Abstract
This case tells how a leader of a health care institution used systems thinking as a foresight tool to help survive the Great Recession of 2008. The original study on which this case is based sought to understand the essence of leaders’ interior response to the Great Recession of 2008 with regard to sustainability and leadership. The impact of the Great Recession of 2008 on organizational leaders with regards to sustainable policy making was examined by addressing: (a) how sustainability is defined, (b) the philosophy that underlies sustainable thinking within organizations, (c) leadership elements that are important to sustainable implementation, and (d) how system breaking points provide the opportunity for sustainable transformation. Due to the leader’s systems thinking perspective, several behavior themes emerged. Organizational policies were then developed to help institutionalize these behaviors, and which prepared the organization for a successful and sustainable response to the oncoming catastrophe. Strategic management strategies, supporting futures thinking, ultimately guided and stabilized the organization throughout this economic crisis, effectively leading to future growth.
Highlights
Author’s note: while the leader whose story is presented here is an actual leader at a health care institution in the Pacific Northwest, his name and the name of his organization have been changed to protect his privacy
On September 29th, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 774 points. This was the record for a single day point drop of the stock market in United States history
Hundreds of organizations would fail. This case will examine one organization that survived. This case examines a large health care institution in Portland OR, and the use of the foresight methodology of systems thinking by the organization’s President, to enable the development and implementation of organizational policies that would sustain the organization through the rapid changes brought on by the Great Recession of 2008
Summary
Author’s note: while the leader whose story is presented here is an actual leader at a health care institution in the Pacific Northwest, his name and the name of his organization have been changed to protect his privacy. On September 29th, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 774 points At the time, this was the record for a single day point drop of the stock market in United States history. This was the record for a single day point drop of the stock market in United States history This case will examine one organization that survived. This case examines a large health care institution in Portland OR, and the use of the foresight methodology of systems thinking by the organization’s President, to enable the development and implementation of organizational policies that would sustain the organization through the rapid changes brought on by the Great Recession of 2008
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