Mgt 330 - Management for Organizations

Management Practices

MGT: 330 Management for Organizations

Instructor: Mark Piva

November 11, 2013

Management Practices

The management practices of planning, leading, organizing, staffing, and controlling are used in my place of employment by various departments and units. These functions can be related to any organization and are essential for growth. It is important to learn to change or alter these functions as the business world changes. "All organizations, regardless of their levels of performance or profit motives, have a management structure and management staff" (Reilly, M.2011). I worked at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLA) is the largest integrated healthcare organization in the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is a a Joint Commission accredited, complexity level 1a facility serving Veterans throughout Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.

GLA directs the Department of Veterans Affairs' largest educational enterprise and serves as a major training site for medical residencies sponsored by the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and USC School of Medicine and Advanced Practice Nursing Programs sponsored by local universities. Over 500 University residents, interns, and students are trained at GLA each year, and the institution sponsors 16 medical residencies and numerous associated health residencies in dentistry, podiatry, optometry, pharmacy, clinical psychology and dietetics. GLA's educational budget is in excess of $30 million dollars. Approximately half of these funds are allocated to resident salaries in the following areas: 200 physician residents in GLA sponsored programs; 125 physician residents in University sponsored programs; 125 associated health residents in GLA sponsored programs. GLA is also affiliated with local universities and trains students in allied health professions including nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, social work, and psychology. In order for any company to experience such growth, it has to be familiar with and know how to implement these five management practices.

Planning: The first management practice mentioned above is planning. Every organization has to start with a plan. It is an integral part of every management function (Organizational Structure). In order for Medical Center to maintain its organizational design, it had to create a plan. To create a working staff, it had to start with a plan. To employ proficient leaders and to lead the company to greatness, it had to create a plan. "The lack of an effective strategic planning process can undermine a company's efforts to develop an integrated performance management framework. In most companies, the strategic plan does not drive an organization's activities or its allocation of resources. Instead, budgeting determines where resources will be allocated, which in turn shapes operational plans" (Aguilar, O. I. (2002).

The Strategic Plan at GLA provides the Department's long-term direction and places a stronger emphasis on defining success by Veterans' outcomes; enhancing the quality of and access to benefits and services through integration within VA and with our partners; and developing our workforce with the skills, tools, and leadership to meet our clients' needs and expectations. We have Senior Executives at each Medical Center who set our strategies and goals through a disciplined planning process. One the plan are approved it cascaded down through the services and departments management needs to know if its goals are being achieved, or can be achieved so appropriate performance measures and bend mark are put into place. Planning plays a huge role in my organization and is continually changing. This function requires the manager to set a direction and determine what needs to be accomplished. It means setting priorities and determining performance targets and completing them. "Middle managers play a key role in the implementation of these organizational changes" ( Keen, L. 1994).

The second function of the management is getting prepared and getting organized. The nursing manager, supervising physician, and other department managers to organize the varied jobs to be performed each day. A good example is making a daily tasks sheet showing who assigned to each patient and the weekly operations reports and who going to complete the medical records request list. This function determines positions, teamwork assignments, and distribution of authority and responsibility are critical components of this function within a hospital setting. Organizing is to create a mechanism to put plans into action. Tasks are organized so that the output of each individual contributes to the success of departments, which, in turn, contributes to the success of divisions, which ultimately contributes to the success of the Medical Center.

The of leadership third function of management controls all the organizing, planning and staffing activities of the Medical Center and ensures all activities function together for the good of the organization and the safety of the patients. This function helps the management control and supervises the actions of the staff. It also enables them to render assistance to the employees by guiding them in the right direction. Leading can be defined as guiding the activities of staff members in he/her direction that helps the organization move towards the fulfillment of the goals. Leadership at GLA usually takes place in meetings and other planning sessions with the service heads to ensure all departments managers are on the same page in terms of objectives and goals with involves communication to the lower supervisors. The focus in this function is on initiating action in the organization through effective leadership and motivation of, and communication with, subordinate. A front-line manager works in a department to make sure the short-term goals are achieved (Reilly 2011). Managers find ways to motivate employees to work well and work hard. It can also be a way of challenging employees