A Descriptive Report on Group Culture at the Mayo Clinic (Author’s name)
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Introduction A company’s group culture can be one of its greatest assets or liability. A company’s group culture can be defined as its system of shared values, assumptions and beliefs that detail to its people the desired or least desired behavior. These values strongly influence both the employees’ behavior and overall organizational performance. Barney (2001) argued that firms with a rare (hard-to-imitate) group culture possess a competitive edge over their competitors. Bain & Company (2007) conducted a worldwide business leaders’ survey where they established that corporate culture was equally important alongside corporate strategy for business success. It is thus least surprising that most leaders of successful business enterprises quickly attribute their firm’s success to a sound group culture. Conventionally, a group’s culture is usually modeled by four elements: the intellectual reason (purpose) for togetherness; the emotional attraction which connects people’s hearts to a common task; the artifacts created, common knowledge acquired and practices developed together by members; and, the deeply rooted spiritual intention/ connection unifying the group. A perfect example of one such enterprise with an exemplary group culture is the globally renowned Mayo Clinic.
The Mayo Clinic’s Enduring Corporate Culture The Mayo Clinic’s culture is deeply rooted in a set of organizational core values. The clinic has been physician-led since it was founded at Rochester in the late 1800s (Berry & Seltman, 2008). The clinic’s primary mission is to offer the best daily care to all patients through an integrated clinical practice, education and research. Thus, the fact patient needs come first makes the primary value. Mayo’s value set and mission and make a strong foundation for the clinic’s Model of Care which is characterized by quality, compassionate medical care which is delivered in multispecialty and in an integrated academic institution. The clinic’s Model of Care portrays expectations for the clinic’s staff. Among the most important elements in the model include cooperative and collegial staff members that coordinate as a team (Berry & Seltman, 2008). Physicians are required to take their time and listen to their patients and assume personal responsibility for care in collaboration the patient’s personal physician. The allied health staff is required to exhibit strong work ethics that support their commitment to the Mayo Clinic. Every staff member is expected to selflessly share his/her expertise with colleagues and the general institution. The commitment to the Model of Care directly reflects the institution’s core values leading to the clinic’s repute as a global leader in health care service. There is greater emphasis on values, commitment and teamwork. Moreover, the clinic commits to embracing diversity in order to create an all inclusive and welcoming environment (Berry & Seltman, 2008). This diversity is integral to the institution’s mission of offering culturally relevant and excellent care to its diverse patients. It also fosters an all inclusive work atmosphere that appreciates diversity and allows employees to maximize on their fullest potential. The institution embraces these core values to serve its patients, apprentices, staff, suppliers and the community at large. Additionally, the medical sector is going through extensive changes and as such numerous new technologies are required. The institution works hard to keep its employees knowledgeable about this dynamic environment. It also welcomes constructive suggestions and ideas that can help in keeping it ahead in technological advances (Olsen & Brown, 2007). The clinic is also focused on progressive growth, especially through differentiated service provision. In regard to business costs, the clinic ensures that spending decisions are aligned in line with its future. Through proper planning and budgeting, the clinic can meet its need for facility rehabilitation, technology upgrades, etc, while prudently focusing on both today and the future. Education is always a core value of the Mayo clinic family. Through formal staff education and development programs, the employees of Mayo clinic are always growing on both personal and professional levels (Olsen & Brown, 2007). Employees usually spare some time off their busy daily schedules to assist medical students by demonstrating to them the wonder of science and through key experiential studies. Besides, the institution is aware that none of its growth and accomplishments would have been possible without its employees. As such, employee birthday parties, anniversaries and retirements are always marked with celebration. There are annual employee recognition ceremonies whereby awards for various accomplishments are given. The institution also has a special club for its retirees. Employees of Mayo clinic are principled and can be relied upon to work responsibly for the institution’s benefit and to that of its employees, patients and the surrounding community. Lastly, one of the institution’s most important contributions to its enduring success is through the creation the clinical teamwork model (Olsen & Brown, 2007). Through responsibility and shared commitment, Mayo clinic boasts of strong working teams that are relied upon to deliver results. The institution realized that the initial family rule was unsustainable, and thus a Board of Governors was created and charged with decision making. Governance as a cooperative science is deeply rooted in the culture and leadership transitions are always uneventful. The institution is guided by a Board of Governors that is chaired by a physician CEO.

Valuable Insights from an Interview with one of the Clinic’s Chief Executives To get an expert view about Mayo Clinic’s group culture, it was imperative to conduct an interview with one of its top managerial officers. I arranged for and succeeded to have one with Dr. Wyatt W. Decker, the Chief Executive Officer of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. According to Decker, the clinic has realized sustained success. He attributes thus to the institution’s unwavering commitment to its primary value as articulated by Dr William J. Mayo in his 1910 address to Rush Medical College. The primary value holds that the patient’s needs should come first. “This core value is the fundamental foundational ideal that the institution cherishes to directly influence employee behavior,” says Decker. Therefore, for the sick to benefit from advanced knowledge, the union of forces is imperative. The necessity of developing medicine as a cooperative science thus comes to reality. Decker further noted that the pervasive force of the clinic’s core value aids in simplifying decision making. When staff committees or the governing board falls short of consensus on a hard issue, the most likely question is, “What works best for our patient?” Decker further quips that such a question usually refocuses the discussion towards a particular decision. Another notable value as pointed out by Decker is medical teamwork, which basically translates to the pooling of talent or what Dr William J. Mayo referred to as a ‘union of forces.’ Thus the clinic’s patients get the best of doctors because group culture dictates intra-organizational teamwork and consultation. “In essence, medical teams pool their knowledge to serve patients in need of expertise from multiple medical specialties”, says Decker. This effective operation of team medicine is believed to be what gives Mayo Clinic a competitive edge. Decker also observed that the culture of Mayo is ‘boundary-less’, which opens up the institution, to eradicate walls and enable knowledge and talent to converge where it is needed. According to Decker, the teamwork culture heavily depended on hiring employees that make good teammates, especially through what is commonly referred to as deliberate hiring. New recruits typically pass through multiple interview sessions with multiple people where ‘behavioral’ questions are usually asked to reveal the candidate’s personal values. “For instance, a new hire may be asked how they would react if they observed another employee treating a patient rudely”, Dr. Decker adds. Moreover, the institution’s physicians must possess previous training from Mayo medical school or affiliated programs before being hired. This hiring approach is career centered rather than job centered, making significant upfront investments in carefully choosing and developing new employees basing on the assumption that most of them will turn out to be long-term employees. The institution hires employees with a high intrinsic motivation. Employees are paid competitively according to market trends but are not incented to work harder. Rather, high performance is realized through internal motives that are supplemented by a palpable teamwork culture. The transparency of medical records also enhances motivation since the physicians know that their patients’ medical records are easily accessible to fellow team members. As such, the physician would strive to do things right since trusted colleagues will be able to see the kind of fabric that they are made of. “Worth noting is that the clinic’s stars are never celebrated, rather they shine as part of the Mayo constellation”, says Decker. The institution’s shared governance model facilitates employee involvement in decisions, provides career developmental experiences and encourages pre-decision consensus. Dr Decker summarizes with his subjective view that the Mayo Clinics are characterized by the tough-guy/ macho culture given that it is an organization of individualists that often take high risks and get faster feedback on the actions ‘efficacy.

References
Barney, J.B. (2001). Organizational Culture: Can it be a Source of Sustained Competitive Advantage? Academy of Management Review, 11, 656-665.
Bain Company Survey. (2007). Why Culture can mean life or death for your organization. HR Focus, 84, 9.
Berry, L., & Seltman, D. (2008). Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic. New York: McGraw Hill.
Olsen, K., &. Brown, M. (2007). Preserving the Core of Quality Care as the Practice Evolves: The Mayo Clinic Model of Care. Group Practice Journal, 50 (4):10-19.

Appendix: Interview Guide for the CEO i. The primary value of Mayo Clinic is that the needs of the patient come first. Please expound further on this and how it enhances group culture. ii. Briefly explain how what is commonly referred to as team-based medicine or medical teamwork helps in the pooling of talent towards promoting group culture. iii. How does your institution go about the process of finding the right teammates, and how does this work towards creating the desired organizational/group culture? iv. In what ways does the institution exploit the power of intrinsic motivation towards the realization of the Mayo Model of Care? v. Explain how the Mayo’s shared-leadership model enhances group culture? vi. In a nut shell, how would you summarily describe the type of group culture at the Mayo Clinics?