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Strategic change in the ambulance service: barriers and success strategies for the implementation of high‐performance management systems
Author(s) -
Woollard Malcolm,
Lewis Duncan,
Brooks Simon
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
strategic change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.527
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1099-1697
pISSN - 1086-1718
DOI - 10.1002/jsc.632
Subject(s) - business , government (linguistics) , service (business) , middle management , ambulance service , public relations , resistance (ecology) , change management (itsm) , operations management , process management , marketing , medical emergency , medicine , political science , engineering , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , biology , lean manufacturing
This paper examines how high‐performance management (HPM) strategies might increase operational and service efficiency in a large UK ambulance National Health Service (NHS) Trust. Ambulance services are faced with a government imposition of response times and increasing numbers of emergency calls. This paper reports on the change barriers as perceived by staff and middle management. Using a mixture of focus groups and semi‐structured interviews, the results point to barriers to change including, staff resistance to new working practices, a perceived lack of expertise among some middle managers and poor communication between staff and managers. Proposed success strategies included communication of the benefits of HPM to staff, the provision of a 24‐hour management presence and greater staff involvement. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.