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Strategic control for a United Kingdom regional health authority: A conceptual framework
Author(s) -
Cantley Mark F.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830260102
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , control (management) , process management , strategic control , ignorance , strategic planning , order (exchange) , knowledge management , management science , computer science , strategic thinking , business , political science , engineering , marketing , law , artificial intelligence , geography , archaeology , finance
After a brief review of the nature of strategic planning, and the problems of defining health service objectives, the paper concentrates on the question of decision making and “strategic control,” in the context of a regional health authority, a system at the level of the organization. The purpose of monitoring is defined in detail. A critical review of concepts of control in various disciplines considers their suitability to the health authority context. An integration of feedforward and feedback control loops is developed in order to meet the specific characteristics of a system in which “environment” can be viewed as the “input,” and to provide the adaptive, learning capability which is required by the situation of insufficient data, ignorance of underlying mechanisms, and continuing change.