Comparative Attributes of Effective Health Services Managers and Definitions of Organizational Effectiveness in Australia, the UK and the USA

Abstract

This paper explores and contrasts the perceptions of 855, mainly health services managers and 1452 students from three major English-speaking countries regarding the attributes needed for becoming effective managers in their country. Also addressed are country differences and similarities in the perceived relevance of particular indicators of organizational effectiveness. Despite Australia's British heritage, respondents from this country were found to be more similar to those from the USA, than those from the UK, in their views regarding the attributes of effective managers. Australian and American respondents rated ‘nurturing’ personality skills relatively highly, as they did ‘classical’ management skills. UK respondents rated ‘classical’ management skills as more important than ‘political’ skills.