A Case Study on Hammond Hospital
Overview:
Hammond General Hospital is a 334 bed general hospital located in a Mid-western town of 45000 and serves a countrywide population of approximately 140,000. Recently the board of directors at Hammond awarder the management contract of the Food Service Department to an outside company, Master Host Company. Master Host appointed Dave Smith as director of food service. It must be noted that this is the first time in the hospitals history that someone outside the hospital has been appointed as director of a department.
The Problem:
Hammond General Hospital, especially the food service department wasn’t the best example for management, in fact there is none. There is no organizational hierarchy, a viable job-structure but there is a lot of inter-personal conflict. So when Dave Smith was appointed as Director of the Department, he was met with resistance from almost every staff member. To change the situation Dave Smith and his assistant Doris Horn need to find a way to make the food service department up and running in an efficient manner, while keeping the morale of the staff members up.
Analyzing Case Data:
There were a number of reasons why the staff members were not co-operative to the new director. Firstly the post of Dave Smith was held by a female and she was also an R.D. So the nurses were a little reserved seeing a man taking the job. Smith also met with resistance from Pat Stone, as she was the acting director for 6 months and also a registered RD. She thought that she should have the post of Director. The board of directors was also having second thoughts after their decision to give contract to an outside company was greeted with hostility.
But the main problem in Hammond Hospital laid in management. There was no managerial system there. The department was over-staffed, department morale was low, the quality of food was poor, there were no performance evaluations, and there was really no systematic procedures or planning when it
Hammond General Hospital is a 334 bed general hospital located in a Mid-western town of 45000 and serves a countrywide population of approximately 140,000. Recently the board of directors at Hammond awarder the management contract of the Food Service Department to an outside company, Master Host Company. Master Host appointed Dave Smith as director of food service. It must be noted that this is the first time in the hospitals history that someone outside the hospital has been appointed as director of a department.
The Problem:
Hammond General Hospital, especially the food service department wasn’t the best example for management, in fact there is none. There is no organizational hierarchy, a viable job-structure but there is a lot of inter-personal conflict. So when Dave Smith was appointed as Director of the Department, he was met with resistance from almost every staff member. To change the situation Dave Smith and his assistant Doris Horn need to find a way to make the food service department up and running in an efficient manner, while keeping the morale of the staff members up.
Analyzing Case Data:
There were a number of reasons why the staff members were not co-operative to the new director. Firstly the post of Dave Smith was held by a female and she was also an R.D. So the nurses were a little reserved seeing a man taking the job. Smith also met with resistance from Pat Stone, as she was the acting director for 6 months and also a registered RD. She thought that she should have the post of Director. The board of directors was also having second thoughts after their decision to give contract to an outside company was greeted with hostility.
But the main problem in Hammond Hospital laid in management. There was no managerial system there. The department was over-staffed, department morale was low, the quality of food was poor, there were no performance evaluations, and there was really no systematic procedures or planning when it