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This study aims to investigate workplace stress and its related patterns (sources, patient interactions, and coping strategies) among health care employees in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Academic research in this area is limited, and the globalization of health care services requires an examination of areas that have the potential to affect employee performance - which ultimately impacts health care service and quality. Based on a sample of 175 employees from both public and private health care organizations, results indicate the primary source of workplace stress is role ambiguity, while the lowest cause of stress is patients. The primary coping strategy used by our sample participants is productiveness and activity. Our findings are useful to healthcare management in order to address employee stress-related concerns, and increase the quality of health care provided.

Recent public health initiatives have promoted accumulating 10,000 steps per day. Little previous research has evaluated the using pedometer in sustaining the physical activity level during worksite intervention. Hence, this study aims to the step changes of pedometer in a multicomponent worksite intervention.

This trial enrolled 43 participants recruited from brochures at outpatient clinic. Throughout the 12-week multidisciplinary lifestyle program, participant required to wear a pedometer and reported daily step count at baseline, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th week. The primary outcome measure was the step goal over the 12th week of intervention.

All subjects regardless men and women prior enter into the intervention recorded less than 5,000 of average steps count per day which is sedentary. At the 12th week of intervention, there were only 9.3 per cent subjects are sedentary. Majority of subjects (55.8 per cent) had achieved at least somewhat active, followed by low active (23.3 per cent). There were only 11.6 per cent subjects are classified as highly active at the end of the intervention. The result indicated the changes of average steps per day from baseline to 2nd (p < 0.01), 4th (p < 0.01), 6th (p < 0.01), 8th (p < 0.01), 10th (p < 0.01) and 12th (p < 0.01) week were significant. Likewise, the changes of average steps per day from previous time were significant at 4th (p < 0.01) week and 10th (p < 0.001) week.

This study did not associate the improvement health parameter and step counter as the core stone of this study intervention were extensive individual dietary regime and reinforcement of ZUMBA participation among participants through motivational interviewing counseling. Third, there was no control group in this study, where no pedometer and goal setting were provided to the control group in the previous reported effectiveness study (Jian Pei et al., 2017).

The step goal during a multicomponent worksite intervention in primary health-care setting has not been clearly defined. Besides, there are no clear data of generally daily step among primary health-care employees.

This Article Describes how a group of general practitioners involved in a ‘total purchasing’ pilot scheme approached the commissioning of community rehabilitation services, and the difficulties they encountered.

At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care was at the centre of the crisis. New demands made existing organizational practices and services obsolete. Primary health care had a great deal of responsibility for COVID-19-related care. The pandemic demanded effective leadership to manage the new difficulties. This paper aims to explore experiences and perceptions of managers in primary health care in relation to their efforts to manage the COVID-19 crisis in their everyday work.

The authors used a qualitative approach based on 14 semi-structured interviews with managers in primary health care from four regions in Sweden. The interviews were conducted during September to December 2020. Data were analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis.

Data analysis yielded three categories: lonely in decision-making; stretched to the limit; and proud to have coped. The participants felt lonely in their decision-making, and they were stretched to the limit of their own and the organization’s capacity. The psychosocial working conditions in primary care worsened considerably during the pandemic because demands on leaders increased while their ability to control the work situation decreased. However, they also expressed pride that they and their employees had managed the situation by being flexible and having a common focus.

Looking ahead and using lessons learnt, and apart from making wise decisions under pressure, an important implication for primary health-care leaders is to not underestimate the power of acknowledging the virtues of humanity and justice during a crisis. Continuing professional education for leaders focusing on crisis leadership could help prepare leaders for future crises.

The purpose of this study is to describe primary health-care managers’ perceptions of management competencies at different management levels in digital health services using the management competency assessment program as a framework.

A secondary analysis study involving 21 semi-structured individual interviews was conducted among Finnish primary health-care managers at different management levels (frontline, middle and senior). The deductive framework method was used to analyze the data.

Similarities and differences were found in management competencies between different levels of management. Competencies related to the use of digitalization were highlighted by managers at all management levels. Managers at all management levels were involved in developing digital solutions and supporting employees in using digital solutions in their work. Frontline and middle managers emphasized more issues related to day-to-day management and communication with employees, whereas senior managers highlighted the management of large entities.

In the secondary analysis, data were used for purposes other than originally intended. Therefore, the data are subject to limitations of the methodology applied and should be transferred to other contexts with caution.

Identifying the management competencies needed to manage digital health services is important to target managers’ training according to needs in the future.

The results could be used to develop the management of digital health services, as well as improve digital health services and their deployment.

Previous literature mostly examined managers’ informatics competencies and paid little attention to other management competencies. This study discusses more broadly the management competencies that digital health services require from managers at different levels of management.

Policy reforms to primary health care delivery in New Zealand required government-funded firms overseeing care delivery to be constituted as nonprofit entities with governance shared between consumers and producers. This paper examines the consumer and producer interests in these firmsʼ allocation of ownership and control utilising theories of competition. Consistent with pre-reform patterns of ownership and control, provider interests appear to have exerted effective control over these entitiesʼ formation and governance in all but a few cases where community (consumer) control pre-existed. Their ability to do so is implied from the absence of a defined ownership stake and the changes to incentives facing the different stakeholding groups. It appears that the pre-existing patterns will prevail and further intervention will be required if policy-makers are to achieve their underlying aims.

This paper aims to explore the role of retention strategies and psychological contract (PC) factors in private hospitals.

The current study is an empirical research. The study was conducted by receiving responses from a sample size of 190 respondents who participated in the Doctors and Nurses’ survey.

The study results show the relationship between PC and the retention strategies of employees in hospitals. The research found that employees try to be committed to the hospital due to the image of the hospital and career development opportunities. Creating a sense of commitment among the employees towards their job and organisation, making to feel pride in the job, creating an attitude among the employees, a willingness to advocate the benefits and advantages and satisfaction among the employee towards the job and organisation.

With a population of more than one million employees (Doctors and Nurses) in the Indian health-care sector, the sample needs to be more adequate. However, these limitations present scope for future studies on this topic bearing on the aspiration for generalisation of the findings on the entire population.

The study has strong practical implications in strengthening the relationships by identifying the factors of PC and influencing the retention strategies of health-care professionals in the hospital.

This research explores the changing dynamics of the Indian health-care sector. Health-care professionals may perceive and react differently to the retention strategies and policies of the HR system in the health-care sector and have more expectations of PC fulfilment that enhance their capability to use professional skills and resources in the realisation of their organisational goals.

Employee turnover is a growing challenge for health-care providers delivering patient care today. US population demographics are shifting as the population ages, which leaves the field of health care poised to lose key leaders and employees to retirement at a time when patient care has grown more complex. This means health care will lose its core of key employees at a time when skilled leadership and specialized knowledge is most needed and directly impacts health care's ability to deliver quality care. Operational succession planning (OSP) may be one solution to manage this looming challenge in health care, as the process identifies and develops the next generation of leadership. Thus, this exploratory national study used a quantitative and cross-sectional design to examine the relationship between OSP and employee turnover. Demographic and 10-point Likert scale data were collected from n = 66 medical practices, using an online survey instrument. Data were analyzed using various descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Distribution (frequency and chi-square) analyses of the study sample, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and regression analyses were performed across seven demographic characteristics of the medical practices: Specialty, Ownership Structure, Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) Physicians, Number of FTE Clinical Employees, Number of FTE Nonclinical Employees, Number of FTE Employees Left Position, and Region. Study results provided statistically significant evidence to support the relationship between OSP and employee turnover, highlighting that OSP was associated with lower employee turnover. The finding suggests that OSP can serve as an effective mechanism for increasing employee retention.

After studying this case, the students should be able to: explain the importance of employee engagement; illustrate the role of the participatory management style in an organizational context; discuss why managers may use engagement practices to operate effectively in businesses to lead change and innovation; identify the critical success factors, barriers and outcomes of employee involvement in driving high performance; and discuss the dilemma faced by the managers in the emerging economies while driving the momentum of excellence in the long run.

This is a real case about a leading health-care service company located in the Middle East. The health-care organization’s name is changed to NOVA for reasons of confidentiality. The NOVA is an independent, public joint stock company created to meet the curative needs of the public health-care system in Middle East. The company introduced the Employee Suggestion Scheme named Minara in 2011 in a Federal Government decree, introducing innovation as a major pillar of management in 2013 with intent to encourage organizations build innovative solutions and pioneer initiatives and apply it effectively in services, processes and programmes. Making the Minara programme work in line with the national health agenda, Ms. Fatima who headed the Excellence and Innovation Department took the initiative of accelerating the innovative Programme (Minara). The case data were collected based on both primary and secondary sources. Although the case is based on the real data, it has been ammonised. The case describes the transformation of the innovation process at NOVA through the employee engagement programme (Minara) in meeting the disruptive challenges. This case addresses the challenges faced by the Excellence and Innovation manager who used effective employee engagement practices through the Employee Suggestion Programme in a creative way to bring about innovation in the health-care sector. The case outlines the dilemma faced by the Excellence and Innovation manager in bringing about innovation through the Employee involvement programme in the emerging economic scenario. The case will focus on the analysis of the different aspects of the issues pertaining to employee engagement, employee motivation and the framing of empowerment strategies to bring about innovation and continuous improvement through an effective employee suggestion programme. The case is intended to give budding managers an insight into innovation and employee engagement practices that impact performance in the organization.

This case will be suitable to be used in Human Resource Management and Management of Change and Innovation course at undergraduate and Master’s level.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

The paper aims to study the influence of three dimensions of workplace spirituality (inner life, meaningful work and sense of community) on perceived and objective organizational performance in two primary health care settings: health centres (HCs) and family health units (FHUs), differing in terms of work organization.

Data on workplace spirituality and perceived organizational performance were collected from a sample of 266 health care workers (doctors, nurses and administrative staff). Data on objective performance were obtained from the respective regional health authorities. Multiple regression, GLM, and tests of mediation were carried out.

In both groups, perceived and objective organizational performance are predicted by sense of community. Additionally, FHUs presented significantly higher values in perceived and objective organizational performance, as well as sense of community and meaningful work. Finally, workplace spirituality and sense of community were found to mediate the relationship between work group and perceived and objective organizational performance.

The study's limitations include the convenience sample, as well as lack of control for the social desirability effect. Patient satisfaction surveys as well as the inclusion of predictive variables such as leadership should be considered in future studies.

Primary health care services, and particularly FHUs, revealed the importance of workplace spirituality. Work teams with higher sense of community had higher performance results, which may therefore be an input in policy decisions regarding primary health care.

This study compared the scores of workplace spirituality and perceived and objective organizational performance in two types of primary health care services, in a setting that approximates the quasi-field experiment. Workplace spirituality emerged as significantly mediating the relationship between work unit type and organizational performance.