Restructuring (1)

Restructuring

Student’s Name

Institution’s Name

Date

Restructuring

Introduction

Restructuring is one of the most important practices in an organization. It is normally done to enhance the organization operations by correcting various faults identified in the previous organization structure. In this case, Joyce Clifford restructured the Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital organization structure after establishing many faults which were limiting the operations in the organization. The organization was operating using a top-down pyramid where juniors nurses had to inquire for every little thing they wished to do from physicians, but through their seniors. Thus if one had two seniors he would consult the immediate senior who will consult his immediate senior, who would consult the physician. Any feedback or inquiry from the physician would follow the same route which was turned to be time wasting and dissatisfying. This made it hard for nurses to operate effectively and mostly left the organization due to lack of satisfaction. Joyce restructured the organization to develop an inclusive web where nurses were put at the center. The new model appeared to be more effective and highly preferred by many in different health organization. However, there came a time that this model was not good enough and more changes needed to be implemented (Bolman & Deal, 2013). 

Employment of Contingency Theory in Restructuring

According to the contingency theory, effective leadership relies not just on the leading style but also on the situation control. In this regard, there is a requirement for a good leader-followers relationship, task with clear procedures and goals, and the leader’s ability to mete out punishments and rewards. Joyce was able to accomplish this in her new model by eliminating the long chain between junior nurses and physicians. The creation of the web structure with nurses at the center enhanced direct contact of nurses with physicians. The web structure also defined the job details of different individuals in the organization giving nurses more mandate on patients treatment and care than before (Bolman & Deal, 2013). It also describes the duties of patients care givers and thus, eliminating the situation where patients had to deal with strange people every time. In the new system each care giver is assigned various patients to take care of in all ways. Joyce’s organization structure was able to reverse the situation and enhanced a control which improved patient care. For instance, the multidisciplinary care provision to a patient is a procedure that was adopted to enhance the interrelation of various medical professionals in the organization. It also enhanced patient care reducing their hospital stay, and thus their medical cost. The new structure increased job satisfaction for nurses and thus reducing their turnover. Thus, the change considered contingency theory leadership requirements (Graan & Ukpere, 2012).

Employment of Integration and Differentiation in the Restructuring Process

The new structural changes embraced both integration and differentiation in the organization. Integration was enhanced where the structure established a strategic way in which multidisciplinary care will be provided to a patient to enhance higher patient satisfaction and increase care outcome. This multidisciplinary care integrated the operations of all or different medical professionals at different levels, to enhance holistic care to a patient without delay or errors. The structure also accommodated the development of an information system that integrated the patient information from all individuals who have been assessing, treating, or caring for the patient and thus, increasing quality of care and easing the organization administrative process (Graan & Ukpere, 2012). Differentiation is employed in the changes where each personnel is provided with defined job details and work responsibilities. Initially, nurses never used to be sure of their responsibilities and could inquire on everything. However, with new changes, each employee can manage to carry own his or her duties without experiencing any major problem. Different nurses have different roles and responsibility in patient care. Care givers are also provided with well-defined responsibilities and they are assigned to various patient. This differentiation increases nurses’ job satisfaction (Howard & Frink, 1996).

Strengths and Limitation of Restructuring

The main strength of restructuring is that, restructuring is normally done to resolve an identified problem and thus, it is normally used to eliminate the current problems and to provide a high efficiency than before. In this case, restructuring has eliminated the hassle that a nurse could go through to offer effective care to a patient. It has also provided nurses to utilize their knowledge, skill and expertise to provide care to the patients without depending fully on their seniors. This will increase their desire even to learn more and to advance their knowledge in the field. It has also unburdened the physician from receiving unnecessary consultations where nurses can handle the problem (Howard & Frink, 1996). Another main strength is that the restructuring has enhanced care quality by reducing response time and also by creating a connection between the patient and his or her attendant or care giver. Restructuring also increases the chances for improving the general performance of an organization since it focuses on bring out the best out of the organization’s human resource. One of the main structuring limitations is that it psychologically interferes with the functionality of the personnel, and thus it can experience resistance. This may create great confusion and thus impact the operation efficiency.

Recommendation

To overcome the identified limitation, the organization to offer effective communication and the involvement of the employee in the restructuring. It should ensure that the need for change is understood by all and that it is accepted. This will increase chances for a successful restructuring (Graan & Ukpere, 2012)

Referencing

  Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2013).  Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership  (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Howard, J. L., & Frink, D.D. (1996). The effects of organizational restructure on employee satisfaction. Group Organization Management, 21(3), 278-303. doi: 10.1177/1059601196213003

Graan, J.V., & Ukpere, W. I. (2012). An inclusive approach to structural transformation in organizational restructuring. African Journal of Business Management, 6(50), 11916-11922. DOI: 10.5897/AJBM12.1439