Part IV

Strategic Plan Implementation

The major weakness that was noted in the assessment is the lack of technological advancement. Given the fact that most of the machines in the hospital are dysfunctional and outdated, there is the need for an action. The action is to have the machines being replaced in one year with an objective of ensuring that each of the departments has a functional device or equipment. The second year will be conducting employee assessment with the objectives of ensuring that there are an optimal number of employees and that they meet qualifications. The third year will be to implement the full employee rationalization program.

Barriers to Implementation

The first barrier is resistance from employees during the implementation process posing a threat to its success (Bryson, 2011). One objective of implementing this plan is to ensure that the hospital has the required number of staffs. Those who may feel that the implementation of this plan is threatening their jobs are likely to develop resistance to its implementation. To overcome this would require communicating with employees and informing them of the benefits from this plan.

The second barrier is the inadequacy of Time. Time is a valuable resource in the process of implementation. Sometimes things may run out of the plan. Sourcing out of equipment may take longer than budgeted.  The strategic plan for this hospital is in phases of three years and if by the first year, there is no replacement of devices and medical equipment in all departments this may negatively affect other phases. Therefore, it requires a constant evaluation of progress to overcome this.

The third barrier is inadequate capital resources and workforce. Capital is the perhaps the most valuable resource in the process of implementing any plan (Bryson, 2011). Most medical equipment and devices are costly. As such the budget may become so much outstretched. This may affect the implementation process by delaying it. There is also the likelihood of not getting adequate manpower in the installation of medical equipment in all departments. To overcome this would require adequate budgeting in which all elements are reflected.

How to Effectively Communicate the Strategic Plan

Effectively communicating the strategic plan is as good as creating it. In this regard, one should be ready to roll out the strategy to all who are affected by it. These include both the external and internal stakeholders (Hrebiniak, 2006). Therefore, the first strategy would be to break down the plan into the mission, vision, goals, strategic objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPI).The board and the directors of the hospital must be aware of all the information that is relevant to planning. Staff members will then be informed of the actions, goals, mission, and objectives of this strategic plan. Once all these stakeholders are informed of the objectives of this strategic plan the next thing would be to plan the timing and style of delivery.

Planning of style and timing of delivery requires the best medium that is appropriate to the audience. Some of the available media platforms may be emailed, note on a notice board, presentation through charts or printing manuals (Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland & Gilbert, 2011). The best, in this case, would be through the presentation of charts. Directors can be informed of these objectives in the meetings. The best way of informing community members would be through press releases. Staff members would be better informed through supervisors or by directors.

Market Entry Strategy and Procedure for Implementing this Plan

The implementation of this strategic plan requires stepping back in the process and ensure that there is a full understanding of the strategic plan (Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland & Gilbert, 2011). To gain a full understanding of elements of this strategic planning requires reviewing the plan carefully while highlighting those elements that may be challenging such as the employee rationalization program or their redeployment. Any part of strategic planning that may be excessive or unrealistic due to money or time need to be examined and be kept in mind (Bryson, 2011). Another step in implementing this strategic plan is to create a clear vision for the implementing this plan. In this case, vision is the set of goals that must be reached such as increasing revenues sources to reach about 80% of the hospital’s budget in three years.

Having a team that backs the plan is critical to the success of implementing this plan (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2012). The team must understand the importance of the plan. In this regards, it behooves one to schedule meetings that would constantly discuss the progress of the implementation process. To implement this plan, it would be important to assess whether the implementation process is ahead, behind or on schedule. Additionally, for a successful implementation process, it is essential that upper management is involved entirely by informing it on what is happening. Management would be expected to provide the necessary resources and support during the process.

Strategies and Methods to Support Implementation Process

One of the strategies to ensuring success in this process is to ensure accountability. High visibility and accountability help in driving change. It ensures that the whole process goes as planned. In addition, empowerment is another strategy that will ensure the process is efficient. Though accountability provides strong motivation to performance improvement, employees must be given chances, authority, tools, and responsibility that would have an impact on implementation process (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2012). Employees may resist ownership and involvement if not empowered. The other method would be to ensure that reports are capturing the progress of the process. If there is no method of tracking the progress, the plan will end up measuring only what is easy and not what is important. Therefore, failure may end up in the long run. Consequently, there is the need to have adequate reporting of the progress of the process.

Part V

Measures to Verify Effectiveness of the Strategy

Several guidelines may be used to evaluate the strategy effectiveness. One of the measures to be used is the efficiency. It will measure the cost-effectiveness and productivity in terms of ratios in relations to outputs per inputs (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2012). Another measure to use is the outcome measures that give the result of by evaluating whether the targets have been met. The example may be the percentage increase in the revenue of the hospital. Additionally, there is the quality measure that would be used in verifying whether the objectives have been achieved with the expected reliability, clarity, timely, competency, compliance, and accuracy.

Another measure is the project measure and the progress of the job. This measure would be important in predicting the progress of the implementation process especially in the installation and replacement of the new medical equipment. Measures to verify the effectiveness of the plan must be relevant to the strategy and objectives of the plan (Hrebiniak, 2006). They must also be placed with regard to a certain target that must be reached in a given timeline. The measures must additionally be capable of being tracked after each period.

When to Alter the Strategic Plan if Implementation Process Fails

Implementation process may fail and render the plan null. When this happens, it becomes necessary to alter the strategic plan (Hrebiniak, 2006). The best time to consider changing the strategic plan is when financial sustainability has proved difficult, and there are no effective measures to overcome it. Financial sustainability is core to the establishment of goals and planning process, and when planning cannot be steered along the path of financial viability, it would be important to consider altering the strategic plan. Study Reports have shown that financial viability is core in strategic planning and those organizations that do not take with seriousness the issue of financial viability have ended not implementing fully their strategic plans.

Another element to consider in the alteration of the strategic plan is when the plan completely does not build relationships or analytic capacity for the hospital. The strategic plan of an organization must be in line with the objectives set thereof (Hrebiniak, 2006). Strategic planning must not be vague in achieving the set objectives. In addition, if there are continuous disagreements and confusion and common mistakes, there is the need to alter the strategic plan. In the case of interruptions, wrangling and sharp criticisms from the management and other stakeholders, it would be worth to alter the plan.

Tolerance Range that Would Call for Corrective Measures

If there is a failure in meeting the specific objectives of the organization such as ensuring all departments of the hospital have adequate, and functional equipment and devices would call for corrective measures. Failure of the strategic plan to make sure that at least most the objectives can be achieved, demands corrective measures being taken (Haux, Winter, Ammenwerth, & Brigl, 2013). Failure to achieve employee’s rationalization program effectively being implemented and the inability of the hospital to raise approximately 80% of the revenues may call for correction measures and streamlining of these strategic plans. Heavy reliance on government funding which sometimes impacts negatively on the progress of the hospital would call for corrective action. Additionally, if high demands of the patients are not met easily especially on service delivery, it would be vital to have corrective measures in place.

Corrective Measures if Organization’s Performance Fell Outside Tolerance Range

One the corrective measures in this situation would be to develop an effective execution method. It is important to have plenty and effective yardsticks during the implementation process (Haux, Winter, Ammenwerth, & Brigl, 2013). Sometimes failure to have a successful implementation process arises from the lack of effective and sound execution models to see each an action being executed accordingly. The other corrective measure is to choose the right metrics for verifying the effectiveness of the strategies. As discussed earlier, metrics would assist in establishing whether everything is in line with what has been planned or what is being targeted. Metrics would help take a corrective action early enough and prevent failure in the implementation process.

Another corrective action would be to communicate. Often failure comes due to lack of corrective communication. Meeting with the unit managers and top executives should be regular and ongoing. Regular meetings signal to the commitment to the plan (Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland & Gilbert, 2011). It is through meetings that the commitment of an organization can be seen as real and that there will be consequences in case the plans are not being followed. Finally, there is the need to evaluate performance frequently as a corrective measure to ensure that all is as planned. All these remedies would be helpful in case the organization’s performance fell outside the tolerance range.

Conclusion

Implementing this strategic plan needs sound control, evaluation, and corrective measures. Failure to have them may pose a great barrier to achieving objectives that the plan has set. In addition, it is significant to have an effective communication with stakeholders involved in the process of implementation. In the case of any variation from the norm, it requires that one to go through the plan evaluating each element to capture the deviation. With the full insight of what is needed, a successful implementation would be achieved.

References

Bryson, J. M. (2011). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.

Hrebiniak, L. G. (2006). Obstacles to effective strategy implementation. Organizational dynamics, 35(1), 12-31.

Haux, R., Winter, A., Ammenwerth, E., & Brigl, B. (2013). Strategic information management in hospitals: an introduction to hospital information systems. Springer Science & Business Media

Swayne, L. E., Duncan, W. J., & Ginter, P. M. (2012). Strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

Sirmon, D. G., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Gilbert, B. A. (2011). Resource orchestration to create competitive advantage breadth, depth, and life cycle effects. Journal of Management, 37(5), 1390-1412.

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