British Academy of Management
Special Interest Group in
Healthcare Organization and Management
Background
With around 1.3 million employees in England, the British National Health Service (NHS) is
one of the largest organizations on the planet. Since its creation in 1948, it has been the
subject of ongoing political intervention and media scrutiny, in the interests of finding
appropriate cost- and medically-effective ways to organize and to deliver a range of services.
One of the latest interventions was the ten-year programme of ‘modernization’ launched in
2000, to develop a more patient-oriented service. That programme has been described as the
largest organization development initiative ever undertaken, in any sector, anywhere. Indeed,
it is perhaps surprising that the Academy did not already have a Special Interest Group
focusing on this sector. There are a number of healthcare management centres in existence,
but they tend to have a public policy focus, and draw primarily on a critical sociological
perspective. Part of the rationale for this Special Interest Group proposal is to develop a
multi-disciplinary focus on organizational and management issues, as a platform for
developing understanding and practice, and also for informing policy where appropriate.
Healthcare can claim a number of distinctive properties, generating special conditions and
problems. It is a multi-professional organization in which managers are not the most
powerful stakeholders, and where change cannot be directed without the prior approval of
other professional groupings (although some commentators argue that professional autonomy
is being eroded by government reforms). Because the service has an annual budget of over
£90 billion, funded by taxation, healthcare is constantly on the macropolitical agenda and
under the media gaze. In this climate, even small incidents can have major repercussions on
policy and practice. The service is thus under constant pressure for rapid and radical change,
or ‘modernization’, and while this creates tensions for those employed in the service, this
creates a valuable ‘living laboratory’ for the study of change, from which other sectors can
doubtless learn. It is however apparent that, with respect to other sectors, these ‘distinctive
properties’ are more often differences in degree than differences in kind.
The substance of organizational changes in healthcare are often complex. For example, to
meet the ‘two week wait’ target for patients with suspected cancers to see a specialist
consultant, hospitals and primary care organizations have implemented a series of changes in
new technology, facilities, processes, and patient information and support, affecting roles and
role boundaries (lead clinicians, specialist nurses, team co-ordinators), goals (waiting times),
micro-organization structures (multi-disciplinary teams and regional groups), macroorganization structures (collaborative networks), patient pathways (improved interorganizational co-ordination), and medical practice (booking and pooling patients, relocating
surgical procedures). The achievement of what appear to be simple goals in healthcare often
requires complex patterns of change. It is also noteworthy that, through research governance
guidelines, introduced in 2001, the NHS developed what has become a benchmark system for
the ethical scrutiny of research proposals, including those which only involve staff, and have
no direct patient involvement. Healthcare organization and management research is also a
meeting place for disciplines whose contributions are not well integrated, and where
complementarities are not always effectively exploited. Finally, interest in healthcare
management is global, but cross-cultural comparative studies are relatively rare.
While the case for a distinct SIG, focusing on healthcare, with a broad multi-disciplinary
perspective on organization and management issues, is relatively easy to establish, there is
inevitable overlap with other groups, particularly with the SIG Public Management and
Governance. Such overlaps in terms of research agendas, priorities, and themes are likely to
be limited, and it will be productive to keep under review the opportunities for joint events in
areas where interests do appear to coincide. The healthcare sector is of course not wholly
defined by the NHS, and the scope of this SIG in Healthcare Organization and Management
will encompass private and voluntary sector providers, public-private partnerships, and the
pharmaceuticals sector.
This SIG will seek to establish and to build on links with other related groups, where we
already have co-memberships, such as the Academy of Management Health Care
Management Division, and the Society for the Study of Organizing in Healthcare (SSOH).
We feel that it is important for healthcare organization and management research to have a
significant presence within the British Academy of Management, in order to widen access to
these other complementary groups and networks for Academy members, in addition to
providing a platform for healthcare research that is not necessarily congruent with the agendas
of those other bodies.
Objectives
1.
To act as a forum for mutual updating and for sharing research experience, findings,
methods, and ideas, for new faculty and experienced researchers, and for doctoral
students in this broad field.
2.
To promote the development of novel research agendas, using an innovative range of
mixed methods and interdisciplinary perspectives as appropriate.
3.
To promote inter-institutional collaboration, domestic and international, and to provide
a platform for the establishment of international links and comparative studies.
4.
To encourage the development of joint publications with group membership
contributions, including journal papers and books.
These objectives will be achieved in three main ways, in addition to contributions to the BAM
website and Newsletter:
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Organization of a BAM Annual Conference Track in Healthcare Organization and
Management.
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One ‘open’ workshop per annum, with guest speakers combined with opportunities for
networking.
¾
One ‘themed’ workshop per annum, based on the submission of members’ ideas,
focusing on a topic of interest to a significant number of members, exploring research
questions, methods, findings, and implications for practice and policy.
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Membership (June 2009)
Dr Rachael Addicott, Senior Researcher, King’s Fund, London
Dr Juan Baeza, King’s College London
Greg Bamber, Professor of Employment Relations, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
Dr David Bamford, Senior Lecturer in Operations Management, Manchester Business School
Paul Bate, Emeritus Professor, Royal Free & University College Medical School, University
College London
Ruth Boaden, Professor of Service Operations Management, Manchester Business School
David Buchanan, Professor of Organizational Behaviour, Cranfield School of Management
Roger Cowell, Knowledge Broker, Centre for Innovation in Health Management, University
of Leeds
Graeme Currie, Professor of Public Services Management, Nottingham University Business
School
Dr Carole Doherty, Lecturer in Health Care Management, University of Surrey
Patrick Dawson, Professor of Management, School of Business, University of Aberdeen
Dr Sue Dopson, Reader in Organizational Behaviour, Oxford Said Business School
Jane Farmer, Professor, UHI Millennium Institute, Centre for Rural Health, Inverness
Ewan Ferlie, Professor of Public Services Management, Royal Holloway University of
London
Louise Fitzgerald, Professor of Organization Development, De Montfort University, Leicester
Darren Green, Commercial Manager, Centre for Individual and Organizational Development,
Sheffield Hallam University
Janet Handley, Head of Department of Management, The Business School, University of
Huddersfield
Dr Martin Harris, Senior Lecturer and Director of Teaching and Learning, Department of
Accounting, Finance and Management, University of Essex
Dr Janet Harvey, Assistant Director CRSP, Social Sciences, University of Loughborough
Dr Jacky Holloway, Senior Lecturer and Head of Centre for Public Leadership and Social
Enterprise, Open University Business School
Dr Paula Hyde, Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Experiential Learning, Manchester
Business School
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Dr Joe Jaina, Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour, Cranfield School of Management
Martin Kitchener, Professor of Health Organization and Policy Studies, Cardiff Business
School
Sue Llewellyn, Professor of Public Sector Management, Manchester Business School
John Loan-Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Organizational Development, Loughborough University
Marie McHugh, Professor of Organizational Behaviour, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey
Lorna McKee, Professor of Management, University of Aberdeen
Becky Malby, Director, Centre for Innovation in Health Management, University of Leeds
Professor Graeme Martin, Director, Centre for Reputation Management through People,
University of Glasgow
Jill Newman, Head of Modernisation, North East Wales NHS Trust and Executive DBA
Student, Cranfield School of Management
Dr Janice Osbourne, Research Fellow, Cranfield School of Management
Dr Emma Parry, Research Fellow in Organization Studies, Cranfield School of Management
Dr Colin Pilbeam, Senior Research Fellow, Cranfield School of Management
Catherine Pope, Reader in Health Services Research, School of Health Sciences, University
of Southampton
Dr Jean Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Health Informatics, University of Central Lancashire
Professor Jill Schofield, Somers Chair of Health Care Management, The University of
Edinburgh Business School
Artur Steinerowski, Research Assistant, Centre for Rural Health Sciences, Inverness
John Storey, Professor of Human Resource Management, Open University Business School
Roy Stratton, Senior Lecturer in Operations Management, Nottingham Business School
Mike Wallace, Professor of Public Management, Cardiff Business School
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Committee*
CoConvenors
Events
coordinator
David Buchanan
Cranfield School of Management
David.Buchanan@cranfield.ac.uk
Louise Fitzgerald
Manchester Business School
Louise.Fitzgerald@MBS.ac.uk
Roy Stratton
Nottingham Business School
Roy.Stratton@ntu.ac.uk
Treasurer
Website
administrator
Student
Jill Newman (Exec DBA)
representative Cranfield School of Management
*
Jill.Newman@new-tr.wales.nhs.uk
These roles have been filled initially by a combination of invitation and volunteers.
Once this SIG is fully established, it will be appropriate to introduce an open and
democratic procedure for filling these positions, and to develop clearer statements of
roles and responsibilities.
Contact information
David A. Buchanan
Professor of Organizational Behaviour
Cranfield University
School of Management
Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL
T: 01234 751122 x 3481
E: David.Buchanan@Cranfield.ac.uk
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