ABSTRACT
A social network analysis of eighty-nine midlevel health care professionals showed that middle managers' strategic knowledge is positively associated with championing alternative ideas and synthesizing new information for upper management. In addition, the relationship between knowledge and middle management strategic activities in informal networks is moderated by the manager's social position.
Subject(s)
Decision Making, Organizational , Hospital Administrators , Hospitals, Religious/organization & administration , Institutional Management Teams , Professional Role , Social Support , Catholicism , Economic Competition , Humans , Interprofessional Relations , Knowledge , Leadership , Operations Research , Organizational Case Studies , Organizational Culture , Organizational InnovationABSTRACT
This study adopts a social network methodology to explore the achievement of strategic consensus in a hospital system. On the basis of responses from 88 middle managers, the authors determined that a manager's (1) knowledge of the internal capabilities and the external environment of an organization and (2) his or her social position in a management structure significantly affect the realization of strategic consensus. Managerial knowledge is essential, and its importance in the consensus-building process is enhanced by a manager's social position.
