Related Experiment Videos
Formal strategy in public hospitals.
Long Range Planning
|January 9, 1991
Summary
Formal strategic planning in public service organizations like hospitals is more complex than often assumed. Hospital strategic plans are frequently expansion-focused, ambiguous, and lack integration, questioning their practical use.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Organizational Studies
- Public Administration
Background:
- Formal strategic planning is widely applied in business.
- Its application in public professional service organizations (e.g., hospitals) presents unique challenges.
- Previous literature may underestimate these difficulties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature and challenges of formal strategic planning in Canadian hospitals.
- To assess the realism and utility of hospital strategic plans.
- To explore the influence of the complex decision-making environment on strategic planning.
Main Methods:
- Survey of written strategic plans from Canadian hospitals.
- Qualitative analysis of plan content and characteristics.
Main Results:
- Hospital strategic plans often prioritize expansion.
- Plans exhibit ambiguity and loose integration.
- These characteristics raise concerns about their realism and utility for decision-making.
Conclusions:
- The complex and political environment of hospitals impacts strategic planning.
- Benefits of formal planning in public service organizations may be less tangible than in private business.
- Further research is needed to understand effective strategic planning in public service settings.