Acceptance of Change in Private Hospitals in Tehran

Abstract

This study aimed to examine and identify the factors influencing acceptance of change in private hospitals in Tehran. This study employed a qualitative and exploratory research design. The study population consisted of senior managers, board members, managers of different departments in non-governmental private hospitals in Tehran, experts, and university professors with sufficient knowledge of human resources, organizational behavior, and organizational change. Participants were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed through thematic analysis with the aid of MAXQDA software. To enhance the validity of the qualitative phase, triangulation was used. The reliability of the coding process was also assessed using Holsti’s reliability coefficient, Scott’s pi, and Cohen’s kappa. Given the qualitative nature of the study, no inferential statistical tests were reported or applicable. However, the thematic analysis indicated that 21 final themes were extracted from 90 initial codes related to acceptance of change in private hospitals in Tehran. These themes included economic security, job security, social responsibility, human resource recruitment, fear of losing power, participation, managerial support, knowledge, professional ethics, transparency, age and experience, resilience, justice, job burnout, managerial strategy, workload, awareness, job ambiguity, organizational culture, employee empathy, and trust. The findings showed that all identified factors play an important role in shaping employees’ acceptance of or resistance to organizational change. The findings indicate that acceptance of change in private hospitals is a multidimensional phenomenon and cannot be explained solely by managerial decisions. Rather, it is influenced by the interaction of economic, psychological, organizational, cultural, and professional factors. Therefore, hospital managers should strengthen trust, transparency, employee participation, organizational justice, and managerial support while simultaneously reducing job ambiguity, workload pressure, and burnout in order to facilitate successful organizational change.