Management Theory

Introduction

St. Jude Hospital is a private-owned enterprise that is registered as a nonprofit organization. The organization offers a wide range of services at subsidized rates as it receives financing from various religious organizations. It includes seventy-three employees who are dedicated to their work based on the mission and vision statements, according to which it was established.

Planning

St. Jude hospital has developed detailed plan that aims at offering guidance towards the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives. In fact, it adheres to its mission statement “Enhancing improved health standards to the poor”. The hospital was established to serve the needy who cannot afford to pay for services offered in some other hospitals in the country. 

Workers’ reporting time is 08:00 a.m., and in case of any lateness, the employee has to give a clear explanation of why he or she has gone against the set rules and regulations of the organization. This ensures the hospital is able to serve as many patients in a day as possible because workers can start their jobs early enough. In addition, it has enhanced growth and expansion of the hospital in the course of time to ensure that citizens are offered the best services and that nurses give enough attention to patients when they enter the hospital. The employees in the hospital are conscious about their reporting time to work and their attitude towards the patients. This issue is strictly controlled by the management, and some measures have been initiated to ensure all workers report in due time to perform the day-to-day activities and make them well coordinated and achievable (Rogers & Shirley, 2001).

The hospital management plans to create more wardships to accommodate more patients and doctors including maternity wards. As per the set strategies, the little amount that patients are paid to should be accounted and managed appropriately to ensure the hospital has sufficient funds to implement that project over a period of seven years. This project will enable the hospital to serve more patients. This is in line with the overall national health policy of properly identifying and managing any health issues that arise, especially child-related ones.

The number of workers is an issue that also needs thorough consideration because it has been affecting the organization for years now. This issue has been a challenge because the available employees are overstretched by taking care of the large number of patients who visit the hospital every day. This is potentially dangerous as some patients may not receive the necessary treatment and care that they deserve (Rudolf & Clark, 2010).

Organization

St. Jude hospital has a well-structured organization that assists in the smooth operation of the organization. This structure is hierarchically arranged for it to ensure orders are issued and followed from the higher office (Aquinas, 2009). The high position in the organizational fabric of the hospital belongs to the general director who is the coordinator and controller of all other lower posts in the organization. All activities performed in the hospital are done by his authentication and order. This position ensures the organization operates smoothly, and nothing is done behind his awareness. All other officers do report to him on all the activities undertaken in the hospital every day. All projects stipulated in the strategic plan document are achieved under his rule. In short, the general director ensures the mission statement and the set objectives are achieved in the stipulated time thus catering for efficiency and effectiveness.

The general director collaborates with healthcare and administrative director who reports directly to him on all the activities performed in the offices that they head. The Healthcare Manager ensures that quality services are given to the patients who visit the hospital. He or she also controls nurses, doctors, pharmacists and any other health officers report to work in the stipulated time as per the organization’s rules and regulations. It is also the responsibility of this the Healthcare Manager to ensure the required medical resources are enough. He or she is also responsible for the adequate untilization of the resources as per the set goals and objectives of the organizations to provide patients who visit the hospital with quality treatment.

On the other hand, the general director is assisted by an administrative director who ensures workers’ welfare is adhered to in the organization, with the help of the human resource management office. This position also makes sure that resources in the hospital are purchased on time and are used appropriately in an acceptable manner as per the activities performed by the organization.

This organizational structure is appropriate because the several offices of the hospital perform different specific duties. Division of labor enhances effectiveness and efficiency in the organizational performance. In the hospital, patients are paid enough attention to because the work is divided between the different offices. St. Jude’s organizational structure is appropriate because it enhances strict supervision through the many established agencies. This act discourages laziness among workers hence creating a favorable environment for achieving the organizational goals and objectives (Rogers, 2001).

Even though the organization has tried to establish many offices to enhance division of labor, the offices are not yet equipped enough to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in offering the services. Along with that, there are other important positions in the hospital, which are not considered in the structure but are crucial to any organization.

Organizational behavior is a perspective that should be looked upon in St. Jude’s hospital to ensure employees treat the patients well. This aspectwill wins customers’ trust, and it will attract more patients to the hospital. It will be enhanced by ensuring that the set organizational rules and regulations are followed by all the employees. Professional ethics and code of conduct should also be adhered to by all workers in their fields (Chenhall, 2003).

Leadership

Quality leadership is one of the important aspects, which St. Jude hospital has considered significant in running its activities. In the organization, there are three leaders who are important in performing the activities within the organization; they include general, healthcare and administrative manager directors. They are distinguished officers in the organization because they are the principal supervisors and coordinators of the minor staff in the organization. 

There are several leadership styles, which this group has incorporated into its operations, and they include paternalistic and democratic (Gayla and Donna, 2001). Paternalistic style is whereby the leader acts as a father in a family context by having good relationships with their subordinates. This method enhances friendship and confidential relationship between the leaders and workers in the organization hence increasing cooperation in performing their day-to-day activities. The manager delegates many of his/her concerns to the minors, and he/she addresses the challenges that they face with immediate effect and without a delay. This kind of behavior brings about trust and loyalty from his subordinates thus providing full support to the leader. This style enables the leader to stay in the organization for an extended period because he or she has full support from his or her subordinates, and they also have a good relationship. This type of the leadership style is not the best to some point because it may enhance favors in decision making from the leader to the subordinates hence affecting the operation of the organization. These supports include doing everything that the minors do, with the aim of giving them care, without considering the worthiness of the factor.

On the other hand, a democratic style that is used in St. Jude hospital is whereby the leaders encourage workers to give express opinions in making managerial decisions. This method gives employees a sense of belonging and makes their working environment favorable and encouraging because no difference is evident between the leaders and the workers. These two techniques have made workers more comfortable working in the enterprise because their opinions are considered in the running of the organization, as well as their working environment is favorable and encouraging. This style is appropriate because it enables the creation of technical decisions that a leader cannot make as an individual. To some extent it is limited whereby many of the workers are not skilled or knowledgeable as per the challenge faced by the organization at a particular period. At this time, they will have to hire professionals from the private sector to assist them in solving the problem that the group is currently facing (Aquinas, 2009).

Control

There are control strategies that need to be implemented strictly and appropriately by St. Jude’s management.These strategies are aimed to ensure the achievement of the set goals and objectives, as well as to ensure the operation of the organization done in accordance with its mission statement. Management and accounting system should be well-controlled to ensure the organization’s resources are adequately spent, and some criminal acts such as fraud are eradicated and prevented (Antony, 2007). This system includes some aspects such as budgeting and predetermined costs that ensure the set organizational goals and objectives are achievable in the stipulated time. Budgeting will assist in guaranteeing that the hospital department is allocated with the appropriate amount of money to perform its activities that are part and parcel of the organizational goals. In the same case, predetermined costs go hand-to-hand with budgeting because, in the budget document, the events set are a draw against the amount that is expected to be used. This strategy helps in determining the misused cash hence enhancing the auditing of accounting books of the enterprise. This control system is not appropriate to some extent because it will limit the establishment of some extra projects that are not budgeted (Horngreen, Sundem, & Stratton, 2005).

Conclusion

St. Jude hospital has a well-developed organizational structure, which can support its strategic plan, goals, and objectives to achieve progress. The hospital has stipulated measures that ensure it is ready to serve the growing number of patients. As it is known, the leadership style determines the success of an organization, and St. Jude hospital has an open approach that seeks to improve organizational processes. Even though the hospital has enforced crucial control systems, it has to restructure its accounting system to ensure the organization seals potential fraud areas.