Zhanming Liang, Peter F. Howard, Sandra Leggat and Timothy Bartram
The importance of managerial competencies in monitoring and improving the performance of organisational leaders and managers is well accepted. Different processes have been used…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of managerial competencies in monitoring and improving the performance of organisational leaders and managers is well accepted. Different processes have been used to identify and develop competency frameworks or models for healthcare managers around the world to meet different contextual needs. The purpose of the paper is to introduce a validated process in management competency identification and development applied in Australia – a process leading to a management competency framework with associated behavioural items that can be used to measure core management competencies of health service managers.
Design/methodology/approach
The management competency framework development study incorporated both qualitative and quantitative methods, implemented in four stages, including job description analysis, focus group discussions and online surveys.
Findings
The study confirmed that the four-stage process could identify management competencies and the framework developed is considered reliable and valid for developing a management competency assessment tool that can measure management competence amongst managers in health organisations. In addition, supervisors of health service managers could use the framework to distinguish perceived superior and average performers among managers in health organisations.
Practical implications
Developing the core competencies of health service managers is important for management performance improvement and talent management. The six core management competencies identified can be used to guide the design professional development activities for health service managers.
Originality/value
The validated management competency identification and development process can be applied in other countries and different industrial contexts to identify core management competency requirements.
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Edris Kakemam, Ali Janati, Bahram Mohaghegh, Masoumeh Gholizadeh and Zhanming Liang
Hospitals need highly trained and competent managers to be responsible for the strategic development, overall operation and service provision. The identification and confirmation…
Abstract
Purpose
Hospitals need highly trained and competent managers to be responsible for the strategic development, overall operation and service provision. The identification and confirmation of core management competency requirements is a fundamental first step towards developing the competent management workforce for sustainable hospital service provision. This paper reports on the finding of a recent study focusing on identifying managerial competencies required by middle and senior-level managers in the public hospitals in Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research design included position description analysis and focus group discussions with middle and senior-level public hospital managers in Iran. When analysing the identified knowledge, skills and attitudes, the validated MCAP framework was used to guide the grouping of them into associating management competencies.
Findings
The study identified 11 to 13 key tasks required by middle and senior-level managers and confirmed that the position descriptions used by current Iranian hospitals might not truly reflect the actual core responsibilities of the management positions. The study also confirmed seven core managerial competencies required to perform these tasks effectively. These core competencies included evidence-informed decision-making; operations, administration and resource management; knowledge of healthcare environment and the organisation; interpersonal, communication qualities and relationship management; leading people and organisation; enabling and managing change and professionalism.
Research limitations/implications
Competencies were identified based on managers' perceptions. Views and experiences of other stakeholders were not captured.
Practical implications
The seven core management competency identified in the current study provides a clear direction of competency development among senior and middle-level managers working at the Iranian public hospitals. The study also confirms that position descriptions do not reflect the actual responsibilities of current hospital managers, which are in need to urgent review.
Originality/value
This is the first study that has identified the core managerial competencies required by middle and senior-level hospital managers in Iran.
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Peter F. Howard, Zhanming Liang, Sandra Leggat and Leila Karimi
The purpose of this paper is to report on the validation of a management competency assessment tool for health services managers (HSM), which resulted from the development and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the validation of a management competency assessment tool for health services managers (HSM), which resulted from the development and validation of the framework, addressed by a previous paper.
Design/methodology/approach
The management competency assessment tool (MCAP Tool) was validated using assessment data from a sample of 117 senior and middle managers working in two public hospitals and five community services in Victoria, Australia. The assessments were conducted between January 2013 and September 2014.
Findings
Both validity and reliability of the MCAP Tool were demonstrated.
Practical implications
The MCAP Tool has the potential to assist in the measurement of the competencies of HSM. Further research is required to determine if the framework and tool are applicable to HSM in other settings.
Originality/value
This is the first published study outlining the validity and reliability of an assessment tool to measure the management competencies of Australian health service managers.
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Elizabeth Shannon and Andi Sebastian
Leadership, and leadership development, in health and human services is essential. This review aims to draw conclusions from practice within the Australian context.
Abstract
Purpose
Leadership, and leadership development, in health and human services is essential. This review aims to draw conclusions from practice within the Australian context.
Design/methodology/approach
This review is an overview of health leadership development in Australia, with a particular focus on the implementation of the national health leadership framework, Health LEADS Australia (HLA).
Findings
Since its inception, the HLA has influenced the development of health leadership frameworks across the Australian states and territories. Both the National Health Leadership Collaboration and individuals with “boundary-spanning” roles across state government and the university sector have contributed to the development of collaborative online communities of practice and professional networks. Innovation has also been evident as the HLA has been incorporated into existing academic curricula and new professional development offerings. Ideas associated with distributed leadership, integral to the HLA, underpin both sets of actions.
Practical implications
The concept of a national health leadership framework has been implemented in different ways across jurisdictions. The range of alternative strategies (both collaborative and innovative) undertaken by Australian practitioners provide lessons for practice elsewhere.
Originality/value
This article adds to the body of knowledge associated with policy implementation and provides practical recommendations for the development and promotion of health leadership development programmes.
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Ingrid Marie Leikvoll Oskarsson and Erlend Vik
Healthcare providers are under pressure due to increasing and more complex demands for services. Increased pressure on budgets and human resources adds to an ever-growing problem…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare providers are under pressure due to increasing and more complex demands for services. Increased pressure on budgets and human resources adds to an ever-growing problem set. Competent leaders are in demand to ensure effective and well-performing healthcare organisations that deliver balanced results and high-quality services. Researchers have made significant efforts to identify and define determining competencies for healthcare leadership. Broad terms such as competence are, however, inherently at risk of becoming too generic to add analytical value. The purpose of this study is to suggest a holistic framework for understanding healthcare leadership competence, that can be crucial for operationalising important healthcare leadership competencies for researchers, decision-makers as well as practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
In the present study, a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) was conducted to analyse competency descriptions for healthcare leaders. The descriptions were retrieved from peer reviewed empirical studies published between 2010 and 2022 that aimed to identify healthcare services leadership competencies. Grounded theory was utilised to code the data and inductively develop new categories of healthcare leadership competencies. The categorisation was then analysed to suggest a holistic framework for healthcare leadership competence.
Findings
Forty-one papers were included in the review. Coding and analysing the competence descriptions resulted in 12 healthcare leadership competence categories: (1) character, (2) interpersonal relations, (3) leadership, (4) professionalism, (5) soft HRM, (6) management, (7) organisational knowledge, (8) technology, (9) knowledge of the healthcare environment, (10) change and innovation, (11) knowledge transformation and (12) boundary spanning. Based on this result, a holistic framework for understanding and analysing healthcare services leadership competencies was suggested. This framework suggests that the 12 categories of healthcare leadership competencies include a range of knowledge, skills and abilities that can be understood across the dimension personal – and technical, and organisational internal and – external competencies.
Research limitations/implications
This literature review was conducted with the results of searching only two electronic databases. Because of this, there is a chance that there exist empirical studies that could have added to the development of the competence categories or could have contradicted some of the descriptions used in this analysis that were assessed as quite harmonised. A CIS also opens for a broader search, including the grey literature, books, policy documents and so on, but this study was limited to peer-reviewed empirical studies. This limitation could also have affected the result, as complex phenomenon such as competence might have been disclosed in greater details in, for example, books.
Practical implications
The holistic framework for healthcare leadership competences offers a common understanding of a “fuzzy” concept such as competence and can be used to identify specific competency needs in healthcare organisations, to develop strategic competency plans and educational programmes for healthcare leaders.
Originality/value
This study reveals a lack of consensus regarding the use and understanding of the concept of competence, and that key competencies addressed in the included papers are described vastly different in terms of what knowledge, skills and abilities they entail. This challenges the operationalisation of healthcare services leadership competencies. The proposed framework for healthcare services leadership competencies offers a common understanding of work-related competencies and a possibility to analyse key leadership competencies based on a holistic framework.
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Xiaoting Hu, Jizhen Li and Zhanming Jin
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of ordinary returnee and foreign employees in firm export performance, whose impacts have been overseen in prior research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of ordinary returnee and foreign employees in firm export performance, whose impacts have been overseen in prior research. This study also explores whether returnee and foreign employees function as substitutes or complements, and simultaneously considers the impacts of contextual factors on the relationship between returnee (foreign) employees and firm export performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using panel data of Beijing’s Zhongguancun Science Park manufacturing firms over a seven-year period, from 2009 to 2015, the paper applies panel Tobit regression to deal with the left-censoring dependent variable.
Findings
This paper finds the number of returnee and foreign employees has significantly positive influence in promoting firm export performance; however, substitution effects exist between them. In addition, the positive effects of returnee and foreign employees on firm export performance are conditional. For foreign employees, the presence of corporate president with international background and firm imports will weaken their positive impacts. In terms of returnee employees, their positive influence proves not to be significantly reduced by corporate president’s international background but weakened by firm imports.
Originality/value
Previous research only highlights returnee entrepreneurs’ and top managers’ positive influence on firm export performance. However, with the development of emerging countries, for instance, China in this paper, ordinary returnee and foreign employees are playing more and more critical roles in firms’ internationalization process. This paper responds to the practical needs to focus on ordinary returnee and foreign employees.
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A significant stream of literature focuses on host countries’ locations when explaining why firms internalize some of their activities in specific countries. At first glance, home…
Abstract
Purpose
A significant stream of literature focuses on host countries’ locations when explaining why firms internalize some of their activities in specific countries. At first glance, home location schemes and specificities seem to have attracted less attention in the scientific community. The purpose of this contribution is to provide a literature review linked to the specific issue of emerging countries’ country-specific advantages and the competitiveness of emerging market multinational enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is to present the main theoretical developments related to the role of home countries in the internationalization process of domestic firms in general and as far as the home context of emerging countries is concerned.
Findings
A rigorous analysis of the literature shows that theoretical developments and empirical studies on international business do refer explicitly or at least implicitly to the role of home countries in the international expansion of firms.
Originality/value
The value of this review is to develop the main streams of the literature and to serve as a basis for the other contributions published in this area.