St Joseph’s Health Care: Leveraging Collaboration and Innovation to Define Strategic Directions

During a strategic planning process in early 2018, the chief executive officer of St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ontario, Canada encountered various challenges that tested her values-based leadership style and innovative approach to stakeholder engagement. She had not anticipated the skepticism from the senior management team that surfaced when she attempted to finalize the strategic plan for presentation to the board of directors. Although she faced resistance to the detailed wording of the proposed aims, she was opposed to diluting the language in the strategic plan. She found it important for all engaged stakeholders to see that their input had shaped the resulting plan. However, successful implementation of the strategic plan would depend on the support of her team members, who were accountable for its implementation. Overruling a management recommendation could potentially jeopardize the good working relationship she had established, but failing to deliver a plan to stakeholders that reflected their input posed a reputational risk for the organization. The chief executive officer had to decide how to move forward.

This case suitable for courses in organizational behaviour and in leadership at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The case provides information leading up to the decision point of the case. It provides readers with an opportunity to review and discuss options available to the chief executive officer, and to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each option. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>become familiar with strategic planning processes;</li><li>highlight the issues that leaders encounter when refreshing strategic priorities;</li><li>understand the key role that stakeholder engagement plays as part of the strategic planning process;</li><li>identify potential actions plans to address arising challenges, by using the facts and considerations highlighted in the case;</li><li>appreciate the benefits of aligning organizational values with leadership values; and</li><li>understand how organizational challenges can be addressed through leadership styles.</li></ul>

• authentic leadership
• strategic planning
• stakeholder involvement