Company to study in depth over the next 4 weeks.  Kaiser Permanente
 Research your chosen company.  Find a minimum of one library source, which will support your thesis in this assignment.  Review your assigned weekly lecture and text reading.  Select from this reading 3-5 key concepts, which will also support your thesis.  In a two to three page paper, address the questions below.  Your paper should follow APA format including a title and reference page.  The two to three page paper length requirement does NOT include the title page and reference page.  Using APA Standards in Your Coursework to ensure you are following the correct format. Managers have the responsibility to oversee and influence the direction of an organization. Their input is critical to an organization’s performance and success.  Describe the manager’s functional role in the organization. Explain expectations of the role. Evaluate how the manager fulfills the expectations of the role.  Explore the different types of planning in your assigned reading.  Explain what specific planning challenges you think this manager might face on a day-to-day basis.  Provide examples.  Compare these planning challenges to a manager in a similar position of 25 years ago. Chosen Source for Kaiser Permanente from School Library 2013 OCT 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital Law Weekly -- -Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States has been named the highest-ranked Commercial and Medicare health plan in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., based on its outstanding scores for consumer satisfaction and quality, according to the latest rankings by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA's Private (Commercial) Health Insurance Plan Rankings In 'NCQA's Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014,' Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States ranked among the top 25 Commercial and Medicare health plans nationwide. In the national Commercial category, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States ranked 16 out of 484 plans, and is considered a "Best Value" health plan. In the Medicare category, Kaiser Permanente jumped four spots to #8 out of 405 plans nationwide. "Being named the highest-rated health plan in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C., is truly a reflection of our commitment to high quality, exceptional care for our members," stated Kim Horn, President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc. "These excellent results are a testament to the top-notch care provided by Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group physicians and the clinical care teams." Now in its eighth year, 'NCQA's Health Insurance Plan Rankings' are based on quality data collected, analyzed and converted to scores by the NCQA. The three reporting categories are consumer satisfaction, prevention and treatment. The 'NCQA Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014' lists appear online at NQCA.org. 'NCQA Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014,' the most widely used per.

1. Company to study in depth over the next 4 weeks.
Kaiser Permanente
Research your chosen company. Find a minimum of one library
source, which will support your thesis in this assignment.
Review your assigned weekly lecture and text reading. Select
from this reading 3-5 key concepts, which will also support
your thesis. In a two to three page paper, address the questions
below. Your paper should follow APA format including a title
and reference page. The two to three page paper length
requirement does NOT include the title page and reference
page. Using APA Standards in Your Coursework to ensure you
are following the correct format.
Managers have the responsibility to oversee and influence the
direction of an organization. Their input is critical to an
organization’s performance and success. Describe the
manager’s functional role in the organization. Explain
expectations of the role. Evaluate how the manager fulfills the
expectations of the role. Explore the different types of planning
in your assigned reading. Explain what specific planning
challenges you think this manager might face on a day-to-day
basis. Provide examples. Compare these planning challenges to
a manager in a similar position of 25 years ago.
Chosen Source for Kaiser Permanente from School Library
2013 OCT 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News
Editor at Hospital Law Weekly -- -Kaiser Permanente of the
Mid-Atlantic States has been named the highest-ranked
Commercial and Medicare health plan in Maryland, Virginia,
and Washington, D.C., based on its outstanding scores for
consumer satisfaction and quality, according to the latest
rankings by the National Committee for Quality Assurance
(NCQA).

2. NCQA's Private (Commercial) Health Insurance Plan Rankings
In 'NCQA's Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014,' Kaiser
Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States ranked among the top 25
Commercial and Medicare health plans nationwide. In the
national Commercial category, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-
Atlantic States ranked 16 out of 484 plans, and is considered a
"Best Value" health plan. In the Medicare category, Kaiser
Permanente jumped four spots to #8 out of 405 plans
nationwide.
"Being named the highest-rated health plan in Maryland,
Virginia, and D.C., is truly a reflection of our commitment to
high quality, exceptional care for our members," stated Kim
Horn, President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-
Atlantic States, Inc. "These excellent results are a testament to
the top-notch care provided by Mid-Atlantic Permanente
Medical Group physicians and the clinical care teams."
Now in its eighth year, 'NCQA's Health Insurance Plan
Rankings' are based on quality data collected, analyzed and
converted to scores by the NCQA. The three reporting
categories are consumer satisfaction, prevention and treatment.
The 'NCQA Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014' lists
appear online at NQCA.org.
'NCQA Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014,' the most
widely used performance measurement tool in health care,
provides individuals, employer groups, and purchasers with the
ability evaluate the quality of various health plans while
considering important measures and demonstrated value, instead
of basing their decision solely on cost.
"The results show that our award-winning physicians are
providing superior quality care. In addition to great clinical
quality results, our patient satisfaction scores also tell us how
happy patients are with our primary care doctors and
specialists," said Bernadette Loftus, MD, Associate Executive
Director, The Permanente Medical Group. "We are truly
gratified to have earned the rank of the #1 health plan in the
Maryland, Virginia and DC, vastly outperforming all other

3. regional health plans."
Kaiser Permanente medical centers are staffed by physicians
from the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group - home to
many of the region's "Top Doctors." One hundred and sixteen
Mid-Atlantic Permanente Group physicians were recognized as
"Top Doctors" in the February issue of Northern Virginia
Magazine's 2013 Top Doctors list and 86 physicians were
named among the region's "Super Doctors Rising Stars" in the
April 2013 edition of the Washington Post Magazine.
This year, Kaiser Permanente opened multi-specialty medical
centers in Baltimore County and Largo, Maryland. Kaiser
Permanente also opened new centers in Northwest D.C., Tysons
Corner and Gaithersburg in 2012. This robust expansion has
provided members with new locations to receive superior care
and more medical services conveniently co-located within
Kaiser Permanente medical centers.
Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States has also been
ranked "Highest Member Satisfaction among Commercial
Health Plans in the Mid-Atlantic Region," five years in a row by
J.D. Power.* Kaiser Permanente scored the highest among
Maryland health maintenance organization (HMO) plans in the
Maryland Health Care Commission's 2013 Health Benefit Plan
Quality and Performance Report: Measuring the Quality and
Performance of Maryland's Commercial Health Benefit Plans.
For more information about Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-
Atlantic States, visit kp.org/midatlantic.
* Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc.
received the highest numerical score among commercial health
plans in the Mid-Atlantic region in the proprietary J.D. Power
and Associates 2013 U.S. Member Health Plan Study((SM)).
Study based on 33,533 total member responses, measuring six
plans in the Virginia-Maryland-D.C. region (excludes Medicare
and Medicaid). Proprietary study results are based on
experiences and perceptions of members surveyed December
2012-January 2013. Your experiences may vary. Visit
jdpower.com.

4. About Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States
Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States region,
headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, provides and coordinates
complete health care services for almost 500,000 members
through 29 medical centers in Maryland, Virginia, and
Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, Kaiser Permanente of the
Mid-Atlantic States is a total health organization comprised of
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc.,
and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, P.C., an
independent medical group that features approximately 1,000
physicians who provide or arrange care for patients throughout
the area. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is
considered one of Maryland's "Top HMOs," according to the
Maryland Health Care Commission. The health plan was ranked
in the nation's 25 top commercial health plans and 10 top
Medicare health plans - and the #1 Medicare plan for Maryland,
Virginia, and Washington, D.C. - by "NCQA Health Insurance
Plan Rankings 2012-2013 Private." For more information about
Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, visit kp.org or
follow us on Twitter, twitter.com/KPMidAtlantic.
SOURCE Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130924/DC85487
Keywords for this news article include: Hospital, Medicare,
Legal Issues, Managed Care, Health Policy, Health Insurance,
Insurance Companies, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic
States.
Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries
from around the world. Copyright 2013, NewsRx LLC
Kaiser permanente of the mid-atlantic states; kaiser permanente
of the mid-atlantic states highest rated health plan in the region.
(2013). Hospital Law Weekly, , 30. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1439093614?accountid=139

5. 31
Notes from text
One of the primary responsibilities of managers is to set goals
for where the organization or department should go in the future
and plan how to get it there. Walmart managers are facing a
struggle that executives in every organization encounter as they
try to decide what goals to pursue and how to achieve them.
Lack of planning or poor planning can seriously hurt an
organization.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
706/pages/68997339
Goal Setting and Planning Overview
A goal is a desired future circumstance or condition that the
organization attempts to realize. 4 Goals are important because
organizations exist for a purpose, and goals define and state that
purpose. A plan is a blueprint for goal achievement and
specifies the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks,
and other actions. Goals specify future ends; plans specify
today's means. The concept of planning usually incorporates
both ideas; it means determining the organization's goals and
defining the means for achieving them.5
LEVELS OF GOALS AND PLANS
Exhibit 7.1 illustrates the levels of goals and plans in an
organization. The planning process starts with a formal mission
that defines the basic purpose of the organization, especially for
external audiences. The mission is the basis for the strategic
(company) level of goals and plans, which in turn shapes the

6. tactical (divisional) level and the operational (departmental)
level.6 Top managers are typically responsible for establishing
strategic goals and plans that reflect a commitment to both
organizational efficiency and effectiveness, as described in
Chapter 1. Tactical goals and plans are the responsibility of
middle managers, such as the heads of major divisions or
functional units. A division manager will formulate tactical
plans that focus on the major actions the division must take to
fulfill its part in the strategic plan set by top management.
Operational plans identify the specific procedures or processes
needed at lower levels of the organization, such as individual
departments and employees. Frontline managers and supervisors
develop operational plans that focus on specific tasks and
processes and that help meet tactical and strategic goals.
Planning at each level supports the other levels.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
706/pages/68997341
THE ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING PROCESS
The overall planning process, illustrated in Exhibit 7.2,
prevents managers from thinking merely in terms of day-to-day
activities. The process begins when managers develop the
overall plan for the organization by clearly defining mission and
strategic (company-level) goals. Second, they translate the plan
into action, which includes defining tactical objectives and
plans, developing a strategy map to align goals, formulating
contingency and scenario plans, and identifying intelligence
teams to analyze major competitive issues. Third, managers lay
out the operational factors needed to achieve goals. This
involves devising operational goals and plans, selecting the
measures and targets that will be used to determine if things are
on track, and identifying stretch goals and crisis plans that
might need to be put into action. Tools for executing the plan

7. include management by objectives, performance dashboards,
single-use plans, and decentralized responsibility. Finally,
managers periodically review plans to learn from results and
shift plans as needed, starting a new planning cycle.
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Remember This
· • Planning is the most fundamental of the four
management functions.
· • A goal is a desired future state that the organization
wants to realize.
· • Planning is the act of determining goals and
defining the means of achieving them.
· • A plan is a blueprint specifying the resource
allocations, schedules, and other actions necessary for attaining
goals.
· • Planning helps managers think about the future
rather than thinking merely in terms of day-to-day activities.
Goal Setting in Organizations
The overall planning process begins with a mission statement
and goals for the organization as a whole. Goals don't just
appear on their own in organizations. Goals are socially
constructed, which means they are defined by an individual or
group. Managers typically have different ideas about what goals
should be, so they discuss and negotiate which goals to pursue.
The Shoptalk describes the process of coalition building that
often occurs during goal setting.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
706/pages/68997343

8. Organizations perform many activities and pursue many goals
simultaneously to accomplish an overall mission. But who
decides what mission and goals to strive for? Pursuing some
goals means that others have to be delayed or set aside, which
means managers often disagree about priorities. After China's
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group bought Volvo Car Corporation,
for example, the Chinese and European managers disagreed
strongly. The European managers wanted to continue pursuing
goals of providing safe, reliable, family-friendly vehicles for a
stable market. The new Chinese owners and managers, on the
other hand, wanted to expand aggressively into the super-luxury
car market. The goals of the two sides were mutually exclusive,
so managers had to negotiate and come to some agreement on
which direction the company would take.
Powerful, motivating goals that unite people are typically
established not by a single manager, but by developing a
coalition. Coalitional management involves building an alliance
of people who support a manager's goals and can influence
other people to accept and work toward them. Being an
effective coalitional manager involves three key steps:
· • Talk to customers and other managers. Building a
coalition requires talking to many people both inside and
outside the organization. Coalitional managers solicit the views
of employees and key customers. They talk to other managers
all across the organization to get a sense of what people care
about and learn what challenges and opportunities they face. A
manager can learn who believes in and supports a particular
direction and goals, and who is opposed to them and the reasons
for the opposition.
· • Address conflicts. Good managers don't let conflicts
over goals simmer and detract from goal accomplishment or
hurt the organization. At Toyota, for example, the recent recall
crisis exposed a longstanding internal conflict between
managers who wanted to pursue goals of faster growth and
higher profit margins and those who believed that rapid growth

9. would strain the company's ability to ensure quality and
reliability. Each side is blaming the other for the recent
problems, but it is the failure of managers to unite toward a
shared goal that is largely to blame.
• Break down barriers and promote cross-silo
cooperation. A final step is to break down boundaries and get
people to cooperate and collaborate across departments,
divisions, and levels. When Colin Powell was chairman of the
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, he regularly brought together the
heads of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines so they could
understand one another's viewpoints and come together around
key goals. Cross-enterprise understanding and cooperation is
essential so that the entire organization will be aligned toward
accomplishing desired goals.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
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As a manager, remember that you will accomplish more and be
more effective as part of a coalition than as an individual actor.
When there are goals that are highly important to you, take
steps to build a coalition to support them. Throw your support
behind other managers when appropriate. And remember that
building positive relationships, discussion, and negotiation are
key skills for good management.
Sources: Stephen Friedman and James K. Sebenius,
“Organization Transformation: ἀ e Quiet Role of Coalitional
Leadership,” Ivey Business Journal (January–February 2009),
www.iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/organizational-
transformation-the-quietrole-of-coalitional-leadership (accessed
January 27, 2012); Gerald R. Ferris et al., “Political Skill in
Organizations,” Journal of Management (June 2007): 290–320;
Norihiko Shirouzu, “Chinese Begin Volvo Overhaul,” ἀ e Wall
Street Journal, June 7, 2011, B1; and Norihiko Shirouzu,
“Inside Toyota, Executives Trade Blame Over Debacle,” ἀe

10. Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2010, A1.
ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION
At the top of the goal hierarchy is the mission—the
organization's reason for existence. The mission describes the
organization's values, aspirations, and reason for being. A
welldefined mission is the basis for development of all
subsequent goals and plans. Without a clear mission, goals and
plans may be developed haphazardly and not take the
organization in the direction it needs to go. One of the defining
attributes of successful companies is that they have a clear
mission that guides decisions and actions. When management
actions and decisions go against the mission, organizations may
get into trouble. Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, told his
managers that the fledgling company was going to overtake
Sears on the day he heard that Sears had reneged on its
satisfaction guaranteed policy. At the time, Walmart had $20
billion less in sales than Sears, but Walton believed that
stepping away from a core part of its mission would set Sears
on a downhill path—and indeed, the company never recovered.
Some people think Walmart made a similar blunder when it
began trying to court upscale customers, as described in the
opening example.7
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Tactical plans are designed to help execute the major strategic
plans and to accomplish a specific part of the company's
strategy.13 Tactical plans typically have a shorter time horizon
than strategic plans—over the next year or so. The word tactical
originally comes from the military. In a business or nonprofit
organization, tactical plans define what major departments and
organizational subunits will do to implement the organization's
strategic plan. For example, a tactical goal for Trader Joe's
location scouting division might be to identify three new
locations a year that fit TJ's target market of educated,

11. adventurous consumers and could support a TJ's store. Tactical
goals and plans help top managers implement their overall
strategic plan. Normally, it is the middle manager's job to take
the broad strategic plan and identify specific tactical plans.
The results expected from departments, work groups, and
individuals are the operational goals. They are precise and
measurable. “Process 150 sales applications each week,”
“Achieve 90 percent of deliveries on time,” “Reduce overtime
by 10 percent next month,” and “Develop two new online
courses in accounting” are examples of operational goals. An
operational goal for Trader Joe's product development
department is to identify ten new and intriguing items a week to
phase into stores. In the human resources department, an
operational goal might be to keep turnover to less than 5 percent
a year so that there are longtime employees who have close
relationships with customers.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
706/pages/68997353
Operational plans are developed at the lower levels of the
organization to specify action steps toward achieving
operational goals and to support tactical plans. The operational
plan is the department manager's tool for daily and weekly
operations. Goals are stated in quantitative terms, and the
department plan describes how goals will be achieved.
Operational planning specifies plans for department managers,
supervisors, and individual employees. Schedules are an
important component of operational planning. Schedules define
precise time frames for the completion of each operational goal
required for the organization's tactical and strategic goals.
Operational planning also must be coordinated with the budget
because resources must be allocated for desired activities.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
706/pages/68997354

12. Effectively designed organizational goals are aligned; that is,
they are consistent and mutually supportive so that the
achievement of goals at low levels permits the attainment of
high-level goals. Organizational performance is an outcome of
how well these interdependent elements are aligned, so that
individuals, teams, and departments are working in concert to
attain specific goals that ultimately help the organization
achieve high performance and fulfill its mission.14
An increasingly popular technique for aligning goals into a
hierarchy is the strategy map. A strategy map is a visual
representation of the key drivers of an organization's success.
Because the strategy map shows how specific goals and plans in
each area are linked, it provides a powerful way for managers to
see the cause-and-effect relationships among goals and plans.15
The simplified strategy map in Exhibit 7.4 illustrates four key
areas that contribute to a firm's long-term success—learning and
growth, internal processes, customer service, and financial
performance—and how the various goals and plans in each area
link to the other areas. The idea is that learning and growth
goals serve as a foundation to help achieve goals for excellent
internal business processes. Meeting business process goals, in
turn, enables the organization to meet goals for customer
service and satisfaction, which helps the organization achieve
its financial goals and optimize its value to all stakeholders.
In the strategy map shown in Exhibit 7.4, the organization has
learning and growth goals that include developing employees,
enabling continuous learning and knowledge sharing, and
building a culture of innovation. Achieving these will help the
organization build internal business processes that promote
good relationships with suppliers and partners, improve the
quality and flexibility of operations, and excel at developing
innovative products and services. Accomplishing internal
process goals, in turn, enables the organization to maintain
strong relationships with customers, be a leader in quality and
reliability, and provide innovative solutions to emerging

13. customer needs. At the top of the strategy map, the
accomplishment of these lower-level goals helps the
organization increase revenues in existing markets, increase
productivity and efficiency, and grow through selling new
products and services and serving new market segments.
In a real-life organization, the strategy map would typically
be more complex and would state concrete, specific goals
relevant to the particular business. However, the generic map in
Exhibit 7.4 gives an idea of how managers can map goals and
plans so that they are mutually supportive. The strategy map is
also a good way to communicate goals because all employees
can see what part they play in helping the organization
accomplish its mission.
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781285696
706/pages/68997354
Remember This
· • Planning starts with the organization's purpose or
reason for existence, which is called its mission.
· • A mission statement is a broadly stated definition of
the organization's basic business scope and operations that
distinguishes it from similar types of organizations.
· • Goals begin with broad strategic goals, followed by
more specific tactical goals and then operational goals.
· • Plans are defined similarly, with strategic, tactical,
and operational plans used to achieve the goals.
· • Strategic goals are broad statements of where the
organization wants to be in the future and pertain to the
organization as a whole rather than to specific divisions or
departments.
· • Strategic plans are the action steps by which an
organization intends to attain strategic goals.
· • The outcomes that major divisions and departments
must achieve for the organization to reach its overall goals are
called tactical goals.

14. · • Tactical plans are designed to help execute major
strategic plans and to accomplish a specific part of the
company's strategy.
· • Operational goals are specific, measurable results
that are expected from departments, work groups, and
individuals.
· • Operational plans specify the action steps toward
achieving operational goals and support tactical activities.
· • Managers at Trader Joe's set a strategic goal to
become “a nationwide chain of neighborhood grocery stores.”
· • Goals and plans need to be in alignment so that they
are consistent and mutually supportive.
• A strategy map is a visual representation of the key
drivers of an organization's success, showing the causeand-
effect relationship among goals and plans.