Individual Assignment (Strategic Thinking and SWOT)

Lamont Bradley
Siena Heights University
Strategic Leadership (OA)
Dr. David Lucas
July 12, 2015

Strategic thinking involves a series of complex thoughts, ideas, and certain

actions. In order to think strategically one must open their mind to a difference in
perspective; be willing to grow and expand their range of thought. Strategic thinking is
the visual cues given in memo or the verbal clues heard in a meeting. Strategic thinking
involves the linear side of things as well as the nonlinear; thinking outside the box is
necessary when strategizing for your best option. Its implicit, its explicit, strategic
thinking in all engages the heart and captures the mind. As leaders of the new industrial
revolution, we must be able to use these ideas to analyze the state of progress and to think
through any areas in need of improvement throughout the organization we are committed
to.
My organizational study example happens to be a familiar one. The case of the
Detroit Medical Center eventually evolving into a full service level one trauma and
heart surgery facility. As many probably already know, there has been a constant battle of
the care for Metro Detroits residents; Beaumont, of the suburbia areas, and the Detroit
Medical Center. Henry Ford Hospital seems to poke its head in from time to time but not
in this analysis. The DMC houses numerous beds from triage at Sinai-Huron Valley to
the Neonatal unit at Harper University Womens Hospital. With Rehabilitation
headquarters and Childrens Hospital of Michigan on board on the Downtown campus
one would think they would have a clear jump on competition. No matter where you go
though you see billboards, you hear it on the radio station, DO you have a Beaumont
doctor?
The catch phrase that encapsulates the exact fear that most treatment facilities
hope to spark in the minds of its customer; the dreaded guilt thats placed in your heart

for even having the thought of being caught without a Beaumont doctor. Its almost as if
the ad is implying that, everyone who cares about life has a Beaumont doctor, and you
should too. Well, when you thought of the DMC you thought of the many years of bad
press stacked up against them. The infamous mob style killing of a local drug lord inside
the Sinai Grace Hospital on the cities west side didnt help the Detroit Medical Centers
public relations either in the mid 80s. PR along with a few bad experiences and even a
platoon such as the combination of specialist that the DMC had managed to rally together
wasnt enough to be amongst the elite. The several weak areas such as poor staffing, lack
of leadership, and community events translated to negative press and lower scores on the
annual press ganey hospital surveys. Something had to be done and change had to come.
With so much good to offer, world-renowned rehabilitation center, heralded orthopedic
surgery suite, etc, one can only imagine the potential locked behind a few bad seeds.
Beaumont hospital continued to prove its prowess by implicitly and explicitly
showing up to the plate with mighty praises for top heart surgeons, and community
affairs such as the Summer Safety week.
Beaumont Childrens Hospital partnered with Fox 2 News to present a series of stories about
Summer Safety. Each day, stories featuring Beaumont experts aired during Fox 2s morning
newscast (Beaumont, 2015)

One thing that stood out to the masses was the attention to detail and their
facilities. No matter how many awards they had, patients only commented on the way
they were treated and how clean the facilities were. In contrary the urban area hospitals
of the DMC were ran down, and abused by those who didnt consider the facility their
own. Leadership had failed in implying some level of accountability to staff and the

patient body as a whole. To serve is one thing to cater is another. Together is how we
heal and together is how we maintain the ability to heal. I think management should have
started here with the problem and moved towards accountability, which would lengthen
the sustainability of any establishment. Instead the DMC went on a massive expansion
campaign to catch up with the progress Beaumont has made in the Heart surgery field. In
addition to a new childrens specialty hospital, the DMC has added a brand new heart
hospital to its downtown campus as well. The facilities dance in the night with the new
skywalk and the backdrop of the city skyline behind it. Sinai Grace hospital, part of the
Detroit medical centers northwest campus, had a 80 million dollar Emergency room
makeover during this expansion as well. This expansion allows them to serve more
patients, renovates the old dcor and space, and allows them to tap into specialized care
funds. Has the level of care changed any though?
There were two concerns that many patients brought up: one was the cleanliness
of the facilities and the other was the treatment by the staff. Being in an urban area makes
it easy for someone to place most DMC facilities in a stereotypical category. From the
start no matter how we look at it were going to expect the employees to reflect the
environment surrounding them. Well during this case, more times than not, this
stereotype was proven true and to this day still has a damning effect on the success and
rating of the facilities. At Sinai grace patients complained about attitudes and wait times,
as a result they added more rooms and a few more nurses. It seems as if its clear what the
objective is but no one is saying anything. Patient care should be first but we cant forget
about patient satisfaction. Satisfaction is what brings the client back because they have

been given everything the need and more. Satisfaction makes some refer their friend or
bring their family without hesitation.
Strategically, a plan of action that included ways to counteract all weak points in
the SWOT analysis should have been implemented. A SWOT analysis can help them
gain insights into the past and think of possible solutions to existing or potential
problems (Ommani, p 93). Leaving out integral parts of a establishment makes it harder
to see the real gains strived for in the beginning. A strategic leader would have carefully
accessed the situation and realized that more ways to treat people becomes secondary if
you dont really have the skills to empathize, sometimes sympathize, and emotionally
treat people. I believe that more emphasis should have been placed on bedside manner,
hand off, and emotional stress management. Its understood that staff members take on a
lot of stress during trying times in critical care establishments. Being professional
sometimes comes second nature to being safe, sane, and aware, but we must strive for
excellence and have enough humility to share the experience with the consumer so that
they too understand and can use their empathetic skills to get us through.
I do believe that healthcare is a team effort and until we as professionals and the
public get closer to realizing this, we will be in a underachieving state of overall
healthcare in America. Instead of looking at things as competition from outside threats
we should look at them as a chance to learn and rethink some of our ideas that we have
for ourselves, our organizations, our relationships with staff. What is it that our
competition does so well that we cant do well too? If Beaumont advertises well why cant
the DMC? What could these two learn from one another? I think if more collaborative
efforts are made to ensure that the patient or the client or those we serve has the best

advantage then the rest will surely follow. We must start to think out of the box and
maybe think around it if you have to. Nothing in this world is perfect so adapting is part
of the human experience. We adapt to climate, we adapt to work conditions, so we may
as well continue to evolve this consciousness but for the greater good of the whole. No
more competitive forces just those that promote using sound, strategic, decision making
skills based on whats in our heart. In that same note though Id have to mention I do
understand the importance of keeping an eye on external influences. Beaumont, Henry
Ford, and Botsford joined forces to create Beaumont Health; this is why its so hard to
stay out competing because if you dont you will get crushed. Those in leadership now
are steering us towards competition, we need more leaders striving for collaboration.
However, we cant ignore the effect of internal forces either such as bad apples we need
people who will sacrifice their own accolades for the success of the whole.
I do believe that enough people want things to change and are willing to make
that sacrifice, its just that they havent been put in the proper positions to make those
changes. It takes someone who knows what it takes to be a strategic leader. There are 3
parts to understanding strategic leadership and they are: what strategic leadership
achieves, how it is accomplished, and who in an organization has the main responsibility
for leading strategically (Beatty & Quinn, p.4). Voicing my ideas, sharing my opinion,
and giving great feedback is how I plan to stand in support of ethically strategic work
environments. You make a change when you take a stand and soon enough we will
realize that we dont stand-alone. My way of tackling the organizational issues at the
DMC will be different than most and as unique as many. We have to be strong enough to

as Wayne Gretsky was quoted, to skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has
been (Harrison, p122). You have to be brave enough to go after whats right.
I chose to attack the strengths and weaknesses though because sometimes we need
to see how disproportionate our values are so that we will be forced to question our own
merit. All of the gains and accomplishments of the world lying next to the lowest
morality rate ever means nothing to me and in my opinion, shouldnt mean anything to
the world. Opportunity is nothing without the strength gained from facing your
weaknesses and threatening opposition with positive intent.

Reference

Beaumont Health Systems. 2015. Summer Safety Week. Retrieved from

www.blog.beaumont.edu/summer-safety-week
Beatty, K., Quinn, L. 2010. Strategic command. Taking the long view for organizational
.success. LIA. Volume 30, Number 1
.Harrison, Jeffrey P. Essentials of Strategic Planning in Healthcare. 2010. Health
Administration Press. New york.
Hughes, R., Beatty, K., Dinwoodie, D. 2014. Becoming a strategic leader. Your role in
your organizations enduring success. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA
Ommani, Ahmad R. 2011. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
....analysis for farming system businesses management: Case of wheat farmers of
Shadervan District, Shoushtar Township, Iran. African Journal of Business Management
...Vol. 5(22), pp. 9448-9454, September.