Showing papers in "Harvard Business Review in 1985"

Quality circles after the fad.

Abstract: On the face of it, it makes sense, If you want to involve your employees more in decision making and shift the organization toward a more participative culture, starting suggestion groups called quality circles seems to be a risk-free way to begin. Having studied many quality circles in different organizations, the authors of this article conclude that quality circles have their distinct advantages but that they have inherent in their design numbers of factors that often lead them to self-destruct. Quality circles are also said to be a poor forerunner for more participative approaches to management. Changing a quality circle into an institutionalized participative structure involves making many changes in important features of the organization that do not naturally flow from the implementation of a circle program. The authors describe the stages that quality circles go through, discuss the various threats they must survive, and then outline the most effective uses that managers can make of them.

Hospital cost control: a bitter pill to swallow

Abstract: Americans delude themselves if they think that the rising tide of medical costs can be stemmed for long without sacrificing some beneficial care. Elimination of waste from the medical system can achieve large savings. But these savings cannot offset for more than a few years the cost-increasing effects of new medical technology and an aging population. Comparing the American experience with the rationing of health care in Britain, these authors conclude that though the differences are substantial between the two countries, the United States may well need to apply similar constraints, and that Americans will no longer be willing to support a system of unlimited medical care.

How companies tackle health care costs: Part I.

Abstract: As corporations look for ways to cut the rising costs of health care, they direct most of their efforts at modifying the demand for services. Some have attempted to effect changes in the health care system as a whole, and a smaller number have instituted programs to attack the problem at its source by improving the health of their employees. This article explores and evaluates existing corporate health promotion activities and concludes that such programs should form the third part of a three-pronged attack on health care costs.

Strategies for survival in the hospital industry.

Abstract: Hospitals, besieged by new competitors and pressured to cut costs, are entering a new and unfamiliar environment. As usage declines and the government's new prospective payment system makes itself felt, hospitals are feeling the pinch. Nonprofit hospitals face competition from newer, for-profit providers of health care. These authors discuss the factors that have led some hospitals to close and forced most others to consider how they can lower costs while maintaining high-quality care. Several strategies exist to help hospitals cope with their new problems. The authors point out the advantages and disadvantages of downsizing, diversification, and joint ventures, among other practical measures that hospitals can take.

New era in transportation strategy

Abstract: Because of deregulation, transportation has undergone rapid and radical change over the past five years. Railroads, airlines, trucks, and barges have all become more competivtive, flexible, and responsive to customer's needs. Carriers and shippers are adjusting to these recent shifts and seeking to anticipate the next round of developments. To take advantage of the new opportunities, managers first need to understand the important trends shaping the transportation environment and the strategic responses of the carriers in each of the modes. Then managers need to answer three key questions: What transportation services does their company need? How should these transportation services be provided? What resources are required to support the company's transportation strategies and how should they be managed? By developing careful and systematic answers to these questions, managers can make transportation part of their overall operations and take full advantage of the new environment. (Author)

Business in Richmond attacks health care costs.

Abstract: Like a fever that will not break, health care premiums continue to climb relentlessly, yet remedies have been hard to come by. Employers, for the most part, have accepted ever-rising expenditures as the price of good employee relations. And federal regulations designed to control medical costs have proven weak. The road to recovery begins, this author tells us, when a health maintenance organization, or HMO, enters a community, because its prepayment approach upsets the medical profession's conventional fee-for-service rules. Thus it quickly evokes competitive responses from other health care providers, who must become equally cost-conscious or lose their market share. HMOs need advocates, however, to spread as rapidly as their potential warrants. Drawing on recent events in Richmond, Virginia, the author shows how a city's business leadership can become the catalyst for changing the health care system.

Getting things done: how to make people decisions

Abstract: Guidelines and principles are presented and discussed for successfully matching jobs with people, based on a careful understanding of the most important capabilities that a given job requires and of the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. Five decision steps are highlighted: thinking through the assignment; examining a number of potentially qualified people; evaluating whether the individual strengths for the assignment; discussing each of the candidates with several people who have worked with them; and making certain that the appointee understands the job assigned. The unforseen reasons for failure in job assignments also are discussed. Real-world examples are given to illustrate the points covered. (WZ)

The poletown dilemma

Abstract: ACQUISITION OF DETROIT RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD BY EMINENT DOMAIN AND SALE TO GENERAL MOTORS AS SITE FOR AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLY PLANT