Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: evidence from the healthcare sector

Abstract

Purpose

Sound corporate governance is now a mainstream issue of concern in the business world. However, there has been no systematic investigation of corporate governance practices in the healthcare sector. Allowing for a distinction between two types of healthcare organizations (profit and non‐profit), this paper aims to investigate nuances in the application of sound governance principles across different types of healthcare organizations in the context of a developing country, together with differing understanding and applications of corporate social responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a qualitative interpretive methodology, comprising in‐depth interviews with top hospital executives drawn from 21 Lebanese hospitals representing both the profit and non‐profit varieties.

Findings

The findings suggest some basic governance differences between for‐profit and non‐profit hospitals in terms of managerial structure, ownership and the role of the board of directors, as well as differing orientations towards corporate social responsibility. There is a general lack of understanding and application of corporate governance best practices in family‐owned, for‐profit hospitals, whereas non‐profit hospitals are more in line with corporate governance best practices, and more attuned to corporate social responsibility.

Originality/value

This paper presents fresh insights into applications of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility principles in a very important sector that has not received systematic attention and consideration in the literature.

Citation

Jamali, D., Hallal, M. and Abdallah, H. (2010), "Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: evidence from the healthcare sector", Corporate Governance, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 590-602. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720701011085562