Dana-Farber's Case Study

Description of the Case Situation

Dana-Farber, an American cancer institute that was founded in 1947 by a famous children pathologist, Sydney Farber. It was initially aimed to address pediatric cancer. However, over time, the institution was revamped to pay attention to cancer issues in adults and children equally. Despite that at some point, Dana-Farber operated freely whereby individual researchers had the mandate to pursue topics of their interest. Notably, a bigger assortment of the studies carried out at Dana-Farber and other medical research institutes entirely rely on governmental and private funding in support of the necessities that must be outlined and followed-up. Owing to the president's realization and appreciation of rising financing trends in the 1990s, informed changes were adopted to address limited funding whereby financers focused on evaluating institutional contributions toward medical knowledge generation and influential dissemination of relevant findings. As a result, Dr. Edward Benz, Dana-Farber's President opted for Integrative research centers that could operate on pre-determined professional terms and policies. This vision gave rise to eleven different centers including the Centre for Nanotechnology in Cancer (CNTC).

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CNTC was strategically entitled to advocate for desirable translational research via extensive research. As a result, Dr. Barrett Rollins, the institutional Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) appointed Charlie Woods as the center's leader and chief scientist of the faculty. He was an excellent nanotech practitioner with vast skills. Besides, he ran a personally run laboratory that focused on carrying for-profit practices in favor of personal interests. For example, he managed to purchase and store an MRI in consideration to research pursuance in collaboration with Amitab Sheikh, a pioneer researcher on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Notably, GBM is one of the deadliest brain cancers (Anjum et al. 682). It has resulted in suffering and death of several victims including Richard who was a Diana Cohn's husband and Charlene father. Unknowingly emergent issues led to deteriorations in research progress thus jeopardy to GBM's in-depth understanding and support to translational research goals.

Diagnosis of the Problem

The Centre for Nanotechnology in Cancer (CNTC) portrays irresponsible leadership and misdirected managerial interests, which have prolifically contributed to unattained goals. The center has suffered a lack of proper decisions from critical practitioners such as the institutional CSO, the oversight team, strategic planning, and the scientific advisory board. Despite the prevalence of evidently discernible problems in CNTC, it has been difficult to address through influential solutions that can enable alignment to time-dependent aims that are well outlined in the center's business plan. For instance, Dr. Rollins hesitates from sound decision-making owing to reluctant review and analysis of the potential outcomes. Most importantly, Woods shifts his professional attention from organizational and center's aims to a personally owned laboratory, individual growth upward the professional hierarchy, and financial support from grant providers and medical businesses that prioritize competitive advantages and the chasing after non-cancer disease treatment and diagnosis.

It is essential to note that some of the core objectives of the CNTC are to effectively advocate for translational research in support of better cancer treatment. For instance, Diana Cohn has grown bitter about the center's failures due to the painful loss of her husband about thirteen years earlier. Notably, the loss of Richard Cohn was entirely contributed by a lack of effective medical attention and timely diagnosis of brain cancer (GBM). In fact, by the time the doctors realized the medical problem that caused his seizure, it was too late for him to undergo an operation. Similarly, without CNTC's contribution to better treatment and acknowledgment of the brain cancer type, it is undoubted that cancer is a critical fatal issue in society.

Furthermore, the 2010 CNTC results indicate failed attempts in some of the core goals such as attainment of performance targets, collaborative works with a majority of the essential laboratories, appropriately directed initiatives in the future, and financial performance. In light of one of Diana's complaints, the rate at which the CNTC acquires relevant grants in translational studies is quite low and demands urgent attention. She proposed aligning scientific information and knowledge (treatments and laboratory tests) to the aims that have been outlined in business plans.

The focal problem facing the CNTC is the improper application of leadership and sound managerial techniques. This claim is built on the premise that effective management ought to drive critical practitioners toward sustainable achievement of sectoral and institutional goals (Willis et al. 7). According to Hao and Yazdanifard leadership techniques are essential for enabling a proper understanding and acknowledgment of essential motives that must be incorporated in work to ensure competencies (2). For instance, CNTC leader exhibits fail by focusing on his laboratory and prioritizing accruable finances rather than ensuring the center achieves its aims in accordance to its relevance and formation within Dana-Farber institution, which is founded on effectively ganged up interactive research centers in an attempt to solve cancer problems through important and relevant translational studies. For example, his mastery of Nanotechnological application in cancer research and treatments ought to have paved the way for better understanding and approaches to carcinogenic problems in human society.

Moreover, Dana-Farber's CNTC is entirely susceptible to people's development through Wood's guidelines and exercises. As leaders, Wood and Rollins have failed to amalgamate the reachable skills, materials, and information with a critical focus on ensuring improvements toward cancer treatment tools and therapies. This notion springs from their failure to acknowledge the role of influential treatment of followers and seeking workable decisions while serving in the position of a leader regardless of the organization (Hao and Yazdanifard 5). For instance, a deeper analysis of capacities would have directed Rollins to choose a reliable leader who can prioritize CNTC and its goals throughout his dealings. Further, Woods operates under sole priorities without listening to ideas and welfare considerations for influential talents such as Sheikh who seems to operate as a goal dependent leader and dedicated researcher. His works echo the aims of the institution and the CNTC. McFadden et al. appreciate the role of evidence-based support and motivation of followers and employees while creating influential leaders for the betterment of organizations such as Dana-Farber (30).

Generation and Analysis of Decision or Course of Action

Considering the state of Dana-Farber's CNTC, failure must be addressed through feasible approaches to improving center leadership and decision-making. Through revamping the management of the center it is essential to ensure that the newly adopted managerial personnel are capable of not only focusing on the pre-set goals but also developing the people toward competencies, desirable organizational cultures, and sustainably registering an unbeatable level of organizational effectiveness at large (Young et al. 670). The CSO can bring a positive change in the center by analysis potential candidates on the grounds of technological skills, research influence, and managerial capacities before appointing a leader to replace Woods. Barquet et al. postulate that excellent leaders in research-based organizations have the mandate to focus on the people through analytical review of their potentialities while enhancing a difference in cultures (5). Therefore, Rollins ought to understand and appreciate that Woods does not befit the CNTC leader position due to dedication to growing his laboratory. Also, the CSO clearly understands that Woods is a spendthrift in nature for the sake of preferring unnecessarily beautified environments that only costs the organization more. Monetary management issues are not fit for a leader. Therefore, professional outsourcing interviews should be carried out with a clear focus on promoting those who are deemed fit to manage the CNTC such as Amitab Sheikh who is arguably a potentially better leader than Charlie Wood.

Employee training also presents a viable solution to CNTC's management problems. According to Barquet and colleagues, continuous learning and development is an essential mechanism that is designed to improve the people's ability to tackle emergent problems through mastery of skills and appropriate employability of the correct techniques and decisions (6). Therefore, considering Charlie Wood was preferred as a leader in the nanotechnology-dependent since time immemorial, his skills and capacities can be better channeled toward excellence by teaching what is critical for a leader in such a position (Barquet et al. 5).

Furthermore, learning and leadership developments stand an indubitable opportunity to grant Rollins and the top institutional managers the ability to continually improve the hired talents toward goal attainment and professional improvements (McFadden et al. 26). As such, fears of losing a well-vast nanotech profession like Charlie Wood will be eliminated by creating alternative competitors who can be hired on the grounds of merit proofs. Also, learning and development practices ensure an opportunity to revamp translational researchers into continuously growing and improving workforce that can easily solve uncertainties and risks that lie in that type of work they are expected to accomplish.

Lastly, Dana-Farber's management could enable CNTC's improvement and alignment to institutional objectives through legislation and policymaking. Notably, policies grant leaders to hire, fire, and punish the workers based on the outcomes of their work-related dealings. Policies are necessary for refraining non-compliant members from failure (Young et al. 671). Therefore, Dr. Edward Benz the President and his Vice, Jane Song have a duty to organize the top management to reform the institutional policies in favor of competency and sound leadership to enable goal attainment.

Anjum, Komal, Bibi Ibtesam Shagufta, Syed Qamar Abbas, Seema Patel, Ishrat Khan, Sayed Asmat Ali Shah, Najeeb Akhter, and Syed Shams ul Hassan. "Current status and future therapeutic perspectives of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) therapy: A review." Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy92 (2017): 681-689. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Syed_Hassan37/publication/317338308_Current_status_and_future_therapeutic_perspectives_of_glioblastoma_multiforme_GBM_therapy_A_review/links/5a09a23baca272ee4620ebf9/Current-status-and-future-therapeutic-perspectives-of-glioblastoma-multiforme-GBM-therapy-A-review.pdf

Barquet, Karina, Frank Thomalla, Michael Boyland, and Maria Osbeck. "Organizational culture for disaster risk reduction." (2016): 1-24. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karina_Barquet/publication/309487447_Using_learning_to_harness_social_and_organizational_culture_for_disaster_risk_reduction/links/581310f208aea2cf64e2e113.pdf

Hao, Moo Jun, and Rashad Yazdanifard. "How effective leadership can facilitate change in organizations through improvement and innovation." Global Journal of Management and Business Research (2015): 1-7. Available at: http://journalofbusiness.org/index.php/GJMBR/article/view/1737McFadden, Kathleen L., Gregory N. Stock, and Charles R. Gowen III. "Leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement: impact on pr...