Identifying organizational culture and subcultures within Greek public hospitals

Abstract

Purpose - Since organizational culture is undoubtedly critical in a highly competitive era, the purpose of this paper is to identify the core culture dimensions that exist within Greek public hospitals and examine inherent subcultures, based on employee characteristics. Design/methodology/approach - The study took place in 20 Greek public hospitals, randomly selected in eight major cities, and provided 749 usable responses from front-line employees. Statistical analyses used include descriptive statistics, t-tests, and analysis of variance. Findings - Surprisingly, employees in Greek public hospitals were found consider attention to detail, outcome and team orientation to be the least prevalent cultural characteristics of their employing organizations. After checking for potential variations in the way that employees view the operating organizational culture, significant differences were revealed based on age, job position and tenure in position. Nevertheless, gender, occupation and type of employment relationship do not seem to affect employee perceptions of culture. Practical implications - Developing a culture which fosters service quality is a prerequisite when trying to achieve maximum patient satisfaction. It is a prerequisite, however, that organizational agents hold a clear view of subcultures inherent in the main culture, in order to effectively manage employees and achieve long-term organizational survival and success. Originality/value - This research fills the gap in the area of organizational culture and subcultures in Greek public hospitals. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.