Leadership effectiveness of hospital managers in Iran: a qualitative study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the leadership effectiveness of hospital managers in Iran. Design/methodology/approach Top managers (15), middle managers (10) and operational managers (5) of public, private or social security hospitals in Tehran participated in a qualitative study using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed via MAXQDA 10 software. Findings The findings were categorized into two main themes of internal and external factors with eight sub-themes. The most important internal factors that had an influence on the leadership of the hospital managers were intra-organizational relations, manager's personality traits, knowledge, attitude and skills of the manager. The most important external factors included extra-organizational relations, macro-level health policies, access to special financial resources, and social, economic and political factors. Originality/value Although there are several studies on hospital managers' leadership worldwide, this study is the first to investigate the leadership effectiveness of hospital managers in Iran.