Relationship between organizational structure and creativity in teaching hospitals.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Organization structure and manpower are fundamental to establishing any organization.
• Teaching hospitals were assessed to understand their organizational dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between mechanic and organic organizational structures and creativity.
• To evaluate creativity from the perspectives of senior and junior managers in Shiraz teaching hospitals.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study was conducted.
• Questionnaires on organizational structure and creativity were administered to 84 hospital managers across 12 Shiraz teaching hospitals.
• Data were analyzed using SPSS 14, employing Spearman correlation and t-tests.

Main Results:

• A negative association was found between centralization and complexity and organizational creativity.
• Formalization negatively correlated with four dimensions of organizational creativity: reception of change, acceptance of ambiguity, encouragement of new ideas, and reduced external control.
• The study found a statistically significant negative association (p=0.001) between formalization and key creativity dimensions.

Conclusions:

• Hospitals with organic structures exhibit higher levels of creativity compared to those with mechanic structures.
• The findings suggest that structural characteristics significantly influence innovative capacity within healthcare settings.