Hiring the right CEO: A pilot explorative study of the most innovative CEOs’ career pathways in the healthcare sector

ABSTRACT

Background: In order to face the unsustainability of the healthcare sector, the Italian reforms of the 90s – in line with international trends – transform healthcare organizations into accountable ‘business-like’ entities. With great expectations on their ability to achieve results in terms of quality and efficiency, it becomes crucial to select the right people to drive them. This study defines the profile of the most innovative CEOs in the sector.

Methods: The work arises from a previous study conducted by AGENAS that identified the managerially most innovative Italian healthcare organizations. After a deep analysis of CEOs’ biographies, through a semi-structured questionnaire, additional information concerning their educational and professional background was collected.

Results: Although no dominating profile emerges in terms of educational background – suggesting it is not clear whether it is preferable that CEOs hold a degree in Medicine or in other disciplines – the most innovative CEOs have mainly developed their careers within the public healthcare sector and not in other private industries.

Practice Implications: This study provides important implications in terms of CEOs’ selection. This, provides interesting food for thought on how career ladders should be designed within the sector and how effective these are in assuring the development of appropriate skills.

KEYWORDS:

• CEO
• career ladders
• healthcare
• top management
• training
• HRM

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express gratitude to Prof. Americo Cicchetti and Prof. Daniele Mascia for their precious suggestions concerning this work and certifies that she has NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial or non-financial interest in the subject discussed in this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Irene Gabutti is a post-doc researcher at ALTEMS – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome. Her main research interests include organizational models in hospitals, HRM in healthcare, career ladders and management of competencies in the healthcare sector. She is assistant professor of Organizational Design and Human Resource Management at the Faculty of Economics of the Catholic University in Rome and of Health Policy at the Faculty of Political Science of LUISS University in Rome.

Notes

1 AGENAS is a non-economic public body subject to oversight by the Italian Ministry of Health. It supports the Ministry of Health, the Regions and the Bodies of the I-NHS to make the health system sustainable and capable of managing situations of high clinical and organizational complexity, ensuring that the services delivered comply with the quality, quantity, safety, efficacy, efficiency, appropriateness and fairness standards.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Cerismas – Centro di Ricerche e Studi in Management Sanitario, a research center affiliated to Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.