The Effect of Professional Identity on Comprehensiveness in Strategic Decision Making: Physician Executives in the Canadian Health Care Context

Abstract

Purpose – This paper explores differences in decision-making approaches between physician executives and nonphysician executives in a managerial setting.

Design/Methodology/Approach – Fredrickson and Mitchell's (1984) conceptualization of the construct of comprehensiveness in strategic decision making is the central construct of this paper. Theories of professional identity, socialization, and institutional/dominant logics are applied to illustrate their impact on strategic decision-making approaches of physician and nonphysician executives.

Findings – This paper proposes that high-status professionals, specifically physicians, occupying senior management roles are likely to approach decision making in a way that is consistent with their professional identity, and by extension, that departments led by physician executives are less likely to exhibit comprehensiveness in strategic decision-making processes than departments led by nonphysician executives.

Originality/Value – This paper provides conceptual evidence that physicians and nonphysicians approach management differently, and introduces the utility of comprehensiveness as a construct for strategic decision making in the context of health care management.

Citation

Karmali, S. (2012), "The Effect of Professional Identity on Comprehensiveness in Strategic Decision Making: Physician Executives in the Canadian Health Care Context", Friedman, L.H., Savage, G.T. and Goes, J. (Ed.) Annual Review of Health Care Management: Strategy and Policy Perspectives on Reforming Health Systems (Advances in Health Care Management, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 95-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-8231(2012)0000013009