How do public hospitals respond to environmental change? Evidence from Thailand Online publication date: Fri, 13-Jul-2018
by Dararat Rutanarugsa; Sundar Venkatesh
J. for Global Business Advancement (JGBA), Vol. 11, No. 1, 2018
Abstract: Population ecology or resource dependence theories predict that successful organisations will respond to changes in their environment with changed strategies that fit the environmental changes. In contrast, managerial choice theory predicts that organisational responses to environmental changes are a function of how managers in organisations perceive the environmental change and what managers perceive to be constraints on decision making. Our study of a large public hospital, based on interviews and questionnaire responses covering a 10 year period, in Thailand finds support for managerial choice theory. The nature of the environmental change, publicness of the organisation and the influence of professional values inhibit managerial choices in professional public organisations. As a result, even though this public hospital was faced with environmental changes resulting from radical healthcare reforms, managers in the hospital did not alter its strategies. Instead they followed a gradual and incremental approach to change by responding to specific demands of regulators.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the J. for Global Business Advancement (JGBA):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook