Mayo Clinic Case Study Summary

Edgar H. Schein, Professor Emeritus in the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has once mentioned, “Organizational culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.”1

Therefore, culture is so important as it shapes the performance of the organization in terms of making the right decisions, guiding employees appropriate behaviours and efficiency of getting work done etc., with respect to its success.

According to the framework of Hofstede’s model of organizational culture, it showed that there is no universal theory or approach to management for organizations, it is instead interacting with the very context in which it situated.2

For this case, in order to make analysis on the effectiveness of Mayo Clinic in transmitting and reinforcing its core value, we will need to apply the cultural components in the model: symbols, heroes and rituals which are subsumed under the term “practices” because they are visible to observers. Since the establishment of the Mayo Clinic, it has emphasized on the terminal value of “The needs of the patient come first”. Until today, all physicians, scientists and other employees of Mayo Clinic continues to attain this outcome by encouraging instrumental values like paying extra attention on teamwork, collegiality, professionalism, mutual respect and a commitment to progress for the organization.

Symbols are the most visible and shallowest perspective among all the layers. Culture is being manife...

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... of benefit is equal to patient have best image plus her parents have not be ostracized for their church plus the clinic have not violate their aims plus the church have no be effect. Also, the number equals to several thousand. The harm is patient’s parent feel unaccepted for their daughter died.

Besides that, if the physician has told the truth and whole story for her parent, the formula of benefit is the physician will feel he has responsibility. The formula of harm is equal to patient have not best image plus her parents have be ostracized for their church plus the clinic have violate their aim.

If the physician have not tell the truth and whole story for her parents, this action will bring the greatest happiness for greatest of people. Therefore, the physician should not tell the truth and whole story for her parents from the perspective of utilitarianism.