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What Is the Business of Health Care?

Harvard Business Review

The Emergence of Health as the Business of Health Care. On January 19, 2012, after 131 years of operation, the Eastman Kodak Company filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. The analogous situation in health care is that whereas doctors and hospitals focus on producing health care, what people really want is health.

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Why Kaiser Permanente Is Integrating Sustainability into Health Care Operations

Harvard Business Review

Kaiser Permanente (KP), one of the largest health care providers in America, has a clear mission: improve health. This health care leader is showing how an authentic, mission-driven connection to global issues can drive change. KP is not a minor player in a health care industry that accounts for 16% of U.S.

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Innovation Should Be a Top Priority for Boards. So Why Isn’t It?

Harvard Business Review

When we examined responses by industry, we found that directors in the health care and IT and telecom industries were most likely to consider innovation a top strategic challenge for their firms. As one director noted, “We spend a lot of time on operational strategy — growth, acquisitions, etc.

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Get Ready for the New Workforce

Harvard Business Review

While this graying of the Boomer generation certainly has implications for health care and social policy (and for me personally, as one of those eventual retirees), it may have even more significance for the nature of the workforce and the job of the manager.

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Joining Boards: It's Not Just Who You Know That Matters

Harvard Business Review

banking & financial services, insurance, real estate); Health Care (e.g., pharmaceuticals, biotechnology & life sciences, health care equipment and services); Industrials (e.g., chemicals, metals & mining, paper & forest products). banking & financial services, insurance, real estate); Health Care (e.g.,

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The More You Energize Your Coworkers, the Better Everyone Performs

Harvard Business Review

Focusing on relational energy between leaders and members of a large health care organization, we found that the experience of relational energy with a leader increases one’s motivation at work, attention to tasks, and absorption in work activities. This translates into higher work performance. The results are quite revealing.

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Business Has Changed, and Even Washington Has Noticed

Harvard Business Review

The Dow Chemical Company, for example, needs to assess costs and risks every time it considers a site for a new manufacturing facility. Johnson Controls has 170,000 employees and specializes in optimizing the energy and operational efficiency of buildings. It’s why I chose the subtitle of my new book: A Better World, Inc.: