Cincinnati Children's Hospital Case

Problem Analysis

Statement of the Problem

How will CCHMC keep hold of its culture of continuous improvement considering the dilemmas faced from lack of succession planning and the effect of limited capacity of the improvement resources?

Succession Planning

With too much focus on quality improvement of patient care, the management failed to take into consideration that the key leaders of the organization are soon retiring. Next in lines are not clearly in place, potentials were not identified and succession process is not clearly defined. Key leaders were too engaged in the operations that they forgot to zoom out and think strategically, one of which is to think about succession planning. The solution to this problem is going to be a long process and the price is the anxiety of losing the culture of improvement that they have ingrained within the organization for the longest time.

Limited Capacity of Improvement Resources

The organization’s thrust in continuous improvement has been hampered due to the limited number of quality improvement specialists focusing on each division’s improvement projects. There are numerous improvement projects being implemented in the organization, however, the quality of work being done in these projects are not all of the same standard. Due to the limitations of each quality improvement specialist’s capacity to work or lead these projects, the management has resorted to selecting of projects rather than doing it all. The deeper problem arises when the time of choosing which project to be implemented and which one’s are to be phased out takes place.

Recommended Courses of Action:

        After a thorough analysis of the problem, the group was able to identify recommendations for each of the underlying management challenges.

Succession Planning

• Considering the Performance-Potential Matrix, the group must identify the performance and the potential of each subordinate in terms of metrics set by the organization. We are referring to the matrix illustrated below:

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The Performance of each subordinate shall be evaluated on the basis of the metrics that the organization has set beforehand or simply through their key performance indicators (KPI’s). The Potential of each subordinate shall also be evaluated on the basis on how they were able to exemplify the kind of leadership quality that the organization needs and also the kind of values that they have shown and would merit so as not to jeopardize the culture of continuous improvement.