Top manager and network effects on the adoption of innovative management practices: a study of TQM in a public hospital system

TLDR

The study investigates how top‑manager and network/institutional factors influence the adoption of innovative management practices in organizations. The authors examined TQM adoption within a public hospital system. Both top‑manager and network/institutional factors determine when and whether organizations adopt TQM, and their relative influence shifts as the innovation diffuses. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports findings from a study that combined two theoretical perspectives—top manager and network/institutional—to examine the factors influencing organizations to adopt innovative management practices. The study setting was a system of public hospitals and the innovation was Total Quality Management (TQM). Study results indicate that both top manager and network/institutional factors are important determinants of whether and when organizations adopt innovations. However, as predicted, the relative importance of these two sets of factors appears to change as an innovation becomes more widely diffused. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.