The Present and the Desired Organizational Culture Model of Greek Public Hospitals

Abstract

This paper aims to record and analyze the existing organizational culture of general public hospitals and investigate the model of culture that the executives of the hospitals wish to see prevailing in the next 5-year period. The survey was conducted in twenty-six (26) general public hospitals of the region of Athens. The sample consists of 656 top and senior executives of the four departments of hospitals (medical, nursing, administrative, technical). The executives were asked to provide assessments using the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), based on the Competing Values Framework of Cameron & Quinn. The results of the survey show that the dominant organizational culture, in hospitals, can be described by the Bureaucratic Culture model (47.75% of respondents). The model of Clan Culture (23.76%) comes second while the Entrepreneurial-Adhocracy Culture model and the Market Culture model scored 10.02% and 14.46% respectively. The desired culture model is the Clan Culture or Participatory model (34.51%), followed by the Market Culture model (24.47%), model of Entrepreneurial-Adhocracy Culture model (22.49%), and finally the Bureaucratic Culture model (19.03%). In the existing situation, general public hospitals are characterized by internal orientation, observance of rules and processes as well as focus on control hierarchy, predictability and stability. The model of Entrepreneurial-Adhocracy Culture and the model of Market Culture, which both focus on the exterior macro-environment and growth for the hospital, record small percentages. As far as the future is concerned, hospital executives would like to see a change from the Bureaucratic Culture model of organization, to the direction of Participatory model, which will include elements of flexibility, creativity, dynamism and competitiveness that are inherent in the other two models (Market and Entrepreneurial-Adhocracy). The focus remains on the internal environment of hospitals but at the same time there is evidence of the wish to look into the external environment of hospital as well.