Evaluation and Control
The evaluation stage is perhaps the most important part of the strategic plan. Unlike the evaluation of the strategy implementation in part IV of the steps in the strategy plan evaluation in this part encompasses a review of the entire strategic plan other than just the evaluation of the implementation part of it. The whole strategy is a cyclical undertaking that leads to the evaluation and re-strategizing in case of new changes that are meant to improve on the strategy. Basically all strategies are subject to future modifications based on the results of the strategies’ evaluation. See illustration below;
Therefore, strategy evaluation is essential in the strategy planning process as it is the means through which not only improvements are made to the strategy but also as a means of justifying the strategy with regard to its success in meeting goals and objectives that were set at its onset. Hence, the fundamental objective of the evaluation and control stage of the strategy plan is to identify problems in the design and make appropriate suggestions for improvement. Similarly, evaluation provides an avenue through which solutions that were presented can be tested with regard to their effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the goals of the strategic plan.
In essence, all parts of the strategic plan are vital in ensuring that the strategic plan serves to meet its goals and objectives. Thus it is important that every stage in the five stages discussed herein be accorded same respect in terms of significance in the strategy development and execution processes. Moreover, each stage has unique contributions to the realization of the strategic plans initiatives and thus should be given attention in equal measure. The stages of strategy implementation discussed herein provide the Island Urgent Care unit with a plan for strategy development and implementation that can ensure effectiveness and efficiency with regard to the provision of quality healthcare services on the Island.
References
Berg, R., 2012. 5 Essesntial Steps to Successful Strategy Implementation. [Online] Available at: http://bergconsulting.com.au/Berg_Consulting_Blog/5-essential-steps-to-successful-strategy-implementation[Accessed 23 6 2014].
Hunger , J. & Wheelen , T., 2007. Essentials of Strategic Management. Prentice Hall : Pearson .
Pugh, D. D., 1990. Organization Theory. Harmondsworth : Penguin .
Rumelt, R. P., n.d. Evaluation of Strategy: Theory and Models, Los Angeles: University of Califonia.
Russell, R. D., 1992. An Examination of hte Effects of Organizational Norms, Organizational Structure, and Environmental Uncertainty on Entreprenerial Strategy. Journal of Management, 18(4), pp. 639 - 656.
Sethi, S. P., 1979. A Conceptual Framework for Environmental Analysis of Social Issues and Evaluation of Business Response Patterns. Accademy of Management Review, 4(1), pp. 63 - 74.
