Professional groups within the health-care setting exhibit many of the same characteristics found in intact cultures or tribes anywhere in the world. They also exhibit the same tendencies to defend their own group from attack or threat from the outside. Each group of health-care professionals has its own view of reality and is likely to take the stance that the other professionals in their facility are not only different--but wrong. This sets the stage for conflict and turf battles among groups. The tribal characteristics often displayed by professional groups can be divided into five categories: language or dialect differences, value differences, training differences, thinking differences, and rules or norms for behavior. Bridging these gaps requires a clear understanding of the differences themselves and a basic respect for the fact that each group is right in most cases--from its own professional point of view. The goal is to link the tribes together through collaborative negotiations to produce the best combination of right answers for the organization as a whole.

Conflict, Psychological↗

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Merging, partnering, and restructuring: coping with the culture clashes.

Turmoil in the health-care industry caused by restructuring, mergers, and acquisitions shows no sign of letting up. This condition will continue as the industry adjusts to government and marketplace pressures. To ensure that you can carry out a merger successfully, you should look to creating a new, blended organizational culture. By viewing a model of culture as having three layers, you can develop an action plan to increase trust and open communications between the groups. An examination of organizations involved in complex changes such as a merger or acquisition shows that those who succeed focus on the human part of the equation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗