Paul Levy
How would you describe the situation Levy inherited at the BIDMC? What challenges did he face? Why did previous turnaround efforts fail? (4 points)
Two unique corporate cultures, Beth Israel Hospital and Deaconess Hospital merged in 1996 to become Beth Israel Deaconess (BID). To compete with Partners, BID and a few other hospitals combined forces and formed Care Group Systems (CGS). Lacking leadership commitment, BID was in chaos and consistently posted operating losses in millions of dollars per year. Additionally, although advised on numerous occasions, BID was inept in implementing restructuring plans and consequently had excessive employee turnover, which resulted in poor patient care.
Succinct and expert advice to reorganize BID was never implemented. Although BID would agree to change, execution was postponed or disregarded due to the myriad level of management and bureaucratic processes within each department, which appeared to function independently of one another. Unable to move forward, management was locked in mental prisons. Groupthink was common practice for making essential business decisions, which resulted in escalation of commitment in continuing past practices and refusal to accept recommended changes. BID could be referred to as egocentric as the organization maintained the status quo. As President and CEO, Levy was expected to create a rapid turnaround of the deteriorating financial condition of the hospital. He was also expected to stop the several year trend of flawed implementation of restructuring recommendations. Furthermore, he was working under intense scrutiny and pressure from many officials, including the Attorney General’s Office of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the BID Board of Directors (BOD) and the Board of Directors of the BID parent company, CGS.
How did Levy get started in his new job? What were his objectives and what did he accomplish 1) prior to his first day of work? 2) on his first day? 3) during his
Two unique corporate cultures, Beth Israel Hospital and Deaconess Hospital merged in 1996 to become Beth Israel Deaconess (BID). To compete with Partners, BID and a few other hospitals combined forces and formed Care Group Systems (CGS). Lacking leadership commitment, BID was in chaos and consistently posted operating losses in millions of dollars per year. Additionally, although advised on numerous occasions, BID was inept in implementing restructuring plans and consequently had excessive employee turnover, which resulted in poor patient care.
Succinct and expert advice to reorganize BID was never implemented. Although BID would agree to change, execution was postponed or disregarded due to the myriad level of management and bureaucratic processes within each department, which appeared to function independently of one another. Unable to move forward, management was locked in mental prisons. Groupthink was common practice for making essential business decisions, which resulted in escalation of commitment in continuing past practices and refusal to accept recommended changes. BID could be referred to as egocentric as the organization maintained the status quo. As President and CEO, Levy was expected to create a rapid turnaround of the deteriorating financial condition of the hospital. He was also expected to stop the several year trend of flawed implementation of restructuring recommendations. Furthermore, he was working under intense scrutiny and pressure from many officials, including the Attorney General’s Office of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the BID Board of Directors (BOD) and the Board of Directors of the BID parent company, CGS.
How did Levy get started in his new job? What were his objectives and what did he accomplish 1) prior to his first day of work? 2) on his first day? 3) during his