The role of the human dimension in organizational agility: an empirical study in intensive care units

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of hospital leaders and high-performance work practices (HPWPs) in intensive care units (ICUs) in organizational agility and its impact on healthcare personnel satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: This study was carried out in three ICUs of an important Spanish public hospital, one for adults, one paediatric and one neonatal. The unit of analysis was ICUs personnel (324 individuals: 14.5%, 48.8% and 36.7% from the categories of doctors, nurses and nurses' aides, respectively) who were invited to participate in the study. The sample had 248 individuals, with a sampling distribution by categories that was quite similar to that of the population. To test the hypotheses proposed, structural equations modeling (SEM) were used as the maximum likelihood estimation method. Findings: The results confirm the proposed model and reveal the importance of the human dimension in ICUs on hospital agility and performance in terms of satisfaction of the clinical staff working in this area. Originality/value: This paper is original because it analyses units of high complexity, such as ICUs from a management and non-clinical perspective. In addition, it studies the role of hospital managers and HPWPs on employee outcomes, as well as in-hospital responsiveness in a very dynamic context that demands agility on the management approach.