Volume 31, Issue 1 (3-2024)
RJMS 2024, 31(1): 1-11 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Sadeghian Lemaraski M, Ranjbar M, Mohammadizadeh C. The Impact of Health System Improvement-Oriented Management Strategies on the Intellectual Capital of Universities in Mazandaran Province. RJMS 2024; 31 (1) :1-11
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-9122-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-9122-en.html
, manfm43@gmail.com
Abstract: (120 Views)
Background & Aims: The health system encompasses organizations, institutions, groups, and individuals in both the public and private sectors that engage in policymaking, resource production, financing, and the provision of healthcare services with the aim of restoring, promoting, and maintaining the health of the population. The World Health Organization identifies the core functions of the health system as governance, financing, resource generation, and service delivery, and outlines the three main goals of the health system as improving and maintaining the health of the population, responding to people’s expectations, and providing financial protection against health-related costs. Additionally, it lists access, quality, efficiency, equity, and resilience among the subsidiary goals of the health system. Considering the significant role of the health system in improving the health of individuals in society, the use of appropriate management strategies to enhance the health system is essential. On the other hand, one of the challenges related to management strategies aimed at improving the health system is the inability to attract and retain skilled and specialized personnel within organizational teams. Improving the health system requires high levels of expertise and competencies, and if an organization cannot attract and retain specialized personnel, it will not be able to improve the quality of its services and products. Furthermore, community health and the improvement of the health system in any country are of great importance and play an effective role in economic and social development. Management strategies aimed at improving the health system may also lead to inconsistencies and deficiencies within organizations. In a world of continuous improvement, processes and changes are ongoing, and if these changes are not managed correctly, they may lead to reduced quality of services and organizational performance. On the other hand, in today’s hyper-competitive era, organizations are faced with an environment characterized by increasing complexity, globalization, and dynamism. Therefore, organizations, including educational institutions, face new challenges for their survival and stability, and overcoming these challenges requires greater attention to the development and strengthening of internal skills and capabilities. This is achieved through organizational knowledge bases and intellectual capital, which organizations use to achieve better performance in the competitive environment. Intellectual capital encompasses the capabilities, knowledge, culture, strategy, processes, intellectual assets, and communication networks that create value and competitive advantage for organizations, including universities, helping them to achieve their goals and, consequently, enhancing organizational performance. Given the high importance of improving the health system in the universities of Mazandaran province, it is necessary to examine the impact of management strategies aimed at enhancing the health system on intellectual capital and organizational performance within these universities to enable actions for development and progress in this field. This study aims to investigate the role and impact of management strategies aimed at improving the health system on the intellectual capital of universities in Mazandaran province and, as a result, to provide actions for the optimization and development of these strategies. Therefore, the main research question of this study is: What is the impact of management strategies aimed at improving the health system on the intellectual capital of universities in Mazandaran province?
Methods: The present study is an applied research in terms of its objective and was conducted using a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) with an exploratory design. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, under the code IR.IAU.SARI.REC.1404.174. The qualitative population consisted of faculty members at Islamic Azad Universities in Mazandaran province during the 2023-2024 academic year. The inclusion criteria were having at least five years of teaching experience and relevant education related to the subject, holding a PhD degree, and being a faculty member in management fields with sufficient expertise and experience in research-oriented university activities such as writing articles, books, research projects, and similar activities. In this study, a non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select interviewees based on the aforementioned inclusion criteria, and a sample of 20 individuals was considered for this research. In this method, the selection of sample cases by the researcher is based on the objectives of the study and the nature of the research. It should be noted that, in this research, 10 interviewees were considered based on the principle of data saturation. In the quantitative section, based on Cochran’s formula with a confidence level of 95% and a measurement error of α=5%, a sample of 369 individuals was selected using stratified random sampling based on university units. In the quantitative part, a researcher-made questionnaire on management strategies with a health system improvement approach and Bontis’ (1998) intellectual capital questionnaire were used to collect the required data. The researcher-made questionnaire on management strategies was developed with 20 items and a response scale ranging from very low to very high. Bontis’ (1998) intellectual capital questionnaire included 10 items with a response scale ranging from very low to very high. For qualitative data analysis, during the qualitative phase in the Delphi design, open coding and axial coding were used in two stages. In the inferential statistics section, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to examine the normality of the data distribution, and to investigate the research questions, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21 and PLS software.
Results: The results showed that the variable of management strategies with a health system improvement approach explained a total of 57.3% of the variance in intellectual capital, and the variable of management strategies with a health system improvement approach had a positive and significant impact on intellectual capital (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: The results indicated that management strategies with a health system improvement approach have a positive and significant impact on intellectual capital. These strategies affect the intellectual capital of universities both directly and indirectly, as they lead to the improvement of management structures, facilitate decision-making processes, enhance organizational culture, and update evaluation and motivation systems within universities. Intellectual capital includes human capital, structural capital, and relational capital, each of which can be enhanced through appropriate management strategies, thereby increasing the efficiency of universities in fulfilling their educational, research, and health service missions. Management strategies contribute to the enhancement of human capital by empowering staff, creating organizational learning environments, supporting innovation, developing IT infrastructures, and implementing total quality management systems, as they strengthen the skills, knowledge, and motivation of employees and faculty members and improve their participation in health service delivery.
Methods: The present study is an applied research in terms of its objective and was conducted using a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) with an exploratory design. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, under the code IR.IAU.SARI.REC.1404.174. The qualitative population consisted of faculty members at Islamic Azad Universities in Mazandaran province during the 2023-2024 academic year. The inclusion criteria were having at least five years of teaching experience and relevant education related to the subject, holding a PhD degree, and being a faculty member in management fields with sufficient expertise and experience in research-oriented university activities such as writing articles, books, research projects, and similar activities. In this study, a non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select interviewees based on the aforementioned inclusion criteria, and a sample of 20 individuals was considered for this research. In this method, the selection of sample cases by the researcher is based on the objectives of the study and the nature of the research. It should be noted that, in this research, 10 interviewees were considered based on the principle of data saturation. In the quantitative section, based on Cochran’s formula with a confidence level of 95% and a measurement error of α=5%, a sample of 369 individuals was selected using stratified random sampling based on university units. In the quantitative part, a researcher-made questionnaire on management strategies with a health system improvement approach and Bontis’ (1998) intellectual capital questionnaire were used to collect the required data. The researcher-made questionnaire on management strategies was developed with 20 items and a response scale ranging from very low to very high. Bontis’ (1998) intellectual capital questionnaire included 10 items with a response scale ranging from very low to very high. For qualitative data analysis, during the qualitative phase in the Delphi design, open coding and axial coding were used in two stages. In the inferential statistics section, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to examine the normality of the data distribution, and to investigate the research questions, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21 and PLS software.
Results: The results showed that the variable of management strategies with a health system improvement approach explained a total of 57.3% of the variance in intellectual capital, and the variable of management strategies with a health system improvement approach had a positive and significant impact on intellectual capital (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: The results indicated that management strategies with a health system improvement approach have a positive and significant impact on intellectual capital. These strategies affect the intellectual capital of universities both directly and indirectly, as they lead to the improvement of management structures, facilitate decision-making processes, enhance organizational culture, and update evaluation and motivation systems within universities. Intellectual capital includes human capital, structural capital, and relational capital, each of which can be enhanced through appropriate management strategies, thereby increasing the efficiency of universities in fulfilling their educational, research, and health service missions. Management strategies contribute to the enhancement of human capital by empowering staff, creating organizational learning environments, supporting innovation, developing IT infrastructures, and implementing total quality management systems, as they strengthen the skills, knowledge, and motivation of employees and faculty members and improve their participation in health service delivery.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
Send email to the article author
