Problem:
You're a healthcare administration fellow at the prestigious Stanford Healthcare. You have been rotating through the various departments over the past nine months and now you have the honor of working under the mentorship of Chief Financial Officer Linda Hoff. Stanford Medicine includes Stanford Healthcare, Stanford Children's Hospital, and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. This organization uses an integrated approach to strategic planning, which incorporates jointly agreed-upon strategic priorities from its various entities. It also ensures a high degree of congruence in strategic focus by each entity. Before outlining the strategic priorities for Stanford Medicine, it is important to note that a firm's directional strategy comprises three discrete yet interwoven components: vision, mission, and goals (or, in this case, priorities). Armed with this knowledge, you have familiarized yourself with the vision, mission, and priorities of Stanford Medicine. Below is what you found. When examining a company's financials, it is prudent to keep the directional strategy of the company in mind. After all, in order to advance many strategic priorities, which include fulfilling the mission and positioning the organization to achieve its vision for the future, proper management of the firm's scarce resources is vital. Failure to properly manage the financial performance of the organization can compromise the company's ability to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.