NCS1101 Health and Healthcare Systems: Kaiser Permanente

Write a report that analyzes the mission, vision, and value statements for a health care organization.

St. Josephs Hospital and medical center in Phoenix, AZ(Mission statements may sometimes be labeled as "purpose." If there are multiple statements for your organization, please use the one designated as a "mission" statement.) Be sure to address the following:

State the mission and vision of the organization. Critique the mission and value from the selected organization as a starting point for strategic planning and plan development.

Answer:

Kaiser Permanente Mission Statements

“Kaiser Permanente exists to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve” [Kaiser Permanente, 2018].

Kaiser Permanente Vision Statements

“We are trusted partners in total health, collaborating with people to help them thrive and creating communities that are among the healthiest in the nation” [Kaiser Permanente, 2018].

The mission statement of any organization constitutes the starting point of the organization’s strategic planning process. This is the case since the organization’s mission constitutes the current purpose of the organization’s existence (Ingenhoff, & Fuhrer, 2010). This proposition explicitly showcases the tandem relationship between the mission statement and the vision statements. Indeed, it is quite a tussle for an organization to engage in strategic planning and plan development for the achievement of a desired future ideal state without having a formidable knowledge of where the organization stands in the present.

Kaiser Permanente mission statement has perfectly incorporated this ambiance and comes out as a formidable mission statement. Kaiser Permanente is committed to the continuous delivery of high standard healthcare services which are also affordable. The statement is also cognizant of its broader stakeholders healthcare needs by committing to continue improving the health of both members and the societies. The mission statement, therefore, possesses the vigor to mobilize unanimity of the purpose of the organization on a going concern basis     and by extension giving employees and stakeholders an opportunity to identify with what the organization stands for currently as well as in future. To this end, the mission statement provides a formidable platform for converting broad strategic objectives into   short-term actions plans that in turn are instrumental in meeting long-term objectives.  Moreover, the statement is successful in defining a manageable number of substantial spheres informing its operations. Stallworth Williams, (2008) assert that a good mission statement is one that expounds the organization’s culture, ethics, values, image, and philosophy.   

This has proactively been brought out by Kaiser Permanente mission statement by remaining committed to the culture of providing exclusive services at customer friendly costs across all community setups. This significantly boosts the general image and values position of the organization relative to what competitors may bring on board. The statement also allows for flexibility in decision making, as well as expansion and generality to accommodate different viewpoint from different stakeholders. Lastly, the statement is not only pragmatic with an imminent desire to meet immediate but also it is short, concise and memorable.    

This withstanding, Kaiser Permanente vision statement is premised on the promise that it has abilities to help individuals and communities achieve their desired future ideal healthcare state. In doing so, the institution advances itself as a trusted partner and collaborator in achieving total health. This propositions auger with what may be termed as an ideal vision statement. The Kaiser Permanente vision statement is perfectly formulated to contain what can motivate and drive an organization to a desired ideal future state. It is not only grounded on a bold, futuristic reality allowing some sort of uncertainty in achieving a future desirable state but also allows for a reflection of the organizational resources and competencies in achieving such an elevated reality in future. Moreover, Mirvis, Googins, and Kinnicutt, (2010) observe that the vision statement provides a challenging yet fascinating ambiance to organizational stakeholders in their effort to achieve it.  

In accomplishing these mission and vision statements, an ardent commitment of organizational resources is critical. First, management and leadership is very significant. Employees and other organizational stakeholders tend to look upon the management and emulate their conduct in their day to day organizational activities. Kantabutra and Avery (2010) assert that the management, therefore, remains a formidable figurehead if the mission and vision statements stipulations are to be achieved. Moreover, employees’ insights are efficient resources in the achievement of the same. They are supposed to be mobilized to not only contribute in the formulation but also diligently live what the statement stipulates. The organizations can also harness the potential of organizational stakeholders’ insights and their commitment to further cement the statements.

The achievement of organizational mission and vision statement necessitate the effective management of resources. Organizational management can achieve this by properly allocating available resources to various organizational activities besides having adequate action plans to meet short term and long term objectives (Lengnick-Hall, Beck & Lengnick-Hall, 2011). In doing so, the management requirements to carefully deploy qualified employees to oversee the execution of operations geared towards achieving the gesture of the mission and vision statement.

Strategic objectives facilitate the delivery of the vision and mission of the organization. They are formidable yardsticks to refer upon while moving an organization to a higher level of production and output in the future that is desirable and ideal. Strategic objectives help an organization to formulate and plan activities, construct budgets and effectively allocate resources for the achievement of set vision and mission statements (Freeman, 2010).

References

Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge university press.

Ingenhoff, D., & Fuhrer, T. (2010). Positioning and differentiation by using brand personality

attributes: Do mission and vision statements contribute to building a unique corporate identity?. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 15(1), 83-101.

Kantabutra, S., & Avery, G. C. (2010). The power of vision: statements that resonate. Journal of Business Strategy, 31(1), 37-45.

Kaiser Permanente (2018). About Kaiser Permanente [Retrieved from] https://share.kaiserpermanente.org/about-us/about-kaiser-permanente/ Accessed 20/8/2018

Lengnick-Hall, C. A., Beck, T. E., & Lengnick-Hall, M. L. (2011). Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 21(3), 243-255.

Mirvis, P., Googins, B., & Kinnicutt, S. (2010). Vision, mission, values. Organizational Dynamics, 39(4), 316.

Stallworth Williams, L. (2008). The mission statement: A corporate reporting tool with a past, present and future. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 45(2), 94-119.