Physician executive promotes process for managing change. Building consensus for group plan is key to successful transitions.

Thrust into a leadership position after years in solo practice demanded quick thinking for one physician executive. Faced with a need for change, he developed his own process for turning an individual's idea into a plan of action for an entire group. Learn the steps he took to build consensus and ease resistance to change.     

皇甫江:剑舞人生

生意失败,可以到酒吧买醉,但你不能动刀动枪。但是这种快意的娱乐方式,曾经在美国牛仔时代有过,或者更远一点,在中国唐朝,那种在街头被叫做酒肆的地方有过。李白是那个时代买醉者中的一个。他在《少年行》中说过击筑饮美酒,剑歌易水湄。由他开始,     

No lollygagging for Dr. Lally

Jim Lally considers himself something of a late-bloomer because he spent years in the Army before earning his bachelor's degree and going on to medical school. But he's making up for lost time quickly. He already owns his own hospital.     

戴文睿:第五级领导者

很多制药企业都在过冬,缩减投资,礼来却在中国大规模扩张站在上海市中心的新办公室里,从21楼向外望去,眼前的景象常常令戴文睿感到兴奋,有时也很困惑—在那些直冲云霄的高楼大厦中间,     

Doing it right the first time. Interview by Wesley Curry.

Since 1979, Philip B. Crosby, Founder and Chairman of Philip Crosby Associates, Winter Park, Fla., has been applying the quality principles that he developed and applied at ITT for a variety of clients. About 900 firms, 200 of them in the Fortune 500, have gone through the process that he recommends for the development of a corporate attitude of quality. Earlier this year, Physician Executive interviewed Mr. Crosby. We talked about his general approach to issues of quality in products and services, and began to make the connection between his quality theories and their application in the health care industry.     

Recognizing the power of diversity

"The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we are ready for it." While Arnold H. Glasgow did not have diversity in mind when he made this statement, his thought is relevant to that topic nevertheless. In fact, almost everything in the health care environment of the 1990s is fluid, making the future a question mark. Among these changes is the demographic composition of students entering medical school and of patients. Consider the following. While 14 percent of today's physicians are people of color, that number increases to 25 percent for current medical students. In the past 10 years, the number of female physicians has seen the largest percentage growth, followed by American Indians, Blacks, and Hispanics. Physician executives who have vision and energy can capitalize on this demographic revolution and convert diversity into a competitive advantage once its boundaries are understood.     

Reflections from philips electronics,N.A.: Lessons from winning the WEC gold medal

Several years ago I went to a lecture in which documentary film maker Rick Burns described his new film on the history of New York City. He mentioned that his biggest challenge was to identify a theme—an element that was a common thread in the history of the city which he could use as the focus for the documentary. (He finally decided that the theme would be “money.”)To develop the theme for Philips Electronic's application for the World Environment Center's (WEC's) Gold Medal Award for Corporate Environmental Excellence, I encountered the same challenge as the film maker. What theme would I use for a company which is diverse, decentralized, and has a worldwide presence? While Philips was doing many worthwhile things and had significant accomplishments, how could I put that in a package which would be coherent, cohesive, and understandable to the independent judges from around the world?     

Human and organization problems in corporate planning

Any management method which is to work in practice must start by recognizing man as he really is, and not what he ought to be. The typical textbook company of the 1960's was peopled by obedient, logical, profit-oriented, ox-like employees—sterilized and faceless characters with£'s signs in their thought bubbles, but the study of Behavioural Science in recent years has taught us that man is a rather more complex animal than we used to think. Simple observations tell us that in practice no business is as tidy, flawless and rational as a 1960's textbook. The reason is that we are people—difficult as individuals for a start and infinitely more complex still when we combine in groups. “Businessman” must be accepted in his full glory, with his ungovernable motives, his intelligence, creativity, his desire for a quiet life, his intuition, his private needs, fears and ambitions and his paradoxical self-seeking ability to cooperate. Everybody who has worked in a company knows the gloriously complicated muddles which “businessman” can get himself into; the misused routines; the convoluted organization structures; the dreadful panics during which all the rules are broken, and the peculiar thing is that, in spite of all these untidinesses, things seem to get done just the same. My point is that management and planning is an extremely complicated business, it is complicated because it is a matter of handling people, it is an art not a science.     

The value circle. A profile of J. Richard Gaintner, MD.

This article describes how the arrival of CEO J. Richard Gaintner, MD, at Shands HealthCare signaled a time for refocusing the organization's direction and helping physicians to cope with the changes buffeting the industry. He saw angst and disenfranchisement, sentiments that characterized not only Shands and the University of Florida Health Science Center, but also the entire establishment of American scientific medicine. Gaintner believes--and continually preaches--that practicing medicine in a cost-effective manner will improve, not harm, the quality of care. His willingness to face reality objectively is perhaps his greatest asset in helping physicians deal with managed care. He conveys heartfelt empathy with the day-to-day conflicts they face. But he does not allow himself the temporary luxury of cynicism, and he refuses to accept negativity and pessimism in others. Rather, he asks that physicians and managers understand the system and develop the capacity to work within it and take responsibility for improving it. Beyond exhorting physicians to be accountable for the success of the enterprise, Gaintner creates mechanisms for meaningful physician participation in enterprise management.     

Beheimatungsprozesse begleiten — ein Werkstattbericht

Supporting processes of belonging in supervision and coachingThe contemporary employee has to cope with frequent changes. Not only does he lose his familiar environment, he also has to find ways to familiarize himself with new places and to develop a fresh sense of belonging. This process can be understood and facilitated by interpreting the German concept of “Heimat“ as something we have to create ourselves. First experiences demonstrate the usefulness of this approach in coaching processes.     

黄光裕的地头力偏了! 他缺乏对正当事物最起码的敬畏

地头力是一种敢想、敢做、敢坚持的开拓能力,常常表现为一种顿悟,"灵机一动,计上心来"地头力是我对中国企业实践长期观察的初步结论,能够在华为等中国一线企业身上得到印证。以地头力来透视企业的经营管理,是中国     

Guarding quality in challenging times. Interview by Emily Friedman.

As Dennis S. O'Leary, MD, FACPE, reaches the 18-month mark in his tenure as president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, Chicago, the organization's future is a foremost concern. In this concluding article of a two-part series, he discusses his vision of where the Commission is going, and how and why. Among key issues that will affect the Joint Commission's future, he says, are changing determinants of quality, evaluation of nonhospital organizations, the interplay of the increasingly diverse individuals and groups that participate in Joint Commission activities, and Joint Commission relations with key health professions and other interest groups, including consumers. The first article, which focused on the Joint Commission's "clinical indicators" project, was published in the July-August issue of Physician Executive.     

Learning from adversity: diary of a medical manager

This article is one physician's account of his experiences in managing a large multispecialty group practice. While he was able to accomplish much in his tenure during the latter half of the 1980s, it was, on balance, a negative experience. He describes both the high and the low points of the period and assesses how both contributed to his eventual downfall. While personal, the account has important implications for others involved in the rapidly changing, personally rewarding, and eminently challenging health car system in which physician executives work.     

Philly physician executive combats big city blight.

Despite no money for college and little encouragement from his teachers, Eric Mitchell was determined to make something of himself. Ever since he got that plastic doctor kit when he was 7, he dreamed of becoming a physician. Learn how he achieved that goal--and so much more.     

Formal planning in major U.S. corporations

As the world about us changes, managers in all types of institutions try to cope in a variety of ways. In the early 1960s, many corporate managers realized they could not make sound decisions about future business activities in an expedient, reactive manner because their firms were growing very large and complex with new technologies, products, markets and competition to deal with. As a result, formal planning techniques which had been used in narrow functional applications were introduced on a much broader scale and formal long-range planning became popular. New corporate planning functions appeared in many companies, as well as new staff planning specialists and planning executives. The author conducted a field study on the design of these systems in the mid-1960s and he argues that they showed great promise for improved management.With this history in mind, we might ask why such subjects as ‘planning techniques’ and ‘problems of implementation’ are still topics of concern. It would seem that such techniques would be well known and established in most firms after 10–15 years. However, this is not the case, for during a second field study of corporate planning systems which was completed in 1976 the author found that many corporations, including some of the largest ones, had redesigned their planning systems in the early 1970s, essentially making a fresh start at formal long-range planning. (See Table 1).From his recent field study the author concludes that all corporations experience problems in implementing and using a formal planning system. The nature of these problems and some possible remedies are the subjects upon which this article focuses.     

Unconventional style reaps rewards for Ruckdeschel. Physician executive's career carries cancer center to the forefront. Interview by Patty Ryan

He didn't like math. Loved biology. So he ditched his plans to become an engineer and ended up pursuing a career in medicine and hospital administration. He led a sleepy cancer center to new heights of cutting-edge research and progressive types of treatment. And he did it all on his own terms--a mix of practicality and instinct that serves up some interesting perspectives for fellow physician executives to consider. Meet John Ruckdeschel, MD.     

The case of here and there

This case relates to individual decision making. Ranan is the main figure. He is concerned with the kind of person he is or wants to be, and the kinds of actions or choices that will facilitate that self realization. Sodaily, he is comfortable with his native land, but professionally he is much better off in the U.S. where he received his higher education. No matter what he does, there is a price to be paid. He has to make a decision in this regard. The reader is invited to engage in the decision making process.     

Building an innovative organization

Morton L. Mandel, CEO of Cleveland-based Premier Industrial Corporation, with brothers Jack and Joe, started selling automotive fasteners out of garage 50 years ago. Today, Premier's sales are running at a record $650m clip. The market value of the Mandel brothers' publicly-traded Premier shares earns all three a place on Forbes' list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. The family still holds about 60 per cent of the stock. Mort Mandel believes that gives the company independence and the ability to concentrate on nuts and bolts rather than politics. Mandel's nuts and bolts approach to managing has created stunning success—after-tax margins twice the average of Premier's industry, return on assets of 24 per cent, return on investment above 30 per cent, earnings per share compounded in excess of 17 per cent for the past 5 years, shareholders' equity that has grown close to 10 per cent annually for 20 years, and debt of less than 3 per cent of net worth. Mandel says it's simple: Treat customers as though they have the ‘right’ to superior service. Behave ethically, professionally and personally. Do good. Invest in people. Execute, execute, execute. What he calls Management 101. We suspected it wasn't quite that simple, and we wanted to know how he created a company that repeatedly outperforms its industry and many others, how he sustains a culture that generates 5000 written profit improvement ideas a year from Premier's 5400 employees. So we asked him some questions about his views on management and leadership that produced refreshing insights into the power, purity and timeless applicability of ‘management basics’. This interview was conducted at Premier's unpretentious executive offices, located in the Midtown Corridor of Cleveland, Ohio, a privately-sponsored urban renewal project inspired by Mort Mandel, who practices his preachings about ‘doing good’.     

Einführung von Coaching Ein Schulleiter kann es nicht immer allen recht machen

Coaching with a headmasterThe author describes a coaching process with a headmaster in difficulties, who always wants to please everybody. He lacks the necessary professional delimitation. Though refusing it initially, he recognizes the necessity and the advantage of a professional delimitation. By utilizing it in small steps, his contacts to the parents improve, he has more time for his administrative work, and he feels less oppressed by his tasks.     

Reinventing my medical career

The author found himself in a surprising situation in the Fall of 1998. For the first time in his life, he was looking for a job. Kent Bottles, MD, shares his experience of reinventing himself from academic chairman in an integrated delivery system to health care consultant. He stresses that physician executives need to package their experiences in terms of transferable skills that are easily understood by potential employers. He also emphasizes that acquaintances are more important than friends in obtaining employment; one needs to network with acquaintances and rely on the sympathy of relative strangers. A lot of hard work, networking, and "selling" his reinvented self resulted in a CEO hiring him. With all the changes brought on by the global economy and the uncertainties of the health care marketplace, other physician executives may be faced with the need to reinvent themselves.