The Hartland Memorial Hospital case is a two-part exercise with related but different learning objectives.

Part A is an "inbox" simulation which requires students to understand and address a number of managerial/organizational issues in the case, including:

• Management of information overload
• Priority setting
• Rapid decision-making
• Filtering of information
• Delegation
• Understanding organizational politics
• Multi-tasking
• Communication

Overriding the simulation are issues around values and work-family balance, i.e., juggling multiple demands, both job-related and non-job related. The inbox exercise is intended to give insight into organizational dynamics and the pressures and conflicts affecting a busy senior hospital manager.

Part B presents the same situation as Part A, but asks the students to now approach the case from an organizational diagnosis and social network analysis standpoint, considering the inbox material as information to understand communication flows and forces impinging on the organization, from the perspective of the senior hospital executive. Issues implicit in Part B include:

• Organizational dynamics and politics "below the radar screen"
• Conflict management and power imbalance
• Communication flows, gate keepers, and barriers
• External environmental forces on the organization
• Spatial representation / effective communication of organizational relationships

The Hartland Memorial Hospital case is designed for first-year graduate students in hospital/health care administration, but can also be used with advanced undergraduates and graduate students interested in management of complex organizations.