The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Executive Education Program

Heller School-Hanley Center PELI Advanced Executive Leadership Course

Session 5: April 25 - 27, 2024

Faculty: Carole Carlson

Background:

We will have a chance to hear from a panel of CMOs on their experience on Thursday evening, and then on Friday and Saturday explore key topics in strategic management, including strategy development, strategy and disruption, strategy execution and organizational alignment.  We will also hear from an expert speaker on financial management in health care.

To prepare, please read all four cases: Mayo Clinic, Netflix in 2011, Cleveland Clinic: Improving the Patient Experience and Executive Decision Making at Zola.  Please consider the case questions below.  Additional optional readings and a video are included to expand our understanding of disruptive trends in health care and a post-session reading will provide an update on the Cleveland Clinic.

Required Readings:

Optional Readings/Viewing:

Preparatory Questions for the Mayo Clinic Case:

  1. What strategy choices has Mayo made (implicitly or explicitly) since its 1987 expansion?
  2. Which of the 2020 Initiative strategy options do you favor and why?
  3. How is the context changing and what does that imply for your option choice?
  4. In Noseworthy’s shoes, what would you do next?

Preparatory Questions for the Netflix in 2011 Case:

  1. Circa 2000, how robust was market leader Blockbuster’s business model. What were the major factors behind its success?  If you were on the Blockbuster management team, would you feel threatened by Netflix?
  2. What insights and innovations enabled Netflix to establish such a strong competitive position?
  3. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said “Most companies…do not become great at new things because they are afraid to hurt their initial business…Companies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving too slowly.” Do you agree? 
  4. What lessons can you extract from this case that are relevant to your organization?

Preparatory Questions for the Cleveland Clinic Case:

  1. Should the Cleveland Clinic “fire” Bob Jones?
  2. What is the logic for investing in improving the patient experience?
  3. What impact might improving patient experience have on costs and medical outcomes?
  4. How big a culture change is required?
  5. What action plan would you propose for Dr. Merlino? How quickly should he try to introduce meaningful change and what sources of resistance might he encounter?

Preparatory Questions for the Zola Case:

  1. Which of the three options (Apparel, Honeymoons, Vendors) should they prioritize and why?
  2. What are the benefits to Zola’s decision-making process?
  3. What are potential pitfalls?
  4. How does this compare to decision-making processes at your organization? What can you learn?  What might you avoid?

Post-Session Reading: