Innovation And Leadership : Leadership Qualities

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBS) is considered the largest and most experienced insurance company in Illinois. BCBS was founded in order to provide healthcare to teachers at a reasonable cost. It services over 7 million people. Its mission is “To promote the health and wellness of members and communities through accessible, cost-effective, quality health care” (Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2012). Blue Cross Blue Shield provides its customers with affordable health care. The parent company is Blue Cross Blue Shield Association its signature tag is “Creating Healthier Communities,” BCBS does not have any investors and the customers are considered the investors of the company and essentially who BCBS answers to. This is an important factor because they do not have to keep investors interest in the forefront of decision making, but rather they have the interest of their client in mind. (Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2012) In 2013 the Chicago based company reported profits of 684.3 million dollars. The company employees over 17,000 people. “Blue Shield of Illinois fell well below the $1 billion mark for the first time since 2009, in part because the insurance giant is setting aside money to offset expected losses from the troubled rollout of Obamacare” (Wang, 2014). Despite this setback it continues to expand over various parts of the United States. BCBS

Pat Geraghty, CEO of Florida Blue, has worked in insurance for three decades and readily acknowledges that the changes due to HealthCare Reform known as Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires radical changes within health insurance companies in order to remain competitive and profitable (Abelson, R., 2013). In order to facilitate this change, Geraghty is seeking a multi-pronged approach for the business model and strategy at Florida Blue. Many people don’t realize but as a former employee I am aware that a large margin of profit for Florida Blue in the past comes from investment earnings. That will continue to occur. Additionally, Florida Blue has sought to leverage into new models of care such with subsidiaries such as Diagnostic Clinic and

As a leading insurance company, Aetna’s primary market broadens to reach those who work full time or part time based on hourly wages through its subsidiary company, Strategic Resource Company (SRC) which was bought by Aetna, Inc in 2005 (SRC: Our Mission, 2012). Aetna’s fourth subdivision target market, which is considered the biggest subdivision, is providing insurance to “employers, third-party administrators, commercial insurance companies and other health plans (Aetna Subsidiaries, 2012)”. These latter targets are aimed at through Aetna’s fourth subsidiary Cofinity which includes over 2.5 million members as of 2009 (About Cofinity, 2009). Besides targeting health insurance consumers, Aetna aimed at a target market that excludes health insurance seekers yet includes health care providers. Through a fifth subsidiary, Medicity, Aetna created another target market subdivision where it can provide health information technology in health care facilities such as hospitals and practices (About Medicity, 2012). Finally, Aetna aims at acquiring shareholders and therefore targeted a market of

When faced with the reality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becoming law and taking effect, Jim began to implement new rules and guidelines. Although impravision a strategic plan the institution is expected to follow as supplies and resources would soon be in critical demand. As CEO, he understood what was expected of the health care system, focusing mainly on the organizational needs that will help with the expanding or the growing populationu8, meeting the increased demand for the future. Via industrialized existing programs and building clinics that will accommodate the expected significant impact of the newly insured. “Eliminating ED crowding will take the collective involvement of healthcare workers, business leaders, politicians, the press, and the public” (Derlet & Richards, 2008). After much consideration, and a comprehensive evaluation of the documents for the new Affordable Care Act, Jim James, CEO thought about the upcoming opportunities using a persuasive approach to transform the hospital. Since he stated that his most pressing desire is to find ways to connect the recipients in a way that will model changes in existing programs. Admittinly, we have a medical (that is, sick) care system- a system that waits until we become ill before it kicks into action instead of a healthcare system focused on helping us stay healthy (Schimpff, 2012). The justification, seeing the possibilities that crucial in dealing with changes in the upcoming health care system using a

changes in the nature of running a healthcare business. Lastly, they were able to realize the

During the all-staff meeting the previous weeks Post-It notes will be used for a team building activity that will help the staff understand the interconnectedness between the agency’s departments so that staff will gain a better understanding of how to build capacity within the organization. Discussion regarding the importance of all YBLC employees cooperating with each other and how leadership can best support employees and departments using materials from the HFNLC Workshop.

Jim James, the CEO of _______, when faced with the reality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becoming law and taking effect, began to implement new rules and guidelines for his institution. Although improvising a strategic plan the institution is expected to follow as supplies and resources would soon be in critical demand. As CEO, he understood what was expected of the health care system, focusing mainly on the organizational needs that will help with the expanding or growing population and meeting the increased demand for the future. Via industrialized existing programs and building clinics that will accommodate the expected significant impact of the newly insured. “Eliminating ED crowding will take the collective involvement of healthcare workers, business leaders, politicians, the press, and the public” (Derlet & Richards, 2008). After much consideration, and a comprehensive evaluation of the documents for the new Affordable Care Act Jim James thought about the upcoming opportunities using a persuasive approach to transform the hospital. Since he stated that his most pressing desire is to find ways to connect the recipients in a way that will model changes in existing programs. Admittedly, we have a medical, acute care, care system- a system that waits until we become ill before it kicks into action instead of a healthcare system focused on helping us stay healthy (Schimpff, 2012). The justification, seeing the possibilities that are crucial in dealing with changes in

Governmental organizations have captivating business plans that outline the overall vision, key performance indicators, and work teams of expertise. Chew Ling Tan wanted to implement changes within the Estate Administration and Property Department. The aim was to initiate modifications to further the organizations operation and objectives. Employees at HBD were over-staffed and overworked while resources were stretched (Jick & Peiperl, 2011).

The short term decision to start in a limited area and then only grow by one state in 2015 may have served the purpose of limiting risk during a time of uncertainty, however, in the long term, penetrating into new markets may be difficult because individuals currently enrolled are automatically re-enrolled at the end of the period. For Aetna, it may be harder to pull a member from a plan that they currently have. The largest healthcare insurance company UnitedHealth was more conservative than Aetna in the first two years, with participating starting in five states in year one then increasing to 24 in year two. With the addition of UnitedHealth in the same markets as Aetna and the unknown risks associated with new enrollees for the 2015 plan year, the short term could be crucial for Aetna. If Aetna is able to add to 2014’s positive results, and increase membership in markets that UnitedHealth entered, it will go a long way toward their long term goals of increasing membership in the individual and small group sector (Demko, 2014).

In an eerie parallel, the last eight weeks of this course have been peppered with real life experiences of the healthcare system in America. Specifically, with the treatment and care of my well insured chronically ill mother and underinsured/uninsured entrepreneurial/small business owner brother and sister and the difference in which their healthcare stories are playing out. Yet, this course has also seasoned my perspective of what to expect in the future. Which is “that the current model of healthcare delivery …is not sustainable” (Dieppe & Roe, 2015, p. 22).

Aetna’s workplace culture stands as a model to other organizations, regardless if they are an insurance company or not. The CEO’s mantra on having a successful workplace simply states “let’s invest in our people” (Aetna CEO: Let’s, 2015). Bertolini himself was no stranger to struggle in his personal life, having his son beat an incurable cancer as well as he himself getting into a skiing accident where he was given his last rites (O’Donnell, 2015). Having gone through these life altering events, his outlook on how employees should be treated and the resources they should have access to surpasses those of other organizations. This prompted open communication between all employees, allowing for everyone to freely speak what they thought of their work conditions. Enabling employees to have more input on decisions strengthens their alliance to the company and also makes them feel like they are a valued piece of the organization. The most talked about change for the betterment of employees by far was his announcement to raise the minimum wage to $16, in addition to lowering out-of-pocket costs for their health care without having to pay more in premiums (O’Donnell, 2015). This demonstration of how the company cares about its employees went over wonderfully with the low wage workers, as they now have a higher take home pay, as well as better health insurance coverage from their organization which they could not previously afford. To go along with increasing wages,

The cultural norm was to operate only within your function. This “decentralized managerial philosophy” hindered proactive communications between departments that that could have assisted in the company’s transition to project management.

Harvard Business Review’s Fixing Health Care From Inside & Out was a unique collection of examples on how all members of a health system, both clinical and administrative, make a huge different on operations. This compilation not only provided exceptionally informative articles, but also many charts, graphs, and other depictions to back up the points the contributors were making. Many of the remarks in these articles seemed to be simple fixes or strategies that do not seem that hard to implement, but in reality they are so challenging because making changes can be a big deal for any organization. All ten of the articles offered a distinct perspective and innovative ideas that future healthcare leaders such as myself could use moving forward. Some of the key points highlighted were to implement changes on smaller scales first and then go larger, to tackle issues as they come up and not put them off for the future, and also the importance of all staff working together as a team rather than in pursuit of individual goals.

Bob fashioned a management team based on trust and openness. He wanted his managers to be committed to eliminating hostilities that lingered between the stamping and components operations within the plant as well as between hourly and salary employees. He was also looking for people who would support his informal and highly participative management style and who would work to increase the level of involvement among Parma?s hourly employees. Bob was successful in keeping weekly floor board meetings so that union officials and superintendents discussed plant floor issues and by doing so, engaged them as active and productive in decision making. He also kept biweekly meetings with his staff and the Shop Committee chairman, the president of Local 1005, the Shop Committee members to continue and keep a high level of team work, communication, decision making and as a vehicle of power for this group to exercise change at Parma.

Effective leadership is one of the most important key factors for success and longevity in every organisation. So it does not come as a surprise that the topic of leadership has continued to be a subject of interest in the modern world both from practitioners as well as academics and the extensive research for decades has not exhausted the topic (Bennis W., 2007).The purpose of this essay is to apply the three relevant leadership theories in relation to Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., one of the most admired leaders of recent times. The essay firstly introduces the concept of Charismatic leadership, transformational leadership and transactional leadership and then briefly reviews Jobs and his leadership styles in relative to the theories.