Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Michael R. Meacham

Second Advisor

Jami DelliFraine

Third Advisor

Forney Fleming

Fourth Advisor

James S Zoller

Abstract

Current research clearly states that human resource practice can be a value-added function in an organization. Paradoxically, however, the value of many human resource (HR) and organization departments (OD) is often neither clearly defined nor understood, thus contributing to the failure of many senior executives. The initial work on the relationship between a firm’s performance and its human resource practices was conducted by Becker and Huselid (1998). In their study of 740 corporations, they found that firms with the greatest intensity of HR practices that reinforce performance had the highest market value per employee. They argued that HR practices are critical in determining the market value of a corporation and that improved HR practices can lead to a significant increase in the market value of corporations. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate healthcare HR executive and non-HR executives’ perceptions regarding the changing roles, skills and effectiveness of HR departments. More specifically, this study found that HR professionals need to have stronger management and leadership skills, develop a strategic management perspective, remain functionally competent in HR, and develop internal consulting skills. Findings suggest that HR executives perceive themselves to have a higher degree of competency within their individual organizations than in comparison to their non-HR manager (CEO). This suggests that HR leaders believe there to be higher expectations in levels of responsibility for the HR profession as a whole, than from the perceived expectations of their individual managers. In terms of scholarship, this study adds to the growing body of research surrounding strategic healthcare and HR practices by providing evidence of the value that increased HR skill development can have in shaping and reflecting organizational goals.

Rights

All rights reserved. Copyright is held by the author.

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