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Process and structure: resource management and the development of sub-unit organisational structure
1Health Economics Research Group, Brunel University.
Health Services Management Research
|February 8, 1992
Summary
Resource Management (RM) implementation in hospitals prompted significant organizational changes. Clinical directorates and clinical groupings emerged as preferred structures, fostering closer alignment between service providers and managers.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Organizational Studies
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- Resource Management (RM) initiatives necessitate novel approaches to hospital unit operations.
- Organizational structure is intrinsically linked to and influenced by new management processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effects of Resource Management on hospital unit organizational structures.
- To analyze the evolution of unit structures during a three-year national RM experiment.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of organizational structures (unit disciplinary, clinical directorates) in pilot sites.
- Evaluation of a three-year national Resource Management experiment commissioned by the Department of Health (DH).
- Examination of structural changes and their implications for training and organizational development (OD).
Main Results:
- Clinical directorates gained popularity, and unit disciplinary structures were replaced by clinical groupings.
- Both emerging structures represent a shift towards sub-unit organization.
- These changes aimed to integrate service providers' work and interests with unit management.
Conclusions:
- Structural transformations in hospital units were influenced by both Resource Management and the NHS Review.
- The study highlights the dynamic interplay between management reforms and organizational design in healthcare.
- Implications for training and organizational development (OD) require further consideration.