The manager and the merger: adaptation and survival in the blended organization

Recent decades have seen health care changing from a cottage industry of scattered providers to an industry of larger organizations and multi-organizational systems. Various organizational combinations continue to occur, especially in the form of mergers and the creation and expansion of systems. In the midst of this ongoing dramatic change the role of the individual manager remains essentially unchanged in concept, but the arena in which it is applied is rapidly changing. Areas of responsibility are becoming broader, staffs are becoming larger for individual managers, and many of the older "principles" of management are being tested and strained. Today's health care manager is learning that survival and success more than ever depend on flexibility and adaptability.