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Futures Thinking: Strategy Used by Health Care Organization to Survive Economic Collapse During the Great Recession of 2008

Received: 30 September 2020     Accepted: 23 October 2020     Published: 4 November 2020
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Abstract

This case tells how a leader of a health care institution used systems thinking as a foresight tool to help survive the Great Recession of 2008. The original study on which this case is based sought to understand the essence of leaders’ interior response to the Great Recession of 2008 with regard to sustainability and leadership. The impact of the Great Recession of 2008 on organizational leaders with regards to sustainable policy making was examined by addressing: (a) how sustainability is defined, (b) the philosophy that underlies sustainable thinking within organizations, (c) leadership elements that are important to sustainable implementation, and (d) how system breaking points provide the opportunity for sustainable transformation. Due to the leader’s systems thinking perspective, several behavior themes emerged. Organizational policies were then developed to help institutionalize these behaviors, and which prepared the organization for a successful and sustainable response to the oncoming catastrophe. Strategic management strategies, supporting futures thinking, ultimately guided and stabilized the organization throughout this economic crisis, effectively leading to future growth.

Published in American Journal of Management Science and Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11
Page(s) 56-61
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Foresight Methodology, Leadership, Systems Thinking, Great Recession, Health Care

References
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[7] Weinberg, G. (2001). An introduction to general systems thinking. Dorset House publishing co.
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[9] Kirk, P. (1999). Corporate evolution and the chaos advantage. The Systems Thinker, 10 (10), 1-12.
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[12] Senge, P. (1990) The fifth discipline: The art of practice of the learning organization. New York, NY. Doubleday.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Steven Walker. (2020). Futures Thinking: Strategy Used by Health Care Organization to Survive Economic Collapse During the Great Recession of 2008. American Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 5(5), 56-61. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11

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    ACS Style

    Steven Walker. Futures Thinking: Strategy Used by Health Care Organization to Survive Economic Collapse During the Great Recession of 2008. Am. J. Manag. Sci. Eng. 2020, 5(5), 56-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11

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    AMA Style

    Steven Walker. Futures Thinking: Strategy Used by Health Care Organization to Survive Economic Collapse During the Great Recession of 2008. Am J Manag Sci Eng. 2020;5(5):56-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11,
      author = {Steven Walker},
      title = {Futures Thinking: Strategy Used by Health Care Organization to Survive Economic Collapse During the Great Recession of 2008},
      journal = {American Journal of Management Science and Engineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {5},
      pages = {56-61},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmse.20200505.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajmse.20200505.11},
      abstract = {This case tells how a leader of a health care institution used systems thinking as a foresight tool to help survive the Great Recession of 2008. The original study on which this case is based sought to understand the essence of leaders’ interior response to the Great Recession of 2008 with regard to sustainability and leadership. The impact of the Great Recession of 2008 on organizational leaders with regards to sustainable policy making was examined by addressing: (a) how sustainability is defined, (b) the philosophy that underlies sustainable thinking within organizations, (c) leadership elements that are important to sustainable implementation, and (d) how system breaking points provide the opportunity for sustainable transformation. Due to the leader’s systems thinking perspective, several behavior themes emerged. Organizational policies were then developed to help institutionalize these behaviors, and which prepared the organization for a successful and sustainable response to the oncoming catastrophe. Strategic management strategies, supporting futures thinking, ultimately guided and stabilized the organization throughout this economic crisis, effectively leading to future growth.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Leadership and Human Resources, National University, San Diego, USA

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