20150630 750 Disc Essay

20150630 750 Disc Essay 20150630 750 Disc Essay The project I am working on at Mayo Clinic deals with improving flow within the Supply Chain Management Department. Specifically, I am working with the Master Data Management and Sourcing Pricing Quoting teams to document current flow and resource use to better determine a smoother system and uncover any gaps in research and processing. In healthcare there is a continual push for optimization and SWOT and force field analysis provide a valuable assessment of opportunities and barriers to change. Through this project I’m gathering data through SWOT and force field analysis before studying a focus group comprised of members of both teams. The SWOT and force field analysis provide the framework of opportunities through strengths and pushback from having weaknesses and opposition to change. 1) Define the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats based on your analysis of your project. Explain your answer. Our strengths are determined by current elements and behaviors that boost our performance. After talking with several colleagues, one of the primary strengths within our department is proved success and a good reputation built from an experienced staff and involved leadership. Mayo is currently considered number two in healthcare supply chains according to Gartner. Another important strength is having the resources to make change. As a major healthcare supplier Mayo Clinic not only has purchasing power, they have the ability to work with development and build software that directly fits our organization. Weaknesses have to do with issues and behaviors within our organization that reduce or quality of care. We identified several weaknesses when thinking about how our teams work together and some barrier to change. Communication is a weakness among our supply chain. Although data travels quite well among teams communication about policy and procedure updates is not communicated or updated appropriately on team websites. Another weakness is trust among teams and team members. There is a lot of repeated verification of data as is flows through the system creating a lot of rework. Opportunities provide possibilities to make change developments that improve quality, efficiency, or lower costs. Several opportunities have also become apparent as the discussion has been opened up among teams. As both teams are newly staffed, there is a lot of opportunity to see how changes in the system can produce more efficient processes. We have also determined that defining roles and cross training could be very beneficial and support flexibility. Threats are influences that pose barriers to maintaining or improving the current state. Threats among our work teams include product disruptions for end users and decreased internal customer satisfaction as well as improper data reporting which can be very costly during annual audits. There are several other threats includ ing buying inaccuracy, and volunteerism among team members to embrace change and take on responsibility. 2) What are the opportunities for change? There is an opportunity for flow improvements as well as cross-training to improve data determination from end users. Mapping out the flow and identifying the best research tools to gather up-to-date, accurate information from within our system and from vendors should help to improve internal customer experience as well as build trust and teamwork. The goal is to reduce the time it takes from request submission to access to items. There is a secondary opportunity for developing better teamwork and communication through this process and outlining responsibilities. 3) What are the driving forces