TY - JOUR

T1 - Hospital innovation portfolios: Key determinants of size and innovativeness

A1 - Schultz,Carsten

A1 - Zippel-Schultz,Bettina

A1 - Salomo,Søren

AU - Schultz,Carsten

AU - Zippel-Schultz,Bettina

AU - Salomo,Søren

PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Background: Health care organizations face an increasing demand for strategic change and innovation; however, there are also several barriers to innovation that impede successful implementation. Purposes: We aimed to shed light on key issues of innovation management in hospitals and provide empirical evidence for controlling the size and innovativeness of a hospital's new health service and process portfolio. We show how health care managers could align the need for exploration and exploitation by applying both informal (e. g., employee encouragement) and formal (e.g., analytical orientation and reward systems) organizational mechanisms. Methodology: To develop hypotheses, we integrated the innovation management literature into the hospital context. Detailed information about the innovation portfolio of 87 German hospitals was generated and combined with multirespondent survey data using ratings from management, medical, and nursing directors. Multivariate regression analysis was applied. Findings: The empirical results showed that an analytical approach increased the size of innovation portfolios. Employee encouragement amplified the degree of innovativeness of activities in the portfolio. Reward systems did not have direct effects on the composition of innovation portfolios. However, they adjusted bottom-up employee and top-down strategic initiatives to match with the existing organization, thereby decreasing the degree of innovativeness and enforcing exploitation. Practice Implications: Hospitals should intertwine employee encouragement, analytical approaches, and formal reward systems depending on organizational goals.

AB - Background: Health care organizations face an increasing demand for strategic change and innovation; however, there are also several barriers to innovation that impede successful implementation. Purposes: We aimed to shed light on key issues of innovation management in hospitals and provide empirical evidence for controlling the size and innovativeness of a hospital's new health service and process portfolio. We show how health care managers could align the need for exploration and exploitation by applying both informal (e. g., employee encouragement) and formal (e.g., analytical orientation and reward systems) organizational mechanisms. Methodology: To develop hypotheses, we integrated the innovation management literature into the hospital context. Detailed information about the innovation portfolio of 87 German hospitals was generated and combined with multirespondent survey data using ratings from management, medical, and nursing directors. Multivariate regression analysis was applied. Findings: The empirical results showed that an analytical approach increased the size of innovation portfolios. Employee encouragement amplified the degree of innovativeness of activities in the portfolio. Reward systems did not have direct effects on the composition of innovation portfolios. However, they adjusted bottom-up employee and top-down strategic initiatives to match with the existing organization, thereby decreasing the degree of innovativeness and enforcing exploitation. Practice Implications: Hospitals should intertwine employee encouragement, analytical approaches, and formal reward systems depending on organizational goals.

KW - HEALTH

KW - HEALTH-CARE

KW - PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

KW - ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

KW - SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

KW - MANAGEMENT

KW - CREATIVITY

KW - BEHAVIOR

KW - SAFETY

KW - EXPLOITATION

KW - ORIENTATION

U2 - 10.1097/HMR.0b013e31822aa41e

DO - 10.1097/HMR.0b013e31822aa41e

JO - Health Care Management Review

JF - Health Care Management Review

SN - 0361-6274

IS - 2

VL - 37

SP - 132

EP - 143

ER -