Abstract
This research introduces a new concept of organizational climate, seen as a "mediator", namely a factor liable to produce positive effects on both individual performances and on work processes and relations, thereby creating a favorable relationship between work excellence and organizational innovation. Health systems have been called to promote sustainability, as actors who work for the health and well-being of their patients. Starting from these considerations, this work shows the main results of a longitudinal study conducted in the pediatric department of a large hospital in southern Italy, for a period of three years (May 2014–May 2017). The reference survey was very broad because in the first step of the research a general questionnaire was adopted which included various aspects. Subsequently, the analysis of the influence of the “climate” factor was carried out according to a 3-dimensional scheme: structural, interpersonal/relational and individual. The focus was therefore set—especially in the second survey—on those indicators responding to the objective of the research and that were consistent with the epistemological choice made. The main scope was to verify the conditions according to which the organizational climate can emerge as a novel factor capable of siding with and orienting innovative patient-centered policies of human resources management.
Highlights
Nowadays, healthcare organizations (HCOs) are forced towards a global competitiveness market, relentlessly pursuing goals of excellence and innovation that often require a deep transformation from the inside [1].The present research tackles with both a micro and macro concept of innovation, in order to understand the role played by each single factor in easing or hindering the mentioned phenomena
The studies conducted at an international level on the organizational climate [3,4], in a logic of organizational sustainability, along with the results provided by the authors in previous works [5], all highlighted the influence of worker-related factors on the organizational processes at any level
This work innovates the research on organizational climate by considering the latter as a determinant of both the individual behavior of employees and the global performance of the organization, i.e., a hard factor that actively contributes to shaping the organizational system, rather than a soft variable linked to organizational working dynamics
Summary
Healthcare organizations (HCOs) are forced towards a global competitiveness market, relentlessly pursuing goals of excellence and innovation that often require a deep transformation from the inside [1]. Organizational climate embodies the “psychological atmosphere that surrounds an organization, as the result of its structural operations” [6]: it seems that the climate is at the same time the result and one of the main determinants of the behaviors of both individuals and groups within the organization, and assumes a role of “mediator” for what concerns the productivity of the system Such wider representation of the organizational climate depends in turn on a wider idea of the organizational system, no longer seen as a mere sum of resources aimed at achieving a goal, but rather as an “open system” permeable to the influence of the surrounding external environment [6]. We conclude with a general discussion of our findings and limitations (Section 6) as well as highlight practical implications and future vistas (Section 7)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
