Merger mania. What will a merger mean to you?

Almost as worrisome as job tenure to survivors of corporate mergers is whether they will be able to work under a completely new set of assumptions. What effect will the merger of two different corporate cultures have on effectiveness, satisfaction and promotability? Even people who believe they know the partner's culture almost as well as their own are often surprised at what happens after a merger takes place. Find out what's likely to happen in a merger by asking a few key questions.     

Who will lead?

A recent survey conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Services Management and the Physician Executive Practice of Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, sheds light on the emerging physician executive's role. The goal of the research was to identify success factors as a means of evaluating and developing effective industry leaders. Respondents were asked to look at specific skills in relation to nine categories: Communication, leadership, interpersonal skills, self-motivation/management, organizational knowledge, organizational strategy, administrative skills, and thinking. Communication, leadership, and self-motivation/management emerged, in that order, as the three most important success factors for physician executives. An individual's general competencies, work styles, and ability to lead others through organizational restructuring defines his or her appropriateness for managerial positions in the health care industry.     

Organizational politics: did you hear?

How do you define organizational politics? The underground system of communication, the grapevine, what's really going on in the organization, rumors, knowing who really has the power? However you define it, all sources agree you'd better not ignore it. According to one physician executive: "Organizational politics is how things really get done, who really has the power, how decisions get made. Things are not always what they appear to be on the organizational chart." Presented here are some thoughts about organizational politics from physician executives and their stories of when it helped or hurt their careers or prevented them from accomplishing something in their organizations.     

Biotechnology: will it break the health care bank?

Pharmaceuticals traditionally have been viewed as a cost-effective component in medicine's technological armamentarium. The use of pharmaceuticals has been estimated to account for 6-8 percent of the nation's total expenditures on health care. The first wave of pharmaceuticals/biologicals that has been produced by the biotechnology industry has offered therapies that can provide much benefit to patients, but it has also raised concern about the cost of these new recombinant drugs. In addition to pricing, methods of promotion and modifications in the FDA approval process have raised concerns.     

Get real: what will draw physicians to the Web?

What are physicians waiting for? What will it take to stimulate widespread adoption of Internet medical systems? How can health care leaders and physicians help the technology innovators and the executives of technology firms understand the components necessary to assure physician acceptance and utilization of new tools? (1) Don't underestimate the personal nature of a physician's practice. It really isn't a "business." (2) Most physicians are not Luddites; they are just extremely pragmatic and practical. (3) For the majority of physicians to adopt a new technology in their private office practice, it must address three major issues: money, hassle, and patient care. There are many obstacles to adopting the new technologies that are the result of physician training and expectations and the current models of payment and revenue generation. Some technological innovations are presented to physicians without sufficient respect for their knowledge of how medical practices really work. The benefits promised often don't match with the needs structure of the physicians. As a consequence, the cycle of diffusion of these new systems is extended and delayed.     

Are you obsolete?

Are you vulnerable, regardless of length of service at your organization and your unique skill sets? There are ways to test vulnerability and assemble some hard evidence that your management role makes a difference. You need to conduct a self-test for obsolescence. Ask yourself the following questions: Are your skills state-of-the-art? As a manager, how do you compare with others doing the same, or similar, job at competing organizations? Is your role essential? Where does your job fall into the big picture? Can you be replaced easily? If a thorough examination of your skills and your role convinces you that your contribution returns more to the organization than your salary, can you prove it? Consider these strategies: (1) Put together a portfolio, (2) ensure your boss' support, (3) advertise your successes, and (4) cultivate recruiters. The best reason to analyze your value to the organization is that if you are laid off, getting another comparable job--or a better one--will be far less of a hassle.     

Who mentors? Contextual prosocial motivation and willingness to be a mentor

This study provides insights for theory and practice into employee willingness to mentor. This is especially important in passing knowledge from one generation of employees to another at a time when ageing populations are seen in many parts of the world. The study examines the relationship of contextual prosocial motivation with willingness to be a mentor while simultaneously considering various individual level influences on contextual prosocial motivation. Hypotheses were evaluated through a structural equation model. Results showed a positive relationship between contextual prosocial motivation and willingness to be a mentor. Additionally, organization-based self-esteem was positively related to contextual prosocial motivation, while proximity to retirement was negatively related to contextual prosocial motivation. Implications of the findings for human resource development are discussed with suggestions offered to strengthen contextual prosocial motivation of employees.     

Do you demonstrate leadership skills when you speak?

Nervous about your next big presentation? Don't be. There are proven ways to polish your presentation, spice up your speech and capture your audience's attention. Find out how experienced physician executives deliver dynamic presentations and learn tips for avoiding common mistakes.     

How will technology impact your business?

Over 1980–1982 the Business Environment Study Group of the Strategic Planning Society considered how new and emerging technology is likely to impact on business. This included a consideration of the mechanisms by which technology is taken up by business and the ramifications of the technological impacts in the coming decades.This material formed a Study Group publication [R. H. G. Whaley, New Technology Impacts on Business, Proceedings of the Business Environment Study Group, Society for Strategic and Long Range Planning (1983)]. During 1986 the Study Group revised and added to the material as part of the exercise of merging its previous publications into one document— the technology section of which is the subject of this paper.The Study Group does not carry out research, but conducts a networking process where corporate planning and allied opinion on aspects of the business environment are distilled. This enables planners to confirm aspects of their work with others, and for newcomers to pick up the concepts. After discussion a surprising degree of consensus is generally obtained.The Study was carried out by considering the types of technology impacts on business, technology and people's values, innovation, emerging technologies, and the ramifications of technology impacts in the coming decades in different business areas.     

What do you know?

If you run an organization, what do you know? What could you know? What is obvious--what we take for granted--hides deeper, contradictory realities. Such simple assumptions as "The goal of management is to get things done by motivating people to do them" not only hide a deeper truth, they keep us from getting to what's true. There is no short road to leadership. It is long-term. It is about relationship, in the deepest sense. Leaders don't create energy and momentum, they harness the energy and momentum that already exists in the people that they hope to lead. They connect with people, and they get out of the way.     

Can you communicate cross-generationally?

What is fractured cross-generational communication? When what one person heard was not what the other person said. Regardless of your age, you need to understand some of the differences in communication styles that must be overcome if people are to work well together. This is especially important in health care right now when there are other pressing issues. Interpreters are at a premium because so much misunderstanding clouds the communication process. Two management strategies are presented that will help bridge the gaps between communication styles.     

What kind of leaders will be successful?

The U.S. health care system is fundamentally changing. The pace of change is swift but will vary, depending on regional market forces and state legislative mandates. This complex change is leading to rapid market consolidation of providers and insurers into organizations called "integrated health care systems." There is, as yet, no proven role model that will guarantee success. The purpose of this article is two-fold: To help individuals who see an expanding role for themselves in integrated health care management decide if they have what it is going to take to be successful. To identify individual management training needs by use of a self-evaluation tool. Some of the needed skills can be enhanced by education and experience. However, some are personality and style characteristics that may not be changeable.     

Are you obsessed with interaction?

Too many organizations and managers, the author says, are using "interaction" among employees as a means to encourage them to buy-in, to stimulate teamwork, or to build morale. In too many cases, the forced interaction only serves to annoy or embarrass employees--or raise suspicions about management motives. Wise employees fear they will be burned if they open up and interact. There are better ways to run meetings, the author says, and she provides a few.     

Which degree should you choose?

Which degree should physician executives pursue to enhance their careers--an MBA, MHA, MPH, MS in Administrative Medicine, JD, or other graduate degree? While options abound and the debate continues over which graduate degree physicians preparing for senior management roles in the health field should select, several variables are analyzed in this article that must be considered. Physicians need to be trained to provide leadership in the new, more market-driven environment--their education must focus more on the integration and coordination of clinical and managerial processes. New managerial competencies will be required by the paradigm shift away from simply delivering effective and efficient health services to one that emphasizes improved access, social equity, and particularly on cost containment and quality of care efforts.     

Opportunities? Barriers? It's up to you.

This career advice column is usually directed toward those in transition--physician executives who are actively pursuing job opportunities or preparing to do so. But most of your career is actually spent in a position and on the job. So it seems appropriate to focus on the great majority of physician executives who are not currently in the job market. Take a look at opportunities to learn and grow in your present position.