Assignment 01: Introduction to Business Strategy

HA4110D – Healthcare Planning and Evaluation
Assignment 01: Introduction to Business Strategy
Directions

.Read chapters 1-4 of the textbook.
.Review the PowerPoints for chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the textbook.
.Review Christina Care Health System in your textbook at the end of chapter 4.
.Develop a mission for the organization based upon the information given in the textbook and the organization’s website. Include the three elements; What we do, where we are going, and how we will get there.
.A minimum of two full pages are required along with two APA standard references.
.Use third person writings.
.Do not use “I think” or “in my opinion”, keep it factual and follow APA standards.

Strategic Analysis for Healthcare
Preface / Chapter 1
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Preface
In using this book, the authors recommend you assign your students to groups.
Each group should pick or be assigned a healthcare organization, either for profit or not for profit, to study.
The chapters will describe new topics and provide exercises for the groups to apply to their chosen organization.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Introduction to Business Strategy

The development of business strategy begins by asking three important questions:
Where are we now? (internal and external analysis)
Where do we want to be? (mission and strategy development)
How do we get there? (strategy development and implementation)

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Introduction to Business Strategy

We begin by looking at questions 1 and 2: Where are we, and where do we want to be in the future?
Answering these questions involves understanding the organization’s mission as it exists and reassessing it for where the company sees itself in the future.
Understanding the organization’s current mission statement is sometimes straightforward but other times extremely difficult.
Sometimes a mission statement is simply a plaque on the wall.
Where the organization really sees itself might be something completely different.
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Introduction to Business Strategy
Getting from today to a desired future state—the focus of question 3—is a difficult journey, and it depends on numerous factors, including how the organization sees itself, its competitors, its market, and so on.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Introduction to Business Strategy

A McKinsey Quarterly survey of 2,207 executives revealed the following (Lovallo and Sibony 2010):
28 percent of executives surveyed said that the quality of strategic decisions in their companies was generally good.
60 percent thought that bad decisions were about as frequent as good ones.
12 percent thought good decisions were generally absent.
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Introduction to Business Strategy

Research –
Internal & External

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Strategic Analysis for Healthcare
Chapter 2
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Team Techniques
The development of business strategy is rarely done alone; instead, it most often involves a strategy development team.
This team is typically a cross-functional group that draws its members from such diverse areas of the organization as human resources, finance, manufacturing, and sales.
Thus, we begin our study of the strategic planning process with a review of team techniques such as brainstorming, future-perfect thinking, and affinity charts.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a process for generating ideas in a group.
The underlying concept is similar to the old adage that “two heads are better than one.”
If everyone involved (stakeholders) in a project, issue, or problem can come together and generate possible solutions, the variety of ideas will be greater, and the opportunity for a superior outcome is increased.
Further, stakeholders are more likely to accept an outcome if they themselves had a hand in creating it. Brainstorming is particularly useful when creative, outside-the-box, or nonapparent solutions are needed.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
Often, corporate or national cultures create barriers that prevent people from sharing their ideas openly and freely.
For example, in an autocratic culture where people only do what they are told, employees are less likely to speak up to voice opinions or make suggestions.
In a highly critical culture, or in a culture that does not tolerate failure, people may be afraid to suggest a different way of doing things for fear of criticism.
Brainstorming overcomes these barriers by creating an environment where it is not only safe, but also expected, for people to contribute their ideas.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
The four main principles of brainstorming are
to focus on quantity,
to not allow criticism,
to welcome off-the-wall ideas, and
to encourage the group to improve ideas by building off the ideas of others.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
To create a safe environment for idea generation, the brainstorming group usually begins by setting its own ground rules. The ground rules set the parameters and establish what the group finds to be acceptable and unacceptable. Typical ground rules may include the following:
No ideas are bad ideas; give any and all ideas you think of.
Speak one person at a time; don’t speak over others.
Criticism of other people’s ideas is not permitted.
Everyone participates.
Ideas will be evaluated only at the end, not as ideas are generated.
Think outside the box.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
The purpose of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible. Quality is not important; quantity is.
The ground rules are usually developed with the aim of ensuring that maximum ideas are generated.
For example, if a group member suggests an idea and the other group members immediately dissect it, evaluate it, and tear it apart, the person who put forward the idea may feel criticized and avoid offering similar ideas in the future.
Furthermore, the group’s time has now been refocused on determining how “meritorious” an idea was instead of on creating more ideas. The idea generation process has thus been inhibited.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
Brainstorming can be formal or informal.
One person is designated the “scribe,” “facilitator,” or “leader.”
This person has the role of writing down every idea generated.
Usually the ideas are written on a flip chart. Alternatively, “sticky notes” or even a chalkboard can be used.
Often, the scribe role rotates so that no one person dominates the process.
Many groups will establish the principle that the scribe does not offer ideas but only writes. This rule is intended to prevent the scribe from exerting leadership that could direct or redirect the group’s efforts toward a particular path.
Brainstorming begins with group members offering quick, brief ideas. Deep descriptions are not necessary. A brainstorm idea might sound like “What if we did X?”
As an example, imagine an executive team that is trying to cut costs for the organization. The first idea offered might be, “We could cut our workforce by 10 percent.” Instead of judging the idea, the scribe jots it down and moves on to the next idea.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Brainstorming
Brainstorming is expected to generate a significant number of ideas.
The sheer volume of ideas suggests that not all ideas will be viable. In later chapters, we will discuss analytical and quantitative methods of evaluating alternate strategies.
For now, we can look at some simple approaches for retaining and discarding brainstormed ideas.
Following the idea generation session, the team members will work to reduce the number of ideas to a manageable group.
Initially, the group will likely agree that certain ideas are clearly not viable, even without discussing the value of the ideas. These can be immediately discarded.
Some ideas will have mixed support. These ideas will likely lead to a debate over their merits.
Finally, some ideas may have immediate unanimous appeal.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Future-Perfect Thinking
Lindaman and Lippitt (1979) found that when people planned backwards from the future to the present, they developed more robust, exciting, and committed plans.
Future-perfect thinking is a planning tool in which group members pick a particular date at some point in the future, imagine they are actually there, imagine the perfect scenario, and then work backward from that point in order to determine how they “actually” got there.
For example, imagine you are five years in the future and your organization has 70 percent market share, up from 37 percent. How did the organization do it? What was done to get there?
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Future-Perfect Thinking
In essence, future-perfect thinking involves projecting oneself into a perfect future situation and then imagining how it occurred.
The theory behind future-perfect thinking is that when you project yourself into the future, all the things that occurred between now and that future are part of the “past.”
Psychological studies have shown that people tend to be able to describe the events of the past more fully and accurately than they can describe future possibilities.
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Affinity Charts
An affinity chart is a method of organizing the data generated in brainstorming.
An affinity chart takes the aggregate data generated and looks for similarities in the ideas.
Ideas are grouped by similarity.
A header is developed for each common group, and the ideas of that group are listed under the heading.
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Affinity Charts:
Step 1: Generate Ideas to Cut Costs by 10%

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Affinity Charts:
Step 2: Group by Common Concept

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Affinity Charts:
Step 3: Develop Headings

PURE COST CUTTING
PROCESS CHANGES
EMPLOYEE ACTIONS
OPERATIONS ACTIONS
CUSTOMER AND SUPPLIER ACTIONS
OTHER ACTIONS
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Affinity Charts:
Step 4: Formalize

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Exercise
Form groups of 5–8 students.
Brainstorm ideas on how could the university be more “profitable.”
After brainstorming, sort ideas into categories.
Put a heading on each category.
Report out to class the categories and ideas.
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Strategic Analysis for Healthcare
Chapter 3
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Competitive Analysis
The Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals association advocates that there are five stages in what it calls the “intelligence cycle” (Weiss 2002):
Planning and direction
Published information collection
Primary source collection (personal interviews)
Analysis and production
Reporting and informing

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Competitive Analysis
There are four potential types of competitors (Weiss 2002):
Organizations offering the same or similar products and services now
Organizations offering alternative products and services now
Organizations that could offer the same, similar, or alternative products and services in the future
Organizations that could remove the need for a product or service

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Competitive Analysis
In addition to studying the target organization, strategic analysts need to monitor other organizations and study the overall business environment in which the organization and its competitors operate.
The ability to adapt to a changing environment before competitors do can be the key to a significant competitive advantage.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
There are five basic issues involved in conducting your own competitive analysis.
First, what are you looking for and why?
Second, what limits are there on your research?
Third, where might the necessary information—which in the field of competitive intelligence is called data—be located?
Fourth, having at least initially determined where that data may be located, how do you get it?
Fifth, once you have it, how do you make sense of the data so you can use it?
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis

What Are the Limits on Your Organizational Research?
Limits on your research can be many and varied. Constraints to consider include the following:
Just how much time can you devote to this research? The time is a function not only of your schedule but also of the importance of the intelligence that you could produce.
What kind of resources do you have available? In other words, how much money can you spend; how much help can you get from others within your organization; and do you have an outside research company you can turn to for assistance?
How might the calendar limit your research? Your deadline may be an important constraint. Remember, a pretty good answer that arrives on time might be better than a perfect one two weeks later.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
The legal and ethical limits on competitive intelligence deal mainly with how information is collected.
One should not steal materials from a competitor,
misrepresent for whom one works,
pretend to be a student doing a paper, or
take any of a number of other dubious, even if not technically illegal, steps.
Note that most of these issues actually fall within the realm of ethics, not the law.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
The only legal regime directly applicable to competitive intelligence is the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.
This act deals with the theft of trade secrets.
If you come into possession of a trade secret of a competitor, the safest thing to do is to immediately contact your employer’s attorneys, bring them all the materials that you may have received accidentally or otherwise, and let them handle the situation.
As a student you are unlikely to run into this issue.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
Where Might the Data Be Located?
One way to start your research is to determine where similar data about your own organization is located. Having found where your company’s data exists in the public domain, or at least where it is accessible to diligent research, you are better prepared to find similar data on your competitors.
You should first determine the most likely place that the exact data you need could be.
Do not be limited by considerations of whether you have the ability to access that location.
Rather, you are trying to understand where the data originates so that you can then determine, or at least estimate, how it moves from the original source to other places.
These other locations may be within the competitor or outside the company. They may be employees, consultants, customers, suppliers, catalogs, surveys, and so on.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis

Getting the data, as we have stated, requires having at least some idea where the data might be located.
Generally, you should start collecting secondary data before moving onto primary data (i.e., interviews and the like).
The secondary data will provide you with a historical look at the subject or target.
The secondary data should be reviewed for the names of individuals and organizations that you, or someone working for you outside your firm, may wish to contact for further information. This review can often lead to experts quoted in an article, an executive of a competitor who is no longer there, a supplier, or even a regulator.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
The Internet should be viewed as a tool for obtaining data but not as the source for all your data.
You can usually get information faster from secondary sources on the Internet than you can otherwise.
Business and social networking groups can help you identify and contact potential interviewees.
For example, if you are trying to identify someone who is an intern at a particular company, a Facebook or LinkedIn page might be useful.
Business networking pages can help you identify not only individuals for possible contact but, more importantly, individuals who formerly worked with the target. A former employee may not always have current information, but she almost always has information that is more valuable than that found in dated print sources.
Do not forget to look within your own organization. Ask if there are people who formerly worked at a competitor who now work for you.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
How Do You Make Sense of the Data So You Can Use It?
Once you (a) have run out of time, (b) have run out of budget, or (c) are being referred back to previous sources by individuals you interview or try to interview, you have “closed the loop.” This point usually marks the end of well-conducted research, whether or not you have all the data you need.
Arrange your materials by topic, such as sales and marketing, production capabilities, personalities, and so on.
Now, put aside your research materials. Start writing what you think you know about the target, based on what you knew before you started your research. Put down your initial thoughts even if you believe your preconceptions have been contradicted or undercut by what you’ve learned.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Competitive Analysis
Next, write out what you have learned from your research.
Clearly identify things that are certain—confirmed facts—and distinguish them from your conclusions or inferences.
Try to stand back from your research and look at it through someone else’s eyes.
If you don’t have someone else working with you, the best you can do is to try to break through your own preconceptions, adopt a perspective different from your normal perspective, or use some other method to force you to stand back and think openly.
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Competitive Analysis
A wide variety of analytical tools are available once you have organized your data and reached your conclusions.
However, you should select them only after you take a look at your data and conclusions.
Do not start assuming you will be putting together a Boston Consulting Group matrix or a SWOT chart.
Do not try to fit your facts and conclusions into one particular analytical model; rather, find a model that helps you deal best with the facts you have.
This book will provide you with multiple analytical tools.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Strategy and Mission
Your organization’s mission is an essential part of strategy development.
Notice we used the word mission as opposed to mission statement. The mission statement is just the verbal embodiment of the mission.
During the 1990s, organizational leaders would often spend days at an off-site meeting developing a mission statement. When they returned, they would share the statement with employees, hang a framed copy on the wall in the lobby, and then go on with life as usual. This approach had little impact on strategy or on the alignment of employee performance.
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Strategy and Mission
An organization’s mission leads directly to the conceptualization and development of strategy to achieve that mission.
This “mission leads to strategy” linear thought process has limitations, however.
The risk is that “the way we view the company now remains the way through which we develop strategy,” and thus we miss the brand new ideas and new markets.
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Strategy and Mission
This concern brings us to the proposition that the relationship between strategy and mission is circular rather than linear—that is, though mission may lead to strategy, strategic analysis may lead to a revision of the mission and new strategic development.

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How to Develop a Corporate Mission
There are three distinct components to a well-constructed corporate mission. The first is the “pure” mission statement, second is the overarching vision, and third are the guiding principles:
Our mission: what we do
Our vision: where we are going
Our values: how we will get there

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Our Mission
This component describes what the company now does or is aspiring to do as a “go-forward” mission.
It is shaped, limited, or stretched by how executives see or do not see themselves, the company, competitors, the industry, customers, and the economy.
The shorter, the easier to comprehend, and the easier to recall a mission is, the more effective it will be.
The mission should not be three unmemorable paragraphs. Those missions end up framed, hung on a wall, and irrelevant in the everyday work, behavior, and decision making of employees and managers.
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Dimensions Healthcare System’s Mission Statement
“Within Dimensions Healthcare System it is our mission to provide comprehensive healthcare of the highest quality to residents, and others who use our services, while strengthening our relationships with universities, research and healthcare organizations to ensure best-in-class patient care.”
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Our Vision
This component describes where we are going with the organization in the future. It is the stretch of the mission statement.
In addition to describing where the organization is going in the future, the vision can also get employees and investors excited, “bought in,” and passionate about the chosen direction.
Griswell and Jennings (2009) write that great business leaders compose corporate visions that are also intended to develop and engage passion in their employees.
The leaders who get their corporate vision statements right are the ones who know how to align purpose and passion.
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Dimensions Healthcare System’s Vision Statement

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Our Values (Guiding Principles)
The third component describes how the organization will achieve the mission and vision.
The values are guiding principles that inform employees and constrain actions (to the extent that management truly believes them and holds people accountable).
Values may involve such areas as fiscal responsibility, respect for employees, quality, and environmental responsibility.
Actions that violate the values will be rejected by employees, and actions that are consistent with the values will survive.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Bringing It Together—
Example from EmergingLeader.com

Our Mission:
To provide a forum for leadership improvement through user participation and submissions. No matter what stage you have reached in perfecting your leadership style, we have something for you.
Our Vision:
To continue to grow, improve and provide our customers with the best information for the betterment of their own leadership skills.
Guiding Principles (Values):
We utilize Honor, Courage, Commitment and Integrity to guide our decisions and help us keep perspective.
Copyright © 2016 Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Not for sale.

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Exercise
Break into groups of 5–8.
Review the background of Christiana Health Care System in Chapter 4.
Develop a statement that contains the three components we have discussed:
Mission
Vision
Values
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About Christiana Care Health System

Christiana Care Health System, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, is one of the country’s largest health care providers, ranking 22nd in the nation for hospital admissions. Christiana Care is a major teaching hospital with two campuses and more than 250 Medical-Dental residents and fellows. Christiana Care is recognized as a regional center for excellence in cardiology, cancer and women’s health services. The system is home to Delaware’s only Level I trauma center, the only center of its kind between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Christiana Care also features a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, the only delivering hospital in the state to offer this level of care for newborns. A not-for-profit, non-sectarian health system, Christiana Care includes two hospitals with more than 1,100 patient beds, a home health care service, preventive medicine, rehabilitation services, a network of primary care physicians and an extensive range of outpatient services. With more than 10,500 employees, Christiana Care is the largest private employer in Delaware and the 10th largest employer in the Philadelphia region. In fiscal year 2013, Christiana Care had $2.51 billion in total patient revenue and provided the community with $26.8 million in charity care (at cost). Statistics at a Glance Among hospitals in the United States, Christiana Care’s ranking by volume is: • 21st in admissions. • 29th in births. • 24th in emergency visits • 24th in total surgeries. Among hospitals on the East Coast, Christiana Care ranks: • 11th in admissions. • 13th in births. • 12th in emergency visits. • 12th in total surgeries. (Source: American Hospital Association Annual Survey Database of 6,200 U.S. Hospitals, FY 2012, © Health Forum, LLC)

Fiscal Year 2013 Statistics for Christiana Care Health System Admissions 52,779 Emergency Department Visits 181,237 Home Health Care Visits 307,172 Births 6,427

Surgical Procedures 38,803 Open Heart Cases 682 Radiology Procedures 389,568 Rehabilitation Patients 659 Rehabilitation Services Visits 106,178 Total Hip and Knee Replacements 2,536 Clinical Research Studies 886 Employees 10,834 Volunteers 1,202 Medical-Dental Staff 1,496 Medical-Dental Residents and Fellows 282 The Christiana Care Way the Christiana Care Way is our promise to you—and to each other: “We serve our neighbors as respectful, expert, caring partners in their health. We do this by creating innovative, effective, affordable systems of care that our neighbors value.” As a not-for-profit health system, our mission is one of service. We believe that the key to providing truly great health care is to partner with our patients and their families, building a system of care that is effective, affordable and valuable to everyone who is touched by it. How do we know what is valuable to our patients? We ask. And we listen. We understand that medical expertise is fully effective only when it is paired with respect and compassion. And we understand that the way to help our neighbors to get well and to stay that way requires that we take the time to learn about who they are, what they want, and what they need. The Christiana Care Way is also an invitation to you. As a patient or a visitor, or as a member of our community, we welcome you as a partner. Tell us how we’re doing, and let us know if you’ve had a good experience or if you see an opportunity for us to do something better. We invite you to learn more about The Christiana Care Way. You can find out more about why each word was chosen. And you can see it in the smiles and dedication of our physicians, nurses and support staff, who exemplify The Christiana Care Way every day. Reference Christiana Care Health System. 2015. “About Christiana Care Health System.” Accessed June 16.

www.christianacare.org/whoweare

Christiana Care Health System Our Mission: What We Do Our Vision: Where We Are Going Our Values: How We Will Get There

Assignment 01: Introduction to Business Strategy

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