Conceptualizing ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH - Public health management and leadership perspectives

The thesis introduces a new conceptual model of organizational health and discusses its implications for public health management and leadership. It is developed with reference to organizational theories and ideologies, including New Public Management, the use of which has coincided with increasing workplace health problems in health care organizations. The model is based on empirical research and theories in the fields of public health, health care organization and management, and institutional theory. It includes five dimensions and defines organizational health in terms of how an organization is able to cope with the tensions associated with diverse values and competing institutional logics. This definition calls for an understanding of the tensions between values associated with quality, efficiency and integrity, and a dialectical perspective when attempting to assess the integration as well as the disintegration of such values. Possible implications for public health management and leadership include four different forms. The application of the conceptual model can potentially draw attention to value conflicts and help to clarify contradictory, institutional logics. It can also potentially support health managers and professionals in dealing with work health problems not only on an individual and group level, but also on an organizational and interorganizational level.