Strategic Management Application: Comprehensive Case Study Analysis

This document presents a series of case studies focused on strategic management, covering diverse scenarios such as Catlin College's potential transition to a university, Trilium Health Services' strategic issues, Seattle Day Nursing Care's growth strategies, managing cutbacks at Washington State DSHA, hospital consolidation challenges, implementing a new drug treatment program, rural democracy dynamics, commute partnerships, the Vancouver Symphony's strategic issues, Pittsburgh Child Care's challenges, and the Career Action Center's strategic evolution. Each case study includes a brief introduction, key strategic issues, previous and current challenges, possible future challenges, strategic efforts of managers, and specific questions and answers related to the case. The document provides a comprehensive overview of strategic decision-making, problem-solving, and implementation across various organizational contexts, offering valuable insights for students and practitioners alike. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running head: Strategic management
Strategic Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Contents
Case Study 1: Catlin College Case.............................................................................................7
Brief Introduction to the facts:...............................................................................................7
Key Strategic Issues:..............................................................................................................7
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:.................................................7
Possible Future Challenges:...................................................................................................7
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.........................................................7
Answers specific to the case study:....................................................................................8
Should Catlin College become a university?.....................................................................8
What strategy should be adopted to secure internal and external approval of the
application?........................................................................................................................8
What are the implications of this decision? Is this more than merely a change in the
name of the institution? What other strategic issues should be considered?....................8
Would an “industry analysis” help the President of Catlin College frame the choices
available to her?.................................................................................................................8
Are there available data bases on the higher education industry that might provide the
basis for the industry analysis?..........................................................................................9
What process should be followed to help the President make the decision?.....................9
Is the President the actual decision maker in this case? If not, who is?............................9
What should the roles of a CEO, faculty students and alumni be?....................................9
How can the president promote change on a campus when many favor the status quo?...9
Case Study 2: Trilium Health Services....................................................................................10
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................10

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Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................10
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................10
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................10
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................10
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................11
 Think of an organization in which you have worked, volunteered, or simply
“observed”. What are the most important strategic issues facing that organization?.....11
 Why are these issues strategic?.................................................................................11
 What makes an issue strategic versus tactical for an organization?.........................12
Case Study 3: Seattle Day Nursing Care..................................................................................13
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................13
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................13
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................13
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................13
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................13
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................14
• What types of “growth strategy” did Pat Gogerty pursue?.......................................14
• How did he determine that this growth strategy was appropriate?...........................14
• What does this case suggest about the difficulties of implementing a growth
strategy?...........................................................................................................................14
Case Study 4: Managing Cutbacks at the Washington State DSHA Case...............................16
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................16

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Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................16
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................16
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................17
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................17
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................17
• What political barriers did Gibbs encounter to his cutback strategy?.......................17
• How did he address those barriers?...........................................................................17
• What does this case illustrate about how to implement a retrenchment strategy?....18
• Can you take certain lessons from this case and apply them to your field study
assignment?......................................................................................................................18
Case study 5: Hospital Consolidation Case.............................................................................19
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................19
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................19
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................19
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................19
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................20
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................20
• What forces prompted the proposed merger between the two hospitals?.................20
• Despite the strong motivations for merger, what barriers did the hospitals encounter?
20
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed approach...............................20
Case Study 6: Implementing a New Drug Treatment Program...............................................21

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Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................21
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................21
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................21
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................21
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................22
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................22
• What barriers were encountered in the implementation of the strategy?..................22
• How were these barriers addressed?..........................................................................23
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of the approach?......................................23
Case Study 7: Rural Democracy Case.....................................................................................24
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................24
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................24
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................24
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................24
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................25
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................25
• How did Mr. Skinner define “public value”?............................................................25
• What authorization did he receive from his political superiors?...............................25
• Did he go “too far” in finding a way to implement his notion of public value?.......26
Case Study 8: Commute Partnerships......................................................................................27
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................27

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Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................27
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................27
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................27
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................27
Case Study 9: Vancouver Symphony.......................................................................................29
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................29
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................29
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................29
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................29
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................30
Case study 10: Pittsburgh Child Care:.....................................................................................31
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................31
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................31
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................31
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................31
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................31
Case Study 11: Career Action Center......................................................................................33
Brief Introduction to the facts:.............................................................................................33
Key Strategic Issues:............................................................................................................33
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:...............................................34
Possible Future Challenges:.................................................................................................34

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Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:.......................................................34
Answers specific to the case study:......................................................................................35
• What are the pros and cons of the CAC strategy to this point?.................................35
• Do you believe that CAC has made good strategic choices or have their choices
been tactical accommodations to environmental challenges............................................35
• How did the mission of the Career Action Center evolve over time?.......................35
• Do you agree with the types of changes they made with respect to their mission?
Are there any risks associated with the strategy followed by Career Action Center?.....35
References:...............................................................................................................................37

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Case Study 1: Catlin College Case
Brief Introduction to the facts:
Catlin College was set up in 1951 under the Ivy Universities in Polis, Zenith. Since its
setup, the college diversified significantly over the years, drawing students from other states
in US. By 1990, 60% of the faculty had a doctorate degree and 75% with terminal
qualifications, and the college library had a massive collection of 250, 000 books. Owing to
this development, many members of the board of trustees, administration and alumni wanted
that Catlin College should upgrade its distinction to Catlin University.
Key Strategic Issues:
Key strategic issues with the transition from a college to a university status included:
a shift in focus from delivering knowledge; diversify the focus on research and publication;
and added costs for the change in designation and subsequent promotion/advertising.
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:
Population and economic decline in Zenith, which further challenges the growth and
survival opportunities for the institute.
Possible Future Challenges:
Competition from other organizations
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:
Due to the absence of a unified consensus at the cabinet meeting the managers relied
upon deliberations from The Academic Affairs Cabinet of the college (which included deans
from four schools, and personnel involved in the processes of student admission, student
affairs and library). The Cabinet will prepare a report for the Long Range Planning

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Committee of the college which can advise the president on long term goals of the
organization.
Answers specific to the case study:
Should Catlin College become a university?
From the discourse of the case studies, I believe that Catlin College should become a
University.
What strategy should be adopted to secure internal and external approval of the
application?
To become a University, approval from internal legislatures can be sought through
surveys, while external approval can be sough through applications.
What are the implications of this decision? Is this more than merely a change in the
name of the institution? What other strategic issues should be considered?
A change in the status of the organization would result in the organizational goal
being diversified from the delivery of education to a distributed focus on research and
publication. This would also mean increased costs for the institute to facilitate the
diversification and also would need to offer at least one doctorate program in arts and
sciences. Hence this is more than merely a change in the name of the institution. The
institution alternatively can stick to the college status like Amherst College, Union College,
Williams College and Dortmund College, and increasing the emphasis on the quality on
education instead of diversification.
Would an “industry analysis” help the President of Catlin College frame the choices
available to her?

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The university analysis can help the President of Catlin to understand the current
organizational strengths and weaknesses using which she can make her choice.
Are there available data bases on the higher education industry that might provide the
basis for the industry analysis?
Academic research papers can be searched in Google Scholar database.
What process should be followed to help the President make the decision?
A common consensus regarding the decision can be helpful for the patient to make the
decision. For this, internal survey can be conducted to measure how many are for and against
the change.
Is the President the actual decision maker in this case? If not, who is?
Even though the president is responsible for the final call, her decision will be based
upon the inputs from the academic affairs cabinet.
What should the roles of a CEO, faculty students and alumni be?
The CEO should be responsible for deciding upon whether Catlin should upgrade its
status to that of a University. The faculty should be able to inform the CEO on the decision,
and how the change will affect the quality of education. The students can also participate in
this decision, expressing their opinions through surveys and polls.
How can the president promote change on a campus when many favor the status quo?
The president or CEO can promote a change even against the status quo, by clarifying
how the change can benefit the organization and all members in it. As a leader the
president/CEO should also clarify the organizational goals and long term plans.

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Case Study 2: Trilium Health Services
Brief Introduction to the facts:
Trilium Health Services have outlined several institutional goals to allow
development and utilization of health technology in the organization. The goals includes:
maximizing the resources of the facility, provided the needed community service, and contain
the community costs of healthcare. The strategies identified for the purpose were:
maintaining/increasing occupancy levels, maintain standards of teaching,
maintaining/increasing market share, limiting the rate of increase of healthcare expenses
(Trillium Health Services 2018).
Key Strategic Issues:
Economic recovery of Monroe County through program development which
contributes to local employment.
Previous and Current challenges faced by the organization:
Providence of high quality healthcare service with an awareness of its accountability
to the community for the costs associated with health service.
Possible Future Challenges:
 Maintain and/or increase occupancy levels
 Maintain teaching status
 Maintain/increase market share
 Limit the rate of increase in healthcare costs
Strategic efforts of managers to address the problems:
 Getting accreditation of level II Trauma Center

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 Improve utilization of Trilium Trauma Services
 Ensuring adequate opportunities for education for emergency residents
 Maintain adequate linkage with ambulatory service through medical command
and ALS
 Maintaining rotation for residents for clinical experience
 Provide at least 65% of Monroe County discharge for trauma and related
services
 Provide 85% of Monroe county outpatient emergency services
 Ensuring that new services does not increase the adjusted per case expense
 Ensuring cost per case does not exceed the regional average for similar
services
Answers specific to the case study:
 Think of an organization in which you have worked, volunteered, or simply
“observed”. What are the most important strategic issues facing that
organization?
Few of the main important issues faced by most organizations are:
 Ensuring they have the right talents and skilled personnel in place
 Ensuring sustenance and provisions for future development, growth and innovation
 Having the right organizational vision, that aligns with future developmental scope.
 Why are these issues strategic?
These issues are strategic because they exert a decisive influence on the possibilities
of future growth and success
 What makes an issue strategic versus tactical for an organization?