Frontiers of Health Services Management - Fall 2013 - (Page 4)

Values: Every Organization’s Foundation Massive change, such as that which accompanies the implementation of the affordable care act mandates, requires every organization to make thoughtful decisions about what is important for its future, what it needs for sustained success today and in the future, and what it must discard or leave behind as it advances. How well an organization weathers times of great change is a direct result of its values. in a presentation at the 2012 american college of Healthcare executives congress on HealthThe two most important care leadership, robert B. tucker, president of the steps that leaders can innovation resource contake are to deliberately sulting group, described identify and define their values as “the unspoken organization’s key values rules and subtle cues from leadership that guide and to live by them people’s behaviors and tell as examples of their them how to act to be effective in a particular enviorganization’s culture. ronment.” it is important to note that these cues emanate from how leaders behave, not necessarily from what they say. thus, an organization’s failure to match its behavior to its words is a reflection of the degree to which the people in the organization model their behaviors on the actions—not the words—of its leaders. Values Lead to Culture Whether spoken or unspoken, values are important because they form the basis of culture, and culture drives performance. an organization’s values and culture determine what is expendable and what is essential. as noted by organizational culture–shaping firm Senn Delaney (2008), A thriving organizational culture is one of the key drivers of business success and performance. Today’s most successful businesses focus on creating strong cultures as a key strategy to address business challenges that have become more urgent and complex. Organizational restructuring. Changes in top leadership. Changing business models. Mergers and acquisitions. Turnaround strategies. Large-scale infrastructure or change initiatives. All of these situations require a healthy, high-performance culture for individuals, teams, leaders and the overall organization to perform at their best. Most organizations have a balanced set of values that drive performance along several dimensions, such as patient or customer care, safety, integrity, honesty, service, financial performance, innovation, and creativity. How organizations choose to balance their values is as important as the values themselves. a balanced approach leads to a balanced organization. the two most important steps that leaders can take are to deliberately identify and define their organization’s key values and to live by them as examples of their organization’s culture. The Role of Values and Culture in Organizational Success BusinessDictionary.com (2013) defines values as “important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable.” an organization’s values strongly influence individual behaviors and attitudes and serve as broad guidelines within which decisions are made. Culture is the combination of expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold an organization together. it is based 4 • f ro ntier s o f h ea lth s e rvic e s m a na g e me nt 30 :1 http://www.BusinessDictionary.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Frontiers of Health Services Management - Fall 2013

Frontiers of Health Services Management - Fall 2013
Contents
Editorial
The Case for Values as a Basis for Organizational Culture
A Moral Compass for Management Decision Making: A Healthcare CEO’s Reflections
Ethics, Values, and Decision Making
Wanted: Morally Courageous Leaders
The Imperative of a Moral Compass–Driven Healthcare Organization

Frontiers of Health Services Management - Fall 2013