Hospital‘s organisational culture and leadership style of health care professionals in the context of health care system in transition: cross sectional survey

Abstract

Background: This paper joins the debate over changes in health care system culture and leadership styles of health managers. Acknowledging the specific complexities of hospitals, a suitable structure is necessary in order to provide expected services and care. Leaders often adapt their leadership behaviour in order to achieve the organization’s mission, which might affect employee satisfaction. To encourage discussion on organizational culture and leadership styles, the study was designed to explore the link between perceptions of organizational culture and leadership styles among health care professionals in the context of health care system in transition of a regional hospital in Lithuania. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlative design was applied in this study. The study was carried out in one of the largest health care institutions in Lithuania. The hospital had 350 beds with 840 employees and annually admitted more than 14,000 patients. Overall, 378 health care professionals (of 450 invited) participated and returned completed questionnaires (response rate = 84.0%). Results: The market type of culture and autocratic leadership style dominated in the hospital. Study results indicated a weak statistically reliable correlation between the autocratic leadership style and hierarchical type of culture, while correlation with other types of organizational culture was weak. An analysis of study results demonstrated a moderate statistically reliable correlation between the democratic type of leadership and all types of organizational cultures: hierarchical, clan, autocracy, and market. Conclusions: According to perceptions of employees in the regional hospital, the market culture prevailed and practical manifestations of leadership style more frequently displayed authoritarian than democratic features.[...].