The ties that bind: innovation configurations in low- and middle-income healthcare delivery settings.

PURPOSE: This study examines innovation configurations (i.e. sets of product/service, social and business model innovations) and configuration linkages (i.e. factors that help to combine innovations) across six organizations as contingent upon organizational structure. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Using semi-structured interviews and available public information, qualitative data were collected and examined using content analysis to characterize innovation configurations and linkages in three local/private organizations and three foreign-led/public-private partnerships in Repiblik Ayiti (Haiti). FINDINGS: Organizations tend to combine product/service, social, and business model innovations simultaneously in locally founded private organizations and sequentially in foreign-based public-private partnerships. Linkages for simultaneous combination include limited external support, determined autonomy and shifting from a "beneficiary mindset," and financial need identification. Sequential combination linkages include social need identification, community connections and flexibility. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The generalizability of our findings for this qualitative study is subject to additional quantitative studies to empirically test the suggested factors and to examine other health care organizations and countries. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Locally led private organizations in low- and middle-income settings may benefit from considering how their innovations are in service to one another as they may have limited resources. Foreign based public-private partnerships may benefit from pacing their efforts alongside a broader set of stakeholders and ecosystem partners. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study is the first, to our knowledge, to examine how organizations combine sets of innovations, i.e. innovation configurations, in a healthcare setting and the first of any setting to examine innovation configuration linkages.

Examining innovation in hospital units: a complex adaptive systems approach.

BACKGROUND: We are in an innovation age for healthcare delivery. Some note that the complexity of healthcare delivery may make innovation in this setting more difficult and may require more adaptive solutions. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between unit complexity and innovation, using a complex adaptive systems approach in a hospital setting. METHODS: We conducted a quantitative study of 31 hospital units within one hospital and use complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to examine how two CAS factors, autonomy and performance orientation, moderate the relationship between unit complexity and innovation. RESULTS: We find that unit complexity is associated with higher innovation performance when autonomy is low rather than high. We also find that unit complexity is associated with higher innovation performance when performance orientation is high rather than low. Our findings make three distinct contributions: we quantify the influence of complexity on innovation success in the health care sector, we examine the impact of autonomy on innovation in health care, and we are the first to examine performance orientation on innovation in health care. CONCLUSIONS: This study tackles the long debate about the influence of complexity on healthcare delivery, particularly innovation. Instead of being subject to the influence of complexity with no means of making progress or gaining control, hospitals looking to implement innovation programs should provide guidance to teams and departments regarding the type of innovation sought and provide support in terms of time and management commitment. Hospitals should also find ways to promote and make successful pilot implementations of such innovations visible in the organization. A close connection between the targeted innovation and the overall success and performance of the hospital unit is ideal.