The Effect of Healthcare Managers ' Perceptions of Top Management Team Behavioral Integration on Strategic Change and Innovative Performance

Background: Healthcare organizations should constantly update their strategies, follow sectoral trends, provide continuous training and development opportunities to their employees, and create an environment conducive to innovation in order to adapt quickly to changes and gain competitive advantage. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reveal the impact of senior managers' perceptions of the behavioral integration of the top management team on their perceptions of strategic change and innovative performance. Study design/methodology/approach: The study analyzed information obtained from senior managers of 321 private hospitals in Turkey. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. Findings/conclusions: The results show that innovative performance is significantly enhanced by collaborative behavior, a sub-dimension of behavioral integration of the top management team. Moreover, another subdimension, joint decision making, has a negative effect on the initiation of strategic change, while collaborate behavior has a good effect on the execution of change. On the other hand, strategic change execution is negatively affected by joint decision making. The success of strategic change initiatives and the competitive advantage of the organization may be negatively affected. The influence of some cultural factors on business practices can create resistance to change and make it difficult for the top management team to work together. Overcoming this resistance requires cultural transformation and leadership development efforts within the organization. Limitations/future research: The study focuses only on the health sector. Further research can focus on other sectors with qualitative study methods.