| Course | HA515 Leadership and Management in Health Care |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Management decision case |
| Length | About 850 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Master of Health Administration (MHA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HA515 Unit 4
Four Hundred Ten Thousand Dollars Against a Number Nobody Has Measured: A Management Decision Case on Closing a Composite Teaching Hospital's Overnight Satellite Pharmacy, Using Musts and Wants to Compare Four Options and Research on Failed Decisions to Shape the Process
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HA515: Leadership and Management in Health Care
Unit 4 Management Decision Case
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The hospital, the pharmacy and every figure are composite and bracketed; the case is a course exercise in decision method, not a recommendation for any real pharmacy.
The Decision
Decision maker: the director of pharmacy. Decision: whether the surgical tower's satellite pharmacy should continue operating from 23:00 to 07:00. Overnight, it handles about [70] orders, mostly antibiotics, pain medications and anticoagulants for post-operative patients. The finance committee has proposed closing it overnight to save the cost of two pharmacists and a technician.
Criteria: Musts and Wants
Kepner and Tregoe separate musts, conditions every acceptable option must meet, from wants, objectives that are weighted and scored (Kepner & Tregoe, 1965). Musts come first, because an option that fails a safety condition should never be rescued by savings. Musts:
1. First doses of time-critical medications available within [60] minutes of order, consistent with the hospital's medication timing policy, which federal hospital rules require hospitals to maintain (42 C.F.R. § 482.23, 2024).
2. Pharmacist verification of every high-alert order before administration, except in emergencies.
3. No increase in the number of medication handoffs for high-alert drugs.
Wants, weighted:
1. Annual savings, weight [30].
2. Median first-dose time for non-urgent orders, weight [30].
3. Effect on pharmacy and nursing workload, weight [20].
4. Ease of implementation, weight [20].
Four Options
1. Keep the satellite open overnight.
2. Close it and deliver all overnight orders from the main pharmacy, [ten] minutes away by pneumatic tube or courier.
3. Close it, expand the automated dispensing cabinets on the surgical floors and have main pharmacy pharmacists verify orders remotely.
4. Reduce hours to 23:00 to 03:00, when [70] percent of orders arrive.
Option 2 saved the most money and was eliminated before any scoring, because its courier delays failed the first must on nights with more than [two] urgent orders.
Applying the Musts
Option 2 fails must 1 on busy nights. Options 1, 3 and 4 pass all three musts.
Scoring the Wants
Option 1: savings 0; first-dose time 10; workload 8; ease 10. Weighted total about [600]. Option 3: savings 7; first-dose time 8; workload 6; ease 5. Weighted total about [670]. Option 4: savings 5; first-dose time 9; workload 7; ease 8. Weighted total about [720].
What Research on Failed Decisions Adds
In a study of hundreds of managerial decisions, Nutt found that about half failed, often because managers adopted the first idea offered, limited the search for alternatives and imposed the decision rather than involving those affected (Nutt, 1999). The finance committee's proposal is a single idea; the process should widen the search and involve surgery and nursing.
Designing the Process
1. Measure first: track first-dose times for two weeks, including the [ten] percent of orders that are time-critical.
2. Involve the affected: surgery's medical director, the night nurse managers and two overnight pharmacists join the decision group.
3. Widen the search: the group generated option 4, which the finance proposal had not considered.
4. Decide with criteria: the group applies the musts and wants openly.
5. Review: a three-month check after any change.
Who Bears the Change
Under option 4, orders arriving between 03:00 and 07:00, about [21] a night, go to the main pharmacy. Nurses on the surgical floors will wait longer for those doses, and main pharmacy pharmacists will absorb more work in the early morning, already their busiest period. The decision group asked for a check of main pharmacy staffing from 03:00 to 07:00 before the change starts, and a standing order that urgent doses after 03:00 come from the floor cabinets with remote verification.
How the Decision Will Be Communicated
The director will present the measured first-dose data, the musts, the scores and the chosen option at the surgical services meeting and the pharmacy staff meeting in the same week, so both groups hear the same reasoning. The two overnight pharmacists in the decision group will explain the change to their colleagues.
What Would Reopen the Decision
If median first-dose times for surgical patients rise by more than [15] minutes in the three months after the change, or if any time-critical dose misses the [60]-minute standard because of the change, the group will reconvene.
Recommendation
Adopt option 4, reduced overnight hours, saving about [$205,000] a year, and revisit option 3 when cabinet expansion is funded in the next capital cycle.
Limits
Scores are judgments made by the decision group and could reasonably differ by a point or two. Order volumes change with surgical schedules, and a busy trauma season could alter the timing of overnight orders.
Conclusion
The decision method eliminated the cheapest option on safety grounds, found a better one that the original proposal missed and involved the people who would live with the result.
References
42 C.F.R. § 482.23 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-482.23
Kepner, C. H., & Tregoe, B. B. (1965). The rational manager: A systematic approach to problem solving and decision making. McGraw-Hill.
Nutt, P. C. (1999). Surprising but true: Half the decisions in organizations fail. Academy of Management Executive, 13(4), 75-90. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1999.2570556
HA515 Unit 4 instructions, in plain terms
Unit 4 usually asks students to analyze a management decision using a structured decision method and to evaluate the process as well as the choice. Instructions commonly require stating the decision and decision maker, setting criteria, generating and comparing options, recommending one and reflecting on how the decision process could fail. Many courses use Kepner-Tregoe or a weighted scoring model, often alongside research on why decisions go wrong. Expect to cite the method and research in APA style, cite any regulation behind a safety criterion, bracket composite figures and show your scoring openly so readers can challenge it. Instructors often care as much about whether the right people were involved, and whether alternatives beyond the first idea were sought, as about the final answer.
How the HA 515 Unit 4 example is put together
The sample states the decision and its decision maker, with a margin note on showing that the process was sound. Musts and weighted wants follow, with the first must tied to the hospital's medication timing policy and federal hospital rules. Four options are listed, and the highlighted sentence explains why the cheapest one was eliminated before scoring. Scores for the remaining three are shown with a margin note inviting challenge. Research on why half of managerial decisions fail shapes a five-step process. Who bears the change, carrying a third note, how the decision will be communicated, what would reopen it, the recommendation, limits and a conclusion close the case.
Where the points sit in the HA515 Unit 4 rubric
Decision case rubrics in HA 515 usually give points for stating the decision clearly, setting criteria, generating options, applying the method correctly, evaluating the process, recommending with reasons, citing sources and presenting the scoring. Criteria points depend on separating conditions that must be met from preferences that are weighted. Option points go to more than the first idea, including options the original proposal missed. Method points reward applying musts before wants. Process points require involvement of those affected and a search for alternatives. Recommendation points go to a choice with conditions. Cases that show who absorbs the change and adjust for them often earn top marks, since a decision that ignores its costs to others rarely holds.
HA515 Unit 4 help from the desk
Decision papers often lose points by scoring options without first applying safety conditions, so savings can outweigh risk. Another gap is evaluating only the options in the original proposal. Some papers present a recommendation without showing the scores, which hides judgment. Others ignore who will carry the burden of the change, such as nurses and the main pharmacy. Separate musts from wants, generate at least one option nobody proposed, show every score and involve the people affected. Then explain how the decision will be communicated and what would reopen it. Measuring the unmeasured effect, here first-dose times, before deciding is often the most important step in the process.
Get an HA515 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Paste in the case assigned for Unit 4, or outline a choice your unit faced recently, plus the rubric. The first decision case is written free in 24-48h, with criteria separated into musts and wants, options scored openly, and the chosen course given a measure and a reversal point. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HA515 Unit 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HA515 Unit 4 sample paper?
This page has the full HA515 Unit 4 management decision case on a composite teaching hospital's overnight satellite pharmacy, applying musts and wants to four options, drawing on three references. A choice you face can be set out with the same musts and wants.
What is the Kepner-Tregoe decision method?
A structured approach that separates musts, conditions every option must meet, from wants, weighted objectives used to score options that pass.
Why do managerial decisions fail?
Research by Nutt found many fail because managers adopt the first idea, limit the search for options and impose decisions rather than involve others.
Why apply musts before scoring?
So an option that fails a safety condition cannot be rescued by high scores on cost or convenience.
How long is the HA515 Unit 4 case?
About five pages with criteria, options, scores and a process section.