Strategic Human Resource Management

Section Four

CASE 4-1 continued
Questions

1. Most people have some familiarity with hospitals and
   the health care industry. (If you lack such familiarity,
   you may want to interview someone who works in
   health care.) Based on your knowledge, in which
   quadrant of the staffing policies matrix (Figure 2-3) do
   you think hospitals are located? Are the staffing policies
   of hospitals more like baseball teams, academies, clubs,
   or fortresses? Explain your reasoning.


2. Examine the projections for the various health care
   occupational specialties. Are there substantial
   differences in the rates at which employment is
   expected to grow in the different occupations? How
   have the strategic actions by health care organizations,
   such as mergers, shifts to preventative approaches, and
   the focus on cost control, affected the expected growth
   of the different specialties? How is the market demand
   for medical care expected to affect employment in the
   different specialties?


3. Given the uncertainty of the demand for health care
   workers, how can health care organizations be prepared
   to meet their future needs for such employees? How
   can they help their employees prepare for their
   employment futures?