Factors Affecting Organizational Entrepreneurship in Governmental Health Organizations of Iran

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, entrepreneurship stimulates economical development. It is the center of individual and organizational activities. Since the government in developing countries participates in all areas of cultural and socioeconomic affaires, especially in health services, it is very important to change static organizations into dynamic ones. The aim of this study was to detect factors affecting organizational performance, especially entrepreneurship, in Iranian governmental health system. We also tried to suggest a model to develop entrepreneurial organization. Method: We used stratified random sampling method to select 43 governmental health systems in both regional and national levels. To collect data, a questionnaire, with a Cronbach's alpha of 97%, was filled out by high- and middle-ranked executives. Correlation test was applied in SPSS to analyze the data. Results: Overall, 80% of managers responded to the questionnaire. Many factors, including structural, behavioral, and circumstantial factors, were found to affect organizational entrepreneurship in Iranian governmental health system. Based on our results, the mean value of organizational entrepreneurship (3.08) was very low. Customer satisfaction however, scored a bit higher compared to other factors. The low values of other factors such as low income diversity, lack of privatization and research and development groups have led to low organizational entrepreneurship in these organizations. Conclusion: Governmental health system in Iran has not benefited from organizational entrepreneurship. Therefore, a special applicable model, such as the model proposed in this research, is required to develop entrepreneurship in these organizations. Keyword: Organizations; Entrepreneurship; Iran.