Dr Amir Benjamin Threatens to Resign

Employee Services Inc. (ESI) is a large, government-owned organisation that employs more than 500 staff including nurses, doctors, allied health staff and many types of health assistants and administrative staff. The organisation provides a range of in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation services to older people in the community. It is funded by the government, based on the number of patients that the organisation treats, and there is a strict formula that controls how much funding it receives. The day-to-day operations of ESI are overseen by the chief executive officer (CEO), who reports to a board made up of a range of professionals including medical doctors, accountants and lawyers. The chair of the board is Dr Mark Vodell, who is a retired local general practitioner.

The CEO of ESI is Francesca Jenny, who was recruited just 3 months ago but has worked in aged care for over 20 years. Her background is in finance and human resources management, and she managed several smaller facilities very effectively before coming to ESI. Ms Jenny was selected by Dr Mark Vodell and the rest of the board specifically to work on improving efficiency and reducing waste given the restricted funding from government and the increasing costs of maintenance, supplies and medical equipment. The board believes that the organisation is under threat of closure unless Ms Jenny can successfully change the organisation into a more efficient facility.

The clinical services at ESI are overseen by Dr Amir Benjamin, a medical doctor who has worked at ESI for 20 years and became medical director in 2009. He is a very well-known and respected doctor, specialising in the care and treatment of older people. He had applied unsuccessfully for the job of CEO when Ms Jenny was appointed.

Recently, there have been several instances where Ms Jenny and Dr Amir Benjamin have disagreed, and the staff have disobeyed Ms Jenny's directions and complied with Dr Amir Benjamin's requests. The most recent of these incidents was about the transfer of a very ill patient to another facility. Ms Jenny wanted to transfer the patient because she believed it would be too expensive for ESI to provide the care that the patient needed. She also had some doubts about whether Dr Amir Benjamin had the medical expertise needed to treat the patient. She thought that the patient would be better off in a facility where there was a range of specialists, rather than just geriatricians. However, Dr Amir Benjamin believed that the patient should not be transferred because the long ambulance trip might harm her. He also believed that he and the other medical staff were capable of treating the patient. He thought that Ms Jenny was more concerned about being sued if something went wrong than about what was best for the patient. The other medical staff supported Dr Amir Benjamin, and Ms Jenny was not prepared to cause conflict by insisting that the patient be moved. The patient stayed at ESI and recovered, but the cost of the intensive care provided was considerable and created a significant financial problem for Ms Jenny.

Yesterday, Dr Amir Benjamin came to Ms Jenny and told her that he wanted one of the senior nurses dismissed. He said that the nurse could not manage her staff, was too concerned about how much money was being spent on medical supplies and that she tried to save money at the expense of patient care. He told Ms Jenny: 'That nurse will kill someone one day and you will be responsible'. He also said that the nurse ignored his orders and did not discipline more junior nursing staff when they were rude

to him.

Ms Jenny considered what she had been told and decided that she would not sack the senior nurse. She told Dr Amir Benjamin that the nurse was doing what was best for the healthcare service and for the patients. She said that she thought it was a personality conflict between himself and the nurse and that he needed to be 'more understanding of others' responsibilities. She said: 'It won't d0 any of the patients any good if we run out of money because we just spend it on whatever we like'.

Today, Dr Amir Benjamin had a meeting with Dr Mark Vodell, the chair of the board. In the meeting Amir Benjamin said that he could no longer continue in the role of senior doctor if Ms Jenny challenged his clinical judgments and did not give him the respect he deserved. The chair, Dr Mark Vodell, knew that there has been simmering discontent between the two but did not know things were this bad. He wants to support Ms Jenny as the board thinks she has done a very good job, but they d0 not want to lose Dr Amir Benjamin as he is a very good doctor and has strong support from the other medical staff. Dr Mark Vodell fears that if Dr Amir Benjamin leaves, many of the senior medical staff will also leave.

Source: Adapted from a case written by CARLENE BOUCHER, RMIT UNIVERSITY from McShane, Olekalns, Newman, Travaglione, Organisational Behaviour, 5e; Copyright 2016 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd

1a) Dr Amir Benjamin in the case scenario is using certain Hard Influence Tactics, Name any 2 that are being used by him? Use the case facts to support your answer.

1b)Are the current Hard Influence tactics used by Dr Amir Benjamin's effective Or should he try other Soft Influence Tactic? Explain your answer.