Category: Education

Case Study: Riverbend
Write a 5–7 page analysis paper about the Riverbend scenario. Focus on applying Senge’s core disciplines, organizational disabilities, systems archetypes, and systems maps to events in the scenario. Include critical thinking questions for stakeholders and recommendations for the CEO based on this analysis.
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to gain insight into organizational changes. Senge’s core disciplines, organizational disabilities, systems archetypes, and systems maps can be applied in the Riverbend case study. Through your analysis of the events and stakeholders in the case, you will be able to advance your understanding of key course concepts as they appear in authentic organizational contexts. The case will prompt you to interpret events from various viewpoints and to identify crucial decision points in the case.
The Situation
Ongoing communication problems between the Hmong community and Riverbend City Medical Center (RCMC) were punctuated painfully during the train derailment—especially through the altercation with the Vang family. An embarrassing article about the altercation in the Free Press prompts hospital CEO Eugene Pittman to investigate a successful Merced, California, program. In Merced, the medical community has been teaching principles of Western medicine to Hmong shamans (traditional spiritual healers). The shamans act as a bridge between medical professionals and the Hmong community. When consulting with Hmong patients, the shamans instruct the patients in Western medicine and also perform traditional rituals.
Considerations
It is important for leaders to consider the cultural norms and needs of the people they serve. It also sometimes becomes necessary to consider ideas that may seem unorthodox. As you read about the strategies being considered by RCMC leadership, consider the degree to which you feel the program will be effective. What steps should the hospital take to maximize the effectiveness of this program?

Synopsis of the Case Study
Introduce the case.
Provide a synopsis of the case study, focusing on how communication problems and cultural misunderstandings created conflict in the organization.
The Four Core Disciplines
Apply the four core disciplines to the case.
● Using the lens of the four core disciplines (personal mastery, mental models, team learning, and shared vision), analyze the extent to which each discipline reveals organizational dynamics and contributes to organizational learning or to the organization’s problems. How could application of the four disciplines have a beneficial impact on the organization?
A Systems Lens
Apply a systems lens to the case.
● Analyze Senge’s organizational disabilities and systems archetypes present in the case.
● Identify at least one organizational disability that contributes to the current organizational conflict.
● Explain at least one example of a systems archetype that can be seen in the case. Include a systems map of this archetype as part of your explanation.
Organizational Disabilities and Systems Archetypes
Analyze the organizational disabilities and systems archetypes present in the case.
● Organizational disabilities: Identify how at least one organizational
disability contributes to the current organizational conflict.
● Systems archetypes: Explain and map at least one example of a systems archetype evident in the case. Include a diagram of at least one systems map as part of your analysis.
Practical Recommendations
Provide a set of specific practical recommendations about how the CEO should proceed in a way that furthers the goals of supporting increased cultural understanding among stakeholders and the community.