Leaders and Health Care Organizational Change: Art, Politics and Progress

Citation

Holyoak, L. (2003), "Leaders and Health Care Organizational Change: Art, Politics and Progress", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 471-472. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730310505920

The stated purpose of Leaders and Health Care Organizational Change is to describe the processes involved in change and how leaders (and different leadership practices) can affect the success of such change. The book is aimed at health care managers and students of the same as well as of organizational psychology. At this juncture I would say that organizational psychology students would need some help to get the most from this book as, perhaps, would anyone without a reasonable working knowledge of the US health care system. Although outsiders can get an reasonable impression of what is being described in the case illustrations, those who, like me, have acquired all their information (and misinformation) about the US system through watching American hospital dramas, might want more background in order to fully understand the size and nature of what is happening, since all illustrations revolve around the scenario of the changeover to “managed care”. An appendix for those in this position would be very helpful.

What the book does have is 11 well‐structured (but sometimes lengthily titled) chapters dealing with the many issues that can arise when leaders try to take health care organisations through change. All the chapters have at least one case illustration, which describes situations that might happen (they are mostly not case studies depicting actual events, but are well‐informed scenarios). The sorts of topics that are dealt with include formulating, presenting and implementing change plans, and helping organizational members deal with the emotional consequences of change. The book leads off with an interesting discussion of the distinction between leaders and leadership, which serves as a useful starting point for those less familiar with this area. All chapters start with an outline of what is to follow and conclude with a summary, helping the reader assimilate the material that is presented.

What I found strange about the material presented, however, was the almost complete absence of cited sources. As an academic, I have been trained to view with caution pieces that do not support presented ideas with properly referenced evidence, and this book comes across as just Stewart Gabel’s opinion. I have no doubt, given his credentials, that what he has written is well‐informed by experience, but I wonder if presenting some opposing viewpoints might be helpful. Two of the chapters are based on previously published material that probably was well‐referenced, and it might be that the author’s aim was to produce a book which was uncluttered and easy to read, but given the case illustrations rather that case studies and the prescriptive tone of the book, I worry that it might give the wrong impression. I think this book will be most useful to practitioners who can relate the material to their experience and use Stewart Gabel’s writing as a source of another opinion to balance their own and those of others around them.