Organisationskultur als Wettbewerbsfaktor im Krankenhaus?

Focusing on organizational culture as a “soft” factor, the authors pursue the question of how the hospital can increase its competitiveness. They attempt to determine which characteristics are present in an organizational culture that enhances the organizational members’ willingness to change and thereby increases the ability to innovate as a competitive factor. The distinction between an open and a closed organizational culture (Gebert/ Boerner 1999) serves as the basis for developing the hypothesis that a relatively open organizational culture promotes the organizational members’ willingness to change and an organization’s innovativeness and can be interpreted as a response to competitive pressure. This hypothesis is empirically tested on organizations outside the realm of hospitals. The authors then seek to find the extent to which a relatively open organizational culture is salient to innovativeness and competitiveness in hospitals as well and try to ascertain the current degree of openness in hospitals. The results of the investigation are used to draw conclusions for hospital management.