Empowering Health Management: Structural Change in Social Enterprises

Introduction

In today’s modern business landscape, structural change is important for any business which assist marketers to make consistent as well as relevant modifications in business operation in terms of coping with ever-changing market trend in domestic as well as international market. This study has selected a social enterprise funded by CCG, that is associated with promoting health and wellbeing of people suffering from the multiple sclerosis with providing them proper financial, social, healthcare and physical assistance. This study is going to discuss the roles of healthcare manager of this selected social enterprise in managing new fund needed for meeting critical health needs of its target client groups (people suffering from multiple sclerosis). This study will also discuss how the overall organisational structure of this social enterprise impacts on its organisational culture. Additionally, this study will also depict and analyse the idea of a suitable change in organisational structure of this social enterprise that will assist the healthcare manager to create new fund for helping the service users. Finally, the study will make suitable recommendation to healthcare manager about how to implement the idea of structural change in practice successfully.

Explaining the roles of healthcare manager of the selected social enterprise:

In a social enterprise the role of a healthcare manger is not confined to only managing overall business operation, relevant decision making and sustainable business framework, rather the manager is also strongly associated with systematic management of financial, social, cultural and physical resources in society to meet healthcare, emotional, social and physical needs of society people (Von Knorring et al. 2016). In this study the healthcare manger of selected social enterprise is assigned to manage new fund for managing critical as complex needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis. The healthcare manager of this social enterprise is associated with performing following functions:

The healthcare manager of this social enterprise performs important roles in managing proper financial resources in organisation that is important for providing proper economic support to people suffering from multiple sclerosis. In this context the healthcare manger plans to conduct some important campaigns such as fund-raising campaigns and health promotional campaigns to create new fund. As mentioned by Dark et al. (2017), managing financial resources is one of the most important roles of healthcare managers assuring that organisations would have consistent economic support from valuables sources. The rationale behind conducting these campaigns is to grab attention of local investors, local healthcare authorities, local political leaders and owners of local private hospitals as well as healthcare homes to provide considerable amount of financial support to this social enterprise.

Healthcare mangers also assigned to maintain healthy relation with local healthcare committees, local NGOs and hospitals, for grabbing not only financial support but also the physical and social support from these organisations such as supply of high skilled social and healthcare staffs who can manage the critical social and healthcare needs of people with multiple sclerosis. As opined by Chión et al. (2019), a healthcare manager in a social enterprise plays important roles in securing valuable sources of consistent fund flow into businesses which assist the organisation to operate each business function smoothly without facing any financial difficulties. Here healthcare manager can secure the new fund needed for meeting needs of people with multiple sclerosis, by approaching owners, organisational leaders and higher officials of local health and social care organisation as well as healthcare committees.

The healthcare manger will focus on maintaining strong public relation by conducting positive media coverage, which will assist the manager to make positive appeal in front of government and global organisational leaders to grab strong financial support to this enterprise. As opined by Oyewobi et al. (2016), in social enterprise and other healthcare organisations, the healthcare manager plays important roles in maintaining smooth relation with media, which assists them to highlight the issue regarding delivery of proper health and social care service in front of public as well government. Here the healthcare manager maintains healthy relation with local newspapers and media channels which will assist this social enterprise to highlight the fund-raising issues in front of local and central government, NHS authorities and public which will enhance the chances of getting proper financial support to manage new fund.

The healthcare manager focuses on positive cost-cutting technique in its business framework which will assist this organisation to reduce overall expenditure in business operation and use excess amount of fund in managing needs of people with multiple sclerosis.

Evaluating how organisational structure of selected social enterprise impact on its culture:

Positive organisational structure is strongly associated with forming creative, supportive and optimistic work culture that not only encourages employee engagement but also brings about innovative business strategies and marketing decision in organisational framework (Day, 2019). Here the social enterprise has systematic hierarchal structure that consists of board of directors, CEO, managers, supervisors, team leaders, senior staffs, junior staffs, executives, labours, dealers and suppliers. The social enterprise has different business units or departments such as marketing, HR, customer care, legal, corporate communication, public relation, administration., audit, product development and compliance. Systematic and well-organised structure in this social enterprise assists the entire organisation to maintain healthy, innovative and positive work culture in its workplace in which all staffs work in synergistic manner for achieving common organisational goals. As mentioned by Wynen et al. (2017), each organisation needs to have highly organisational as well as systematic structure which is associated with maintaining highly supportive and productive work culture that is important in modern business landscape to have highly competitive and sustainable business models. Here each business unit or department in this social enterprise maintains healthy relation with other deportment in terms of maintaining effective collaboration among different business operations such as dealing with service users, determining their needs and managing financial, product development and public relation operations. The collaboration among work process of different departments assist this social enterprise to manage positive and highly productive culture in its workplace that encourages as well as supports innovative ideas and new business thoughts developed by staffs to make better strategies to meet critical as well as complex social and health needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis.

In this context Ogbeibu et al. (2018) argued that, only maintaining systematic organisational structure is not enough to have supportive and productive work culture rather the organisational leaders need to assure that all the barriers in organisational structure such as conflict, mismanagement and mis-communication would be managed in such manner that will assists entire organisation to retain the highly productive work culture. Here in this social enterprise, although have systematic organizational structure that assist care manager to maintain healthy and productive work culture, the rising financial needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis has posed adverse impact on both the structure and culture of this enterprise. Due to managing complex and critical needs of people with multiple sclerosis not only the overall expenditure of this organisation increases day by day but also also the workload on each department in this organisation increases which makes it difficult for manager to maintain positive organisational structure and culture. In this context the healthcare manager of this social enterprise plans to make a new business structure in this social enterprise which will assist entire organisation to have productive as well as creative organisational structure and culture.

Explaining ideas for changes in organisation structure of selected social enterprise:

The increasing number of people suffering from multiple sclerosis in society poses huge financial burden as well as severe work pressure on staffs working in different department in this social enterprise (Such and Mutrie, 2017). The excess workload and fund crisis in selected social enterprise create high level of conflict, misunderstand, mis-communication within workplace which not only spoil the synergistic work relation between each business units but also create unhealthy competition in workforce that damages productive work culture. In this context, the healthcare manager of this enterprise plans to make an innovative as well as effective structural change in this business framework in this enterprise that not only assists managers of this organisation to create new fund for meeting ever-increasing heath needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis but also improve overall work culture by reducing work pressure on each department. Here the healthcare manager of this social enterprise is going to set a new department, Fund and product development unit. This new business unit will exclusively deal with fund management as well as fund raising matters in social and healthcare context. The newly formed business unit will determine the actual fund that is needed to meet changing social, physical, financial and healthcare needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis. In addition to this, business unit will manage audit related matter, cost cutting, expenditure management in social and healthcare context. As mentioned by Monteiro et al. (2020), structural changes in an organisation need to be relevant to not only to the needs of client but also to current structural and cultural needs of that organisation. In this context the planned structural changes in this social enterprise is considered to be highly relevant with current health as well as social needs of target client and current cultural and structural condition of this enterprise. It is expected by healthcare manger that the planned change in organisational structure will assist this social enterprise to approach local healthcare bodies including healthcare committees and local healthcare authorities, international as well local investors and the government to provide financial support to this enterprise for meeting increasing health needs of people with multiple sclerosis in society. On the contrary Lowry and Wamukoya (2016) argued that, although forming new structure in an organisation to bring about positive changes in overall organisational structure and culture sometimes cannot be accepted as well as welcome by majority if staffs as it can enhance chances of conflict, disagreement and opinion mismatch between existing staffs with staffs in the new department. Here the healthcare manager plans to manage healthy as well as friendly relation between the existing and new department by appointing both existing and new staffs in new department. In addition to this, the manger will also appoint mangers and supervisor from the older workforce who will train the new staffs in the newly formed department. This structural changes in new department expected to reduce the chances of conflict and mismanagement thereby forming creative as well as productive workforces that will work for common organisational gaols to meet the ever-changing health and social needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Recommendation for implementing this change in proper manner

The healthcare manager of this social enterprise is recommended to use the following strategies in implementing the structural change in its business framework successfully:

The healthcare manager should arrange proper financial capacity in terms of implementing and running the new business unit successfully. In this context, the manager can approach to stakeholders such as investors, shareholders, government and affiliated ngos, to grab proper financial support.

The healthcare manger should conduct proper research of fund management process while forming any new structure in business. The research will assist healthcare manger to make relevant medication in strategies taken to implement the planned changed in the business framework of social enterprise. In this context, healthcare manager of the social enterprise needs to determine the changing health and social needs of people suffering from multiple sclerosis that will assist the manager to set proper work process for the new business unit that is planned to be formed.

The manager should prepare the workforces who will work in the new department by conducting proper training and developmental program for enhancing professional knowledge of staffs in managing fund and financial issues in social and healthcare context.

The healthcare manger is also recommended to convince existing as well as older staffs about the practicality and positivity that are associated with forming the new structure in organisational framework. Through conducting official conference, the manager can make staffs to understand the need of this structural change that will prepare staffs both mentally and physically to accept the change.

Conclusion:

From above-mentioned discussion, it can be concluded that, organisational structure is strongly associated with culture of that organisation. An organisation having positive and well-organised structure will definitely have positive as well as productive work culture. There is no exception in health and social care context, in which the care manger needs to focus on managing well-organised as well as productive organisation structure to have creative as well as effective culture in workplace. Therefore, any structural changes in an organisation needs to be relevant with the cultural needs of that organisation. Through making positive modification in existing structure the manager can promote productive, creative and highly supportive work culture which is associated with enhancing organisation productivity and forming efficient workforce.

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