Factors Associated with Hospital Leadership Development Activities

BACKGROUND: Leadership development within healthcare organizations is widely recognized as a key to success. Today's hospital industry faces many challenges and certainly needs well-prepared leaders who are able to deal with the dynamic and volatile environments. However, the extent to which a hospital is engaged in leadership development activities has not been well documented. This study aims to examine how external and internal organizational characteristics influence the existence of leadership development activities in hospitals. METHODS: This study uses a sample of non-federal, short-term general hospitals in 2008. Information regarding the provision or plan of leadership program, diversity strategy, succession planning, and career development is derived from the American Hospital Association's Annual Survey. Statistical analyses focus on comparisons of the characteristics between hospitals with and without leadership development activities. RESULTS: To date, univariate analyses have been conducted to examine the characteristics of hospitals with and without leadership development activities. Hospitals providing leadership programs have a higher percentage of system affiliation and network participation status. The proportion of accreditation by JCAHO and Member of Council of Teaching Hospital is higher for hospitals with leadership programs. On average, hospitals with leadership programs are larger. No statistical significance was found for different ownership status (e.g., for-profit vs. not-for-profit). DISCUSSION: This study suggests that organizational characteristics such as size and system affiliation are associated with the availability of leadership development activities, and that large and system-affiliated facilities have access to resources to offer leadership development activities. Knowledge of these factors is important for policy makers and managers who try to influence hospital provision of leadership development programs. A better understanding of these factors will help health administration students or those in the early career stages select organizations for management positions that may provide better opportunities for their future career.