Nadler-Tushman Outputs Analysis: Baptist Health of South Florida

Baptist Health of South Florida (BHSF) is a large health care organization serving the Miami area. In fact, it is the second-largest company in the Miami-Dade region in the private sector. As part of an effective and useful business analysis of BHSF, the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model method of organizational analysis can provide important insights. A key component of the Nadler-Tushman Model is the analysis of an organization’s outputs. According to Nadler and Tushman (1980), outputs can occur at the individual, group, and system levels. Outputs include products and services, performance, and effectiveness. An analysis of outputs determines the strategies and goals of the organization as well as any specific or general targets of achievement. Then, the strategic aims are compared with actual results and outcomes (Nadler, Tushman, & Hatvany, 1980).

As far as the types of outputs go, Falleta (2013) avers the easiest to define and understand is the concept of a company’s products and services. A health care organization such as BHSF provides a spectrum of health care services, including the types of services normally provided at hospitals and doctors’ offices. In 2012, BHSF admitted 72,681 patients; treated patients during 209,886 urgent care center and 292, 795 emergency center visits; performed 62,956 surgeries; and assisted with 10,671 births (Baptist Health Staff, 2014, p. 40–41). It also provided more than $279 million worth of charity care for more than 20,000 patients (Baptist Health Staff, 2014, p. 40).

The performance and effectiveness metrics of the output analysis can be a bit more complicated to define and measure. It can be helpful to break them down by individual, group, and system. As part of the analysis, it is helpful to determine the aspirational goals the organization defines for itself. According to the President and CEO, Brian E. Keeley, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Hon. Robert L. Dubé, in the 2012 Annual Report, BHSF is focused on providing individuals with high-quality health care while being good stewards of its financial resources (2014). As a part of the measure of these metrics, the U.S. News & World Report rated the hospitals within the BHSF organization as some of the best hospitals in the country in terms of quality of care, safety, and patient satisfaction (Baptist Health Employees, 2014).

At the individual level, certain characteristics and behaviors can affect the performance and effectiveness of the entire organization. Using the organizational intelligence model, these include: “satisfaction, stress, or perceived or experienced quality of working life,” according to Nadler and Tushman (1980, p. 40), and “absenteeism, lateness, turnover… and off-the-job activities that impact performance (Falleta, 2013, p. 11). BHSF puts a premium on hiring and keeping high-quality employees, according to its 2012 annual report (Baptist Health Employees, 2014). It actively promotes a positive work environment that is focused on providing effective patient care. Several prestigious and reputable organizations have awarded BHSF high marks as an employer. Fortune Magazine placed it on its Fortune Top 100 Employers to Work For list and the National Business Group on Health designated it as one of the Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles (Baptist Health Employees, 2014).

At the group level, the Nadler-Tushman model considers how groups within the system interact to achieve individual, group, and organizational goals. The model analyzes positive and negative behaviors and assesses conflict, collaboration, and communication quality between groups within the organization (Nadler & Tushman, 1980). According to the 2012 annual report (Baptist Health Employees, 2014), BHSF has created specific intersystem groups designed to encourage and reward specialist collaboration, including the Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute. By treating the cardiovascular system, rather than separately by specialists who don’t coordinate treatment, BHSF improved cardiovascular diagnoses and treatments for its patients. This is a prime example of reevaluating traditional organizational structure to create a new group that will improve processes.

Components such as return-on-investment, attainment of desired production goals, available resource utilization, and adaptability to externalities all comprise the system functioning metric (Nadler & Tushman, 1980). BHSF reported an increase in revenue in 2012, as well as a surplus of funds to be used for future charitable contributions (Baptist Health Employees, 2014). Additionally, the 2012 annual report discussed ways the organization is preparing for new government regulations, an adaptation to a future shift in the health care environment (Baptist Health Employees, 2014).

Identifying and analyzing the outputs of the BHSF as defined by the Nash-Tushman Organizational Model provides meaningful data that allows a business to define its goals and then to compare actual results to measure how well it is meeting those objectives.

References

Baptist Health Staff (2014). Baptist Health South Florida 2012 year in review. Retrieved from http://baptisthealth.net March 22, 2014.

Falleta, S. (2013). Organizational diagnostic models: An integrative review & synthesis. Woodside, CA: Organizational Intelligence Institute.

Nadler, D., Tushman, M., & Hatvany, N. (1980). Managing organizations: Readings and cases. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.