Public sector organizations are under pressure to adopt private sector tools to sustain legitimacy despite uncertainty about the compatibility of the techniques with this context. We explore the consequences of the misfit between the theories underlying two widely adopted managerial techniques (strategic planning and quality management) and the pluralistic power structure and values of public hospitals. We identify four scenarios of adaptation and use qualitative data to examine their empirical prevalence. We suggest that when the compatibility gap is large, there is greater likelihood that formalized techniques will be captured by and integrated into existing organizational dynamics (corruption of the technique) than that the technique will change these dynamics in a way consistent with its objectives (transformation of the organization). We examine the implications of our observations for understanding the role of managerial techniques in organizational change.
Abbot, A.The system of professions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
2.
Abrahamson, E.Managerial fads and fashions: The diffusion and rejection of innovations . Academy of Management Review, 1991, 16(3), 586-612.
3.
Abrahamson, E.Management fashion . Academy of Management Review, 1996, 21(1), 254-285.
4.
Ackroyd, S. , Hughes, J. & Soothill, K.Public sector services and their management. Journal of Management Studies, 1989, 26(6), 603-620.
5.
Ansoff, H.I.Corporate strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965.
6.
Ansoff, H.I.Critique of Henry Mintzberg’s ‘The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management’ . Strategic Management Journal, 1991, 12(6), 449-462.
7.
Berwick, D.M. , Godfrey, A.B. & Roessner, J.Curing health care: New strategies for quality improvement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1990.
8.
Brock, D. , Powell, M. & Hinings, C.R.Restructuring the professional organization: Accounting, health care and law. London: Routledge, 1999.
9.
Bryson, J.M.Strategic planning for public and non-profit organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1988.
10.
Carman, J.M. , Shortell, S.M., Foster, R.W., Hughes, E.F.X., Boerstler, H., O’Brien, J.-L. & O’Connor, E.J.Keys for successful implementation of total quality management in hospitals. Health Care Management Review, 1996, 21(1), 48-60.
11.
Cohen, M.D. & March, J.G.Leadership and ambiguity. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1986.
12.
Cooper, D.J. , Hinings, C.R., Greenwood, R. & Brown, J.L.Sedimentation and transformation in professional service firms. Organization Studies, 1996, 17(4), 623-648.
13.
Cox, T.The multicultural organization . Academy of Management Executive, 1991, 5(2), 34-47.
14.
Dean, J.W. & Bowen, D.E.Management theory and total quality: Improving research and practice through theory. Academy of Management Review, 1994, 19(3), 392-418.
15.
Denis, J.-L. , Langley, A. & Cazale, L.Leadership and strategic change under ambiguity. Organization Studies, 1996, 17(4), 673-699.
16.
Denis, J.-L. , Langley, A. & Lozeau, D.The role and impact of formal strategic planning in public hospitals. Health Services Management Research, 1995, 8(2), 86-112.
17.
Denis, J.-D. , Langley, A. & Pineault, M.Becoming a leader in a complex organization. Journal of Management Studies, 2000, 37(8), 1063-1099.
18.
DiMaggio, P.J. & Powell, W.W.The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 1983, 48, 147-160.
Ferlie, E. , Ashburner, L., Fitzgerald, L. & Pettigrew, A.The new public management. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
21.
Freidson, E.Professional dominance. New York: Atherton, 1970.
22.
Giacomini M.K. & Peters, M.A.Beyond ‘financial incentives’: How stakeholders interpret Ontario’s funding structure for midwifery. Canadian Public Administration, 1998, 41(4), 553-586.
23.
Gill, J. & Whittle, S.Management by panacea: Accounting for transience. Journal of Management Studies, 1992, 30(2), 281-295.
24.
Gordon, M.Assimilation in American life. New York: Oxford Press, 1964.
25.
Gray, J.Restructuring law firms: Reflexivity and emerging forms. In D. Brock, C.R. Hinings & M. Powell (Eds), Restructuring the professional organizations. London: Routledge, 1999, pp. 87-104.
26.
Greenwood, R. & Hinings, C.R.Understanding radical organizational change: Bringing together new and old institutionalism. Academy of Management Review, 1996, 21(4), 1022-1055.
27.
Hackman, J. & Wageman, R.Total quality management: Empirical, conceptual, and practical issues. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1995, 40(2), 309-342.
28.
Haque, M.S.The diminishing publicness of public service under current modes of governance . Public Administration Review, 2001, 61(1), 65-82.
29.
Hardy, C. , Langley, A., Mintzberg, H. & Rose, J.Strategy formation in the university setting. In J.L. Bess (Ed.), College and university organization: Insights from the behavioural sciences. New York:New York University Press, 1984, pp. 169-210.
30.
Johnson, R.L.Revisiting the ‘wobbly three legged stool’ . Health Care Management Review, 1979, 4(3), 15.
31.
Kitchener, M.‘All fur coat and no knickers’: Contemporary organizational change in United Kingdom hospitals. In D. Brock, C.R. Hinings & M. Powell (Eds), Restructuring the professional organizations. London: Routledge, 1999, pp. 183-199.
32.
Kitchener, M.The competing bases of legitimacy in professional bureaucracies: Antecedents, processes and outcomes of academic health center mergers . Working paper prepared for Commonwealth Fund, Harkness Research Fellows’ Final Reporting Seminar, Los Angeles, 23 June 2000.
33.
Knights, D. & McCabe, D.When ‘life is but a dream’: Obliterating politics through business process engineering. Human Relations, 1998, 51(6), 761-798.
34.
Knights, D. & McCabe, D.Are there no limits to authority?: TQM and organizational power. Organization Studies, 1999, 20(2), 197-224.
35.
Langley, A.The roles of formal strategic planning . Long Range Planning, 1988, 21(3), 40-50.
36.
Langley, A.In search of rationality: The purposes behind the use of formal analysis in organizations . Administrative Science Quarterly, 1989, 34(4), 598-631.
37.
Lozeau, D. Étude critique de la pratique de la gestion de la qualité dans les hôpitaux au Québec. PhD Thesis, Université du Québec à Montréal, October 1997.
38.
McLaughlin, C.P. & Kaluzny, A.D.Total quality management in health: Making it work. Health Care Management Review, 1990, 15(3), 7-14.
39.
Meyer, J.W. & Rowan, B.Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 1977, 83, 340-363.
40.
Miles, M.B. & Huberman, A.M.Qualitative data analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1994.
41.
Mintzberg, H.The structuring of organizations. Englewood Ciffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1979.
42.
Mintzberg, H.Strategy formation: Ten schools of thought. In J. Fredrickson (Ed.), Perspectives on strategic management. New York: Ballinger, 1988.
43.
Mintzberg, H.The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management . Strategic Management Journal, 1990, 11(3), 171-196.
44.
Mintzberg, H.Learning 1, Planning 0: Reply to Igor Ansoff . Strategic Management Journal, 1991, 12(6), 463-466.
45.
Mintzberg, H.The rise and fall of strategic planning. New York: Free Press, 1994.
46.
Mintzberg, H.Towards healthier hospitals . Health Care Management Review, 1997, 22(4), 9-18.
47.
Morris, T. & Pinnington, A.Continuity and change in professional organizations: Evidence from British law firms. In D. Brock, C.R. Hinings & M. Powell (Eds), Restructuring the professional organizations. London: Routledge, 1999, pp. 200-214.
48.
Nahavandi, A. & Malekzadeh, A.The role of acculturation in mergers and acquisitions. Academy of Management Review, 1988, 13(1), 79-90.
49.
Nutt, P.C. & Backoff, R.W.Strategic management of public and third sector organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
50.
Nwabueze, U. & Kanji, G.K.The implementation of total quality management in the NHS: How to avoid failure. Total Quality Management, 1997, 8(5), 265-280.
51.
Oakes, L.S. , Townley, B. & Cooper, D.J.Business planning as pedagogy: Language and control in a changing institutional field. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1998, 43(3), 257-292.
52.
Osborne, D.E. & Gaebler, T.Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1992.
53.
Peters, J.P.A strategic planning process for hospitals. Chicago, IL: American Hospital Publishing, 1985.
54.
Pollitt, C.Managerialism and the public services: The Anglo-American experience. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.
55.
Pollitt, C.The struggle for quality: The case of the National Health Service . Policy and Politics, 1993, 21(3), 161-169.
56.
Rainey, H.G.Understanding and managing public organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1991.
57.
Ranson, S. & Stewart, J.Management for the public domain: Enabling the learning society. London: Macmillan, 1994.
58.
Ranson, S. , Hinings, C.R. & Greenwood, R.The structuring of organizational structures. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1980, 25(1), 1-17.
59.
Reed, M.Organization trust and control: A realist analysis . Organization Studies, 2001, 22(2), 201-229.
60.
Rochon, J. , Gélineau, G., Barkun, H., Bernatchez-Simard, J., Bertrand, R., Duplantie, J.-P. & Rodrigue, N.Rapport de la Commission d’enquête sur les services de santé et les services sociaux. Québec: Gouvernement du Québec, 1988.
61.
Satow, R.L.Value-rational authority and professional organizations: Weber’s missing type . Administrative Science Quarterly, 1975, 20(4), 526-531.
62.
Spencer, B.A.Models of organization and total quality management: A comparison and critical evaluation . Academy of Management Review, 1994, 19(3), 446-471.
63.
Steiner, G.A.Strategic planning: What every manager must know. New York: Free Press, 1979.
64.
Vinzant, J.C. & Vinzant, D.H.Strategic management and total quality management: Challenges and choices. Public Administration Quarterly, 1996, 20(2), 201-219.
65.
Weiner, B.J. , Shortell, S.M. & Alexander, J.A.Promoting clinical involvement in hospital quality improvement efforts: The effects of top management, board and physician leadership. Health Services Research, 1997, 32(4), 491-510.
66.
Westphal, J.D. , Gulati, R. & Shortell, S.M.Customization or conformity: An institutional and network perspective on the content and consequences of TQM. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1997, 42(2), 366-394.
67.
Whittington, R. , McNulty, T. & Whipp, R.Market-driven change in professional services: Problems and processes. Journal of Management Studies, 1994, 31(6), 829-846.
