Stakeholder Participation in the Strategic Plan Developing Process:  A Survey from the Hospital Setting

Mehdi  Jafari; Shahram  Tofighi; Jamil  Sadeghifar; Shabnam  Ghasemyani; Mohammad  Roshani; Zahra   Toulideh

doi:10.18502/jebhpme.v5i3.7291

Mehdi Jafari Department of Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Shahram Tofighi Health Management Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Jamil Sadeghifar Department of Health Education, School of Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
Shabnam Ghasemyani Department of Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Roshani Research Center for Health Services Management, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Zahra Toulideh Department of Quality Assurance, Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Ilam, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jebhpme.v5i3.7291

Keywords: Strategic plan, Stakeholders, Hospital, Iran

Abstract

Background: One of the most important requirements for developing a strategic plan is the effective participation of various stakeholders in plan formulation. The aim of present study was the evaluation of stakeholder participation in the strategic plan developing process in selected hospitals in Tehran.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. This study was conducted in selected hospitals at Tehran in 2015. The data collection tool was a researcher made questionnaire consisting of 3 parts: demographic data, stakeholder participation, and attention to the strategic plan's components. The validity of questionnaire was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's Alpha test (α = 0.8). The SPSS₁₈ software was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and percentages) were calculated.

Results: The findings showed that the highest (42.9) and lowest (34.7) mean score of stakeholder participation in the strategic planning formulation was related to "provision required information for planning" and" presentation of gathering and documentation of the plan, "respectively. Hospital managers (91 percent) had the highest involvement, and external stakeholders had the least participation (1.7 percent) in the strategic planning formulation. The least attention is devoted to evaluating the proposed strategies' feasibility, identifying competitive and strategic differentiation, and identifying stakeholders' concerns and needs, respectively.

Conclusion: Stakeholders' involvement in the formulation of the hospitals' strategic plan was not favorable, and hospitals were unable or unwilling to benefit from their participation in the program.