Addressing operational constraints through Contextual Leadership at a KZN Public Hospital
Publication date: 27 March 2018
Abstract
Subject area
Organizational Development; Change Management; Leadership; Healthcare Management Operations; Supply Chain.
Study level/applicability
MBA; Masters in Healthcare Management; Post-graduate Diploma in Leadership; MPhil in Strategic Leadership.
Case overview
On April 16, 2016, the CEO of Prince Mshiyeni Memorial hospital, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, Dr Sandile Tshabalala reflected as he drove through the winding hills of the Cato range. In recent years, the hospital had been a subject of negative publicity with horror stories about patients collapsing while waiting for their medication at one of Durban’s largest hospitals. The case features a number of stakeholders and their demands and even threats. Contextual leadership intelligence requires accurate identification of relevant stakeholders and then involvement in solutions. The case illustrates how these demands had been listened to and how the stakeholders had been involved in finding solutions. A remarkable solution was to realize that the bottleneck at the pharmacy was actually caused by a problem early on in the process, for example, the late start of administrative staff who had to submit patients. A further solution was to utilize the primary health care clinics and even churches for dispensing chronic medicine.
Expected learning outcomes
Gaining insight and foresight into the operations and supply chain dilemmas in public health care. Developing understanding of the impact of various stakeholders in the healthcare sector. Understanding buy-in when leading change. Acquiring contextual leadership intelligence in the public health environment.
Supplementary materials
Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Subject code
CSS 7: Management Science.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer. This case is written solely for educational purposes and is not intended to represent successful or unsuccessful managerial decision-making. The authors may have disguised names; financial and other recognizable information to protect confidentiality.
Citation
Zungu, S., Mathu, K.M. and Scheepers, C. (2018), "Addressing operational constraints through Contextual Leadership at a KZN Public Hospital", , Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-04-2017-0066
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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