Assignment: Interwest Healthcare Corp.

Interwest Healthcare is a nonprofit organization that owns 10 hospitals located in three western states. Cynthia Manzoni is Interwest's CEO. Vijay Singh, Interwest's CFO, and the administrators of the 10 hospitals report to Manzoni. Singh is deeply concerned because the hospital staffs are not being careful when entering data into the firm's management information system. This data involves information on patient intake, treatment, and release. The information system is used to compile management reports such as those relating to the costs of various treatments. Also, the system is used to compile reports that are required by the federal government under various grant programs. Singh reasons that without good information, the management and government reports are less useful and potentially misleading. Moreover, the federal government periodically audits Interwest and might discontinue aid if the reports are deemed inaccurate. Thus, Singh is worried about the managerial implications and the potential loss of federal funds. Singh has convinced Manzoni that a problem exists. She also realizes the importance of an accurate system for both management planning and maintaining federal aid. Six months ago, she invited the hospital administrators and staff members from the corporate financial office to a retreat at a resort. The purpose was to communicate to the hospital administrators the problems with the data entry and to stress the importance of doing a better job. The meeting was acrimonious. The hospital people accused Singh of being a bureaucrat who did not care about patient services. Singh accused the hospital staffs of not understanding the importance of accurate reporting. By the end of the meeting, Manzoni thought that she had a commitment by the hospital administrators to increase the accuracy of data entry at their hospitals. However, six months later, Singh claims that the problem is as bad as ever. Manzoni has hired you as a consultant to analyze the problem and to make recommendations that might improve the situation.

1. What are the potential sources of the problem?
2. What information would you want to analyze?
3. What actions might you recommend to increase the accuracy of the data entry?
4. How does your view of behavior affect how you might address this consulting assignment?

Economic concepts from Chapter 1 that you could integrate into your response: Organizational Architecture and Incentives. Economic concepts from Chapter 2 that you could integrate into your response: (a) Marginal Analysis, (b) Opportunity Cost, (c) Alternative Models of Behavior, (c) The Economic Model, and (d) Utility.

Case

Assignments

All questions should be answered for each case study. If calculations would enhance your commentary, it is strongly urged that you include these calculations. The length of a case study is determined by how well you include the requested information. Succinct, complete answers that show that you have prepared your writing with thought and reflection are preferable to answers that ramble and are not reflective of the course content. A complete, welldeveloped response can be given in one paragraph, several paragraphs or a page depending on the question and your ability to articulate your answer. If it requires more than one page that is acceptable as well. The written assignments will be critiqued on the technical part of your answer, the clarity and logical sequence of your response, and grammar and spelling. You are encouraged to use textbook concepts as you attempt to explain in your own words the answers to the assignments.

• Specific Formatting Instruction

All assignments must be completed as Word documents.

If you do not have Word youcan use Microsoft WordPad and use the rich text format (.rtf extension).

• All assignments must be prepared in the APA format, including references.

• Cover page.Use a single cover page that contains the title of the assignment and Margins.

All page margins should be the default margins for your word processing program. Use only the LEFT margin justification setting.

•Page numbering.Please use page numbering for all pages except the cover page.
•Spacing/Font.

All papers should besingle spacedonly (this includes spacing between paragraphs) and a 12 point font.

• Direct quotes/ paraphrasing.

Direct quotes and paraphrasing MUST be referenced and cited using APA guidelines. Although there is no limit on how many citations are in  the paper, there is a limitof 15% for quotations and 25% for unoriginal wording for this course. When more than one quarter of a paper seems to be unoriginal, it usually indicates a problem. Even if sources are properly cited and some of the words are changed, it raises the question of how much original thinking went into the paper. There is a big difference between starting with a blank page and writing your own thoughts, and building the paper around quotes, paraphrased sources, and the altered wording of another author. You are encouraged to use textbook concepts as you attempt to explain in your own words the answers to the assignments rather than relying heavily on quoted material. Try to think about how you would explain your answer to someone who has not taken a managerial economics class. High scores on the originality report in Turnitin.com are not just a result of plagiarism; they can also result from an incorrect quotation/citation methodology or from using words that have been rearranged from your sources. If you use someone else's work you must cite and reference it appropriately.

References.

You must include a separate References page in APA format with each paper. Anysource that is used to develop your paper must be included in this section.