Falletta's Organizational Intelligence Model

Organizational diagnostic models assist organizational specialists in several ways. These models provide an architecture through which data about an organization can be viewed as a functioning system with all the components presented in the proper relation to each other. However, the organizational diagnostic models are simply tools and to evaluate a particular organization, some models may be more appropriate than others. This is largely based on how the input/output of the model corresponds with the organization's particular culture. Looking at Baptist Health South Florida as such an organization, Falletta's Organizational Intelligence Model is best suited due to its top-down flow of inputs which corresponds in many ways to the management style of Baptist Health.

Falletta's model begins the flow of influence with environmental input which has a direct effect on the organization's leadership, culture, and strategy. This concept closely corresponds with the change in business practices in the digital age. With the increased access to information, patients and employees are able to provide more feedback on an organization. As such, a successful business requires an organization capable of responding to these environmental stimuli. Baptist Health asserts, “We welcome this focus on hospital performance and participate voluntarily in many projects that gauge hospital care and report the findings publicly” (Baptist Health, 2012). This kind of feedback mechanism as a direct input for management and organizational culture is often considered in a cyclic manner as a step after organizational output. In this case, however, it is more appropriate to consider environmental stimuli as the first step in Baptist Health's strategic planning and organizational evolution.

In the Organizational Intelligence Model, organizational culture, leadership, and strategy are executed and examined through several channels. These variables provide an effective measure along with a number of key indices of how an organization responds to environmental input. Measurement of key indices such as Information and Technology; Growth and Development; and Direct Manager (Organizational Intelligence Institute, 2013) are particularly suited to responding to Baptist Health's organizational interest technology and quantification of patient care as a public record to play a role in the direction of the organization. Falletta notes that in her model, while leadership may influence employee motivation and engagement directly, this influence tends to come as a secondary effect through the key indices (Organizational Intelligence Institute, 2013). This secondary effect is accurate for an organizational diagnosis of a large organization such as Baptist Health with multiple physical locations and ran by a board with limited direct contact with employees.

One aspect of the OI model that is particularly suited to Baptist Health is the aspect of measuring employee engagement. Unlike some older models that focus on management, the OI model shows a flow of management through the key indices and affecting employees' involvement in the organization. After all, it is the employees who execute the plans of management. Without their personal investment in the organization performance quickly degrades to mediocrity. The medical field is a unique industry with a high degree of personal involvement on the part of the doctors. The OI model's direct reference to employee engagement addresses this important aspect that is also shown in Baptist Health's own literature.

Falletta's Organizational Intelligence Model, like all such models, has shortcomings. However, its usefulness is evident when conducting an organizational diagnosis of Baptist Health South Florida. The top-down flow, the importance of environmental input and the relationship between leadership influence on key indices and employee engagement all make the OI Model a helpful tool to objectively look at this organization as a functional system.

References

Baptist Health South Florida. (2012). Annual Report. Retrieved from https://baptisthealth.net/en/media-center/documents/2012annualreport.pdf.

Organizational Intelligence Institute (2013). Organizational Diagnostic Models: An Integrative Review and Synthesis. Sacramento, CA: Falletta S.