Monthly Archives: February 2023

Based on your reading of the textbook chapter, describe and give an example of an assumption in your organization. This should be a belief that is “taken for granted”, about “the way we do things here”. 

In responding to question 2 this week, be careful not to confuse assumptions in the contemporary sense with the anthropological meaning as it is ascribed to it in culture studies. In the contemporary definition, an assumption is a belief that something is true or accepted as true, often without proof. For example, “In my company, people assume that you can leave early on Friday” or “An assumption is that if you work hard you will be recognized”.

In organizational culture, as described by Schein, basic assumptions are much deeper than that. Basic assumptions are generally around the nature of something. 

For example, a basic assumption around the nature of humans:

“Humans are inherently evil. They will tend to cheat or lie if they can get away with it”.

Or, a basic assumption around the locus of control:

“Nature controls us. So it doesn’t matter what I do, whatever will happen, will happen.”

Read the explanation carefully before responding:

Schein describes some assumptions around core problems organizations face:

1. External adaptation and Internal Integration

This are the core problem groups and organizations are faced with : survival in and adaptation to the external environment and integration of the internal processes to ensure the capacity to continue to survive and adapt.

Do we control our environment or does the environment control us?

All groups develop norms around these categories and if these norms get external tasks done while leaving the group reasonably free of anxiety, the norms become critical genetic elements of the culture DNA.

2. Reality and Truth

All kinds of society are based on deeper assumptions on general abstract issues.This is how people relates to reality and truth, time and space, human nature and how people should relate to each other. Reaching consensus for instance is a process of building a shared social reality. There are many different criteria for determining truth, from belief and morality (pure dogma and right / wrong dichotomy) to pragmatism (scientific method).

Is there an actual truth? Is reality objective or subjective?

3. Time and Space

Anthropologists have noted that every culture make assumption about time. Schein identifies three types of organization depending on their time orientation : past, present and future. 

Is time monochronic and polychronic?

Monochronic is a view of linear time that can be split, wasted, spent etc … This is typical of the western rational cultures. Some culture in Southern Europe or Middle East view time as polychronic, a kind of medium defined more by what is accomplished than by a clock, within which several things can be done simultaneously.  In polychronic cultures, relationships are viewed as more important than short-run efficiency and may leave monochronic managers frustrated and impatient.

Space has both a physical and a social meaning and feeling about distance have biological roots. This ends up in different levels of distance (intimacy, personal, social, public) whose length may differ depending on the culture. Also space includes a symbolic value through different allocations (executives at the top of the building, managers with dedicated office etc …). This is one of the reason why the introduction of new communication technologies (email, collaborative spaces, social networks)  causes anxiety : it forces to the surface assumptions that have been taken for granted in terms of relation to space.

4. Human nature, activity and relationships

Are humans inherently good or evil?

Douglas Mc Gregor has well known framework on this subject known as Theory X (managers believe people are lazy and must be motivated and controlled) and Theory Y (people are basically self-motivated and need to be channeled and challenged). The latter assume it is possible to design organizations that enable employee needs to be congruent with organizational needs. This is the dimension of organizations seeking to grow and to dominate their market.

Do we control nature or does nature control us?

There is the Doing orientation whereby nature can be controlled and manipulated, there is a pragmatic orientation toward the nature of reality and a belief in human perfectibility. On the other hand, the Being orientation where nature is powerful and human is subservient to it, an orientation that implies fatalism and enjoying what we have, here and now. This is the orientation of organizations looking for a niche, trying to adapt to external realities rather than creating markets.

In between both there is the Being-In-Becoming organization where the focus is on development rather than on a static condition. It is more on what the person is and can become rather than what the person can accomplish.

References

 https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol4/iss4/3/ 

 https://thehypertextual.com/2013/01/17/edgar-schein-organizational-culture-and-leadership/

https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/510657/viewContent/19033531/View

N/B……….Pls stick to the references

• Read the case study for this assignment, The Case of the Belated Lab Test.
• For this Assignment you will take on the role of the assistant administrator as described in the case study. You will create a communication plan for the team created to address the current problem the hospital is facing. Create this plan as if you were going to give it to your supervisor. It should be a formal plan that is labeled and organized in a logical way to communicate your ideas. Your plan should include the following:
  • needed members
  • measurable goals
  • timelines of communication
  • benefits of the project
• Your overall plan can be in bulleted format, and should also include an informative essay describing the plan.
• Note – Be sure to complete the Unit 2 Learning Activity to review critical elements of a communication plan prior to completing your final draft of this Assignment.

Requirements:

Your communication plan should:

• include a title and reference page.
• be double spaced, with 12 point Times New Roman font.
• establish and sustain a clear viewpoint and purpose.
• follow the conventions of Standard English (correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling).
• be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful.
• Visit the APA Central link for help as needed with APA citation style.

Submitting Your Work

Make sure that you save a copy of your submitted work and submit to the appropriate dropbox.

Grading Criteria

Be sure to review the grading rubric for this Assignment in the Course Resource

Objective: student will be able to demonstrate proficiency in rhetorical principles by composing an argumentative essay in APA style format.

A research paper should present your own interpretation, evaluation or thinking about a subject. Secondary sources include other people’s research, which are invaluable resources; however, your main objective is to present that knowledge in an original way. For example, someone putting forward an argument in his thesis will use evidence from books and published research while approaching the subject from a fresh perspective.

Remember, read instructions for APA paper first.

1.Your research paper should follow the APA style format. You should have an introduction, body paragraphs, an opposition paragraph, and a conclusion. The paper should be 3 to 4 pages in length once completed. This does not include the title page or the reference page.

2.You should have a title page, three to four pages of text, and the last page of your paper is a reference page. I am not requiring an abstract page.

This week’s self-assessment, located in your text, is a brief individual leadership assessment entitled “Proactivity.” As a leader, it is important for you to understand your own proactivity as well as to recognize a particular proactivity for others. 

For this Professional Leadership Journal, complete the “Proactivity” assessment. As a scholar-practitioner in the field of health care administration, consider what the assessment may reveal about your perception of external and internal proactivity. How might your perception of proactivity impact your leadership role in the field of health care administration?

The Assignment (2–3 paragraphs): 

• Explain new insights gained based on your results of the “Proactivity” assessment, including how these results contribute to your personal perception of proactivity for leadership. 
• Explain how these new insights might impact your current or future role in health care administration leadership.

Application: National, State, and Community Asset Mapping

It is essential to be aware of and develop relationships with crisis responding organizations and service agencies in your local area or community. National organizations partner with their local and state affiliates to provide direction and communication from outside the disaster area. When there is no national affiliate for a local organization, the national and state governments take on a greater role. Depending on the scope of a disaster, crisis response is not always a local endeavor. When a crisis affects communication, outside agencies become a vital link.

To prepare for this assignment:

• Review Chapters 4 and 5 in your course text, Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape, paying particular attention to how crisis planning relates to the management process and how crisis management teams can be used to identify assets of and threats facing an organization.
• Review the Appendix in your course text, Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape, focusing on the sample items that make up a crisis plan.
• Review the article, “Mapping the Assets of Your Community: A Key Component for Building Local Capacity” and the PowerPoint presentation, “Uncovering Local Assets: The Foundation for Building Stronger Communities.” Examine each type of potential community asset described and ways to uncover and map these assets.
• Review the article, “Five Years after Katrina: Progress Report on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal,” to examine a crisis response for a state and region.
• Review the article, “Integrating Emergency and Disaster Planning.” Think about how the disaster preparation proposed could be applied or adapted to your state.
• Then develop an asset map for your state and think about how and when you would use those responders, agencies, etc.
• Think about how the organization you currently work for or one with which you are familiar would collaborate with crisis-responding organizations in your state.

The assignment: (3–6 pages)

• Develop a state asset map for your location (or country if you live outside the U.S.).
• Analyze the importance of collaboration in crisis management and response, specific to the organizations in your asset map.
• Explain how the organization you currently work for (or one with which you are familiar) would collaborate with each of the organizations from this week’s Discussion.
• Provide specific examples to illustrate your points.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are required to provide a reference list and to appropriately cite, APA style, all references used within your assignment.

• Discussion: Using Balance Scorecard to Measure Project Effectiveness
  • You are a project manager for a large electronics retailer (e.g., Best Buy) who will be implementing a new time keeping system to track hourly and salary employees’ time and attendance. You have been asked to develop a balance scorecard that can be used to manage the effectiveness of this project. Select an area (e.g., financial, customer, business, and learning) that you will focus on from a balance scorecard viewpoint and explain how you will measure the effectiveness of the project. 

What OB concepts or theories are consistent with Mr. Richard’s motivational program?

Groups and teams are often used interchangeably. Why is this a mistake? How would you manage a team vs. a group?

Part 1: Apply the IRAC Formula to Sowards v. Norbar, Inc., 1992. Prepare and post a brief review of the issue, rule, analysis, and conclusion.

                Issue – Did the driver’s manual (employee handbook) provided to and acknowledgment signed by the appellee, form an employment contract?

                Rule – “An at-will employment contract may be modified by the provisions of an employee handbook where the parties manifest an intention to be bound by the terms therein.” (Sowards v. Norbar, Inc., 1992)

                Analysis – The language in the driver’s manual (employee handbook) had very specific “formal discipline” policy which provided the steps for progressive discipline.  The language indicated that the policy was intended to be more than a guideline.  Additionally, The Vice-President of the company is quoted as saying that the company “lived by” the language of the driver’s manual.  The appellee was also required to sign a written acknowledgment stating he received a copy of the manual.  The appellee continued to work for the company after signing the acknowledgment indicating the acceptance to be bound by the terms of the manual.  These facts show an intention by both parties to be bound the terms laid out in the manual and the at-will employment contract has thus been modified by the provision of the manual.    

                Conclusion – The language and the practice of living by the driver’s manual (employee handbook) created an employment contract.   

Part 2: Based on your understanding of Sowards v. Norbar, Inc., which depicts privacy and employee handbook issues, answer the following questions:

    How might an effective employee handbook reduce litigation costs within an organization?

                An effective employee handbook would have a contract disclaimer so that the at-will status of an employee would be clearly stated.  It is also important to have the employee sign an at-will disclaimer “acknowledging the company can terminate them at any time and bypass discipline process” (HR Specialist: Employment Law, July 2018).  Clearly defining the status and having the employee acknowledge reduces litigation cost associated with determining if the employee handbook is an employment contract.  It would also have policies but not detailed procedures.  The specific language of disciplinary process in Sowards v. Nobar, Inc. allowed the argument to be made that it was more than a guideline resulting in litigation cost.

    How important for the HRM professional is understanding the mission and function of an organization? Why?

It is very important for the HRM professional to understand the mission and function of an organization because these will be important factors in the development, implementation, and interpretation of policies.    

    When should an employee handbook be updated? Why?

If laws change that are applicable to your location your handbook should be updated.  Your handbook should not conflict with any applicable laws.   It should also be updated when practices or expectations change.  If a practice or expectation changes but the policy or employee handbook is not updated to reflect this change then it is hard to argue that an employee should be held to the new standard.  For example, at a previous employer an expectation changed for a certification that an employee needed to obtain from 6 months to within 90 days of hire.  The practice had gone on for several years and was verbally discussed in the interviews, but the policy was never updated to reflect this change.  They had an employee who did not obtain the certification within the 90 days.  The supervisor wanted to terminate because the employee did not meet the requirements of the position.  However, when the policy was pulled it still had 6 months listed.  It would not have been a good risk for the company to proceed with the termination given that in writing the policy gave an additional 3 months to complete the certification.

    Who should be involved in the creation of the handbook? What should be considered?

When creating a handbook leadership and HR should be involved.  However, the organization’s attorney should “review your handbook to make sure you haven’t accidentally removed at-will protection” (HR Specialist: Employment Law, July 2018).   I think it would also be good to have a focus group of employees from different areas of the organization to get different perspectives involved.   The policies should be general guidelines and realistic. 

HA3110D – Quality Improvement and Risk Management

 LP09 Assignment: Utilization of Services

 What utilization management practices does your health insurance company follow to control costs and ensure the provision of medically necessary services?

Directions

Find out what utilization management practices your health insurance company follows. This information may be available in your insurance benefits booklet or on your health plan’s website. If you do not have health insurance, go to the website of any major health insurance company and list the practices this company follows to control costs and to ensure the provision of medically necessary services. Provide a summary of your learning.