Partners in Health (PIH): Overview

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Table of Contents

Values
Strategic planning model
Organizational structure
Key leaders
Change management model
Recommendations for Implementation
Reference List

Partners In Health is a charitable organization that has been active since 1987 in Boston. This organization has its headquarter in Boston US with the branches worldwide with the staff strength of 11,000 people. The organization employs various staff members who work and are trained in medical sector. In order for them to work harmonious in local community, most to the staff members are sourced within ht community under which they work. “Partners In Health was formally founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Thomas J. White, and Todd McCormack, joined soon thereafter by Ophelia Dahl and Jim Yong Kim.” (Partners In Health, History, 2010).

The organization strives to come neat to their goals ever since the creation of this organization. It is also affiliated with other institute such as Harvard Medical School and other sister organizations with whom we cooperate in order to achieve our aim. The main objective of PIH to provide health facilities to the poor regions of the world, the organization is active in 12 countries around the world. Their focus is not limited to providing the health facilities; they also work on awareness programs that highlight the plight of the health sector of the poor regions of the world and conducting studies and research regarding diseases and their effective treatments.

Partners In Health has a vision of going back to the roots and a mission statement of providing medical and moral support to the poor. The organization is not only a charity but also an organization that work with local people to provide the services. The main objective of the company is not to provide funds for charity but to pressurizing medical service providers and manufacturers to reduce the cost of drugs and services. This means that they do anything within their reach to pressurize companies reduce prices to benefit the local man (Partners In Health, Vision,2010).

Values

The values of this organization is to help local community in empowering hem self through identification of the causes of diseases in a society and helping them to eradicate by sharing information about how to eradicate them. The main function of Partners In Health is to provide health care to the poor communities. We have been able to achieve this goal through service, training, advocacy, and research, and by establishing long-term relationships with other sister organizations. We strive to achieve two goals: to distribute the benefits of modern medical science to those in most need of them, and to serve as an antidote to despair (Partners In Health, Vision, 2010).

We have also integrated modern technology to help us better manage our resources and donations. We cannot claim a certain time or date in which we implemented technology in our organization. Technology has pretty much been a part of our organizational objectives.

Strategic planning model

By implementing the following facilities, we can grow in line with our vision. We will have arrangements to keep the facility records and files in a protected location, locked, vandal proof and fire proof. Vehicles will be equipped with age-appropriate control appliances along with official recognition that shows that the vehicles used for transporting children are licensed, examined and regularly maintained. In case of any urgent situation, there is a hotline number set-up explicitly for families. A clear and transparent written verification and confirmation are required for authorization to pick up children by non-custodial parents or relatives.

One of the most basic yet essential procedure i.e. CPR and first aid are taught to staff members in dealing with emergencies. All the fundamental services such as hospitals, police, fire support, and emergency aid facilities are present in close propinquity. There is also an accountability system for end of day inspections of the facility to ensure there are no irregularities. A fine communication system and the public address arrangement are in operation to facilitate the process of dealing with our respected customers.

With respect to making the experience worthwhile for children, exterior play vicinity is surrounded by wooden fencing that is designed especially for children’s safety. Outdoor play areas and walks are free from hazards. Outdoor play area, walks are ensured for safety and security.

Organizational structure

PIH also has a research, education and advocacy arm called The Institute for Health and Social Justice directed Dr. Joia Mukherjee (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010). The main reason of establishing this organization was to deal with root causes of diseases among poor community members. In 1993, Since then the IHSJ has published several books: Women, Poverty, and AIDS (Common Courage Press, 1996), Dying for Growth (Common Courage Press, 2000), and Global AIDS: Myths and Facts (South End Press, 2003). The IHSJ has also hosted seminars and other social events. It also oversees PIH’s annual summer internship (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010).

Partners In Health is affiliated with the faculty and colleagues from Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010). This unique relationship among these organizations helps us in achieving our goal by enlisting others to address the health inequalities of our time. We use these affiliations to educate and train people in designing programs and policies that reduce health disparities and improve treatment outcomes (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010).

PIH employs more than 11,000 people worldwide, from which more than 98% are members of the communities in which PIH works (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010). The staff comprises of healthcare personnel, accountants, cooks, laboratory technicians, drivers, computer programmers, engineers, administrators, researchers, medical equipment specialists, teachers, agronomists and everything else required to provide quality medical care in the impoverished communities where we work (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010).

Our funds come from a number of corporations and institutions. We also receive funding from government and multilateral agencies such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010). The organization depends on donations from well-wishers who contribute for project they feel that they should undertaken by their money. Such donors help the organization to use funds to the benefit of the larger community (Partners In Health, FAQ, 2010). Like many organization the record of the organization are kept in compliance with accounting standard and are audited as well as made available to the members of the public (Partners In Health, FAQ, Partners In Health).

Key leaders

The key leaders of the organization are “Paul Farmer, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, Ophelia Dahl and Jim Yong Kim” (Partners In Health, 2010) who are responsible for the starting of the organization.

Change management model

Various authorities have put a number of change management strategies forward. These include strategies of participation, education and communication, power strategies, strategies of manipulation, negotiation, facilitation and multiple strategies. Each one of the strategies is selected based on the type of organization and the desired change. This strategy seeks to empower employees with the knowledge and information on the type of change that is to take place, reasons for change and how this change will affect them. For this strategy to be successful, information that is factual and relatively unbiased is given in order to provide a rational justification for the intended action (Partners In Health, Events, 2010).

In this context, management might consider disseminating information to the employees in form of memos, reports and discussions to individuals or groups of employees. The assumption here is that if the employees are given reasons as to why change is necessary, they are more likely to embrace it than if they are left in the dark about it. It is hoped that the employees will embrace the position held by the change agent; that the change is desirable and beneficial to the employees as well as the organization.

This assumption might be rather tricky because if the employees do not share this position, they are likely to reject the agent and management’s position. Hence, they might seek for means of preventing the management from meeting their goal. The side that considers the reasons for change as irrational will block the other from moving forward. Education and communication and participation strategies share some similarities because they both seek to involve employees by sharing information with them (Checkland, 1985).

The PIH management could make information about the intended change available to its employees, and let them know how the change will affect them either positively or negatively. Their commitment and support should be sought only after they have been given adequate information to make an informed decision. If possible, the supervisors could be educated first before releasing them to educate the rest. Alternatively, individual employees could be reached through memos, reports and discussions.

Recommendations for Implementation

Implementation of organizational change is rather tricky because of a number of factors. Since change affects people in different ways, it is possible that their reaction towards it will be based on how they stand to gain or loss from the change itself. If the employees are made to understand that the envisaged change will come with rewards for them, they are likely to support it. If on the contrary they perceive change as likely to threaten their positions, they are likely to oppose it.

Implementation of change should be done in such a way that it does not threaten the position of the employees. Where this must happen, they must be assured of safeguards such as giving generous retirement benefits to those who will be laid off. They must also be assured that none of them will be victimized in one way or the other if their positions run contrary to that taken by management. Change programmes and processes must therefore be aligned with operational tasks and organizational management objectives. In order to win employee commitment, the process must be sufficiently motivating even as management monitors their operations to ensure their effectiveness is measured.

A successful change management process must seek to involve all employees. The vertical dimension looks at employees at various levels within the structure of the organization. All employees in the library section could for example be targeted without regard to their positions in the school. Involving employees in all units and at all levels would ensure nobody is left out of the process of change.

Another dimension would involve planning for strategy workshops and seminars for the executives, top management and unit leaders. These are critical people in the implementation of change. The executive is supposed to provide funding for implementing the change process while the top management is meant to monitor the implementation of change programmes in their various departments. The business leaders are in charge of the small units. Giving them information will make them able to propagate the message of change to those directly under them and in the process; management can win their support (Schneider, 2006). At Moonlight, workshops and seminars could target the Board of Directors, the principal of the school, heads of department and so on.

The strategic process of change management would then be aligned with the organization’s overall corporate development planning. This is because organizational change cannot be undertaken in isolation, but within the general framework of organizational development planning. There must be an organizational need, a problem or an opportunity that change must meet, solve or achieve. It is a fact that change is never undertaken for its own sake, but as a proactive or reactive response to a certain threat or opportunity. Workshops targeting management and supervisors could again be held in order to further fine tune the change strategy.

Since the whole process of change in many ways touches on the human resources, there must be a way of analyzing and aligning the HR management systems so that they can support strategic targets. This way, it would be easier to get the bigger picture from one central point. Key performance and target figures would then be identified and implemented. This is done by tracking employee or system effectiveness and the institution of early warning systems to avoid being got unawares in case of a threat. This way, threats to the stability of the organization and its change efforts would be identified and fixed early enough.

Lastly, strategy driven measurable performance indicators and management objectives would have to be developed and introduced. This is meant to monitor and evaluate the success or failure of the introduced change so that adjustments can be made to fix weak areas.

There are certain Resourcing requirements for effective change management to sail smoothly. These include both human and material resources. These resources must drive the organization to focus on long-term results rather than short-term gains. Senior management must be held accountable for whatever happens during the implementation period, and feedback gathered. Issues of culture and cultural diversity should be taken carefully, while important lessons learnt during the whole process of change are kept for future use. Use best practices to set benchmarks, evaluate results and measure performance. Change must not be seen as a transient activity, but one, which is there to last.

Reference List

Checkland, P. (1985). From Optimizing to Learning: A Development of Systems Thinking for the 1990’s, Journal of Operational Society, 36(9), 757-767.

Miller, F. P., Vandome, A. F., & McBrewster, J. (2009). Charitable Organization. VDM Publishing House Ltd.

Partners In Health. (2010). Events. Web.

Partners In Health. (2010). FAQ. Web.

Partners In Health. (2010). History. Web.

Partners In Health. (2010). Vision. Web.

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