Completing the sustainability puzzle; The impact of middle managers’ sensemaking on the organisational change process towards a more sustainable hospital

Abstract

To offer the best possible care, hospitals are required to change towards sustainability. A key role in designing a shared culture of sustainability can be assigned to middle managers. Middle managers are able to formulate the change and implement it to design a more sustainable hospital. Therefore, it is extremely relevant for hospitals to understand and deal with the sensemaking activities of middle managers concerning sustainability. My study addresses the impact of middle managers’ sensemaking on the organisational change process towards a more sustainable hospital. The study of this thesis is conducted within the Radboudumc, investigating the sensemaking process of ten non-clinical managers. A qualitative, inductive, social constructivist perspective is used to gain insight into the constructed realities of these non-clinical managers. The data is gathered through document analysis and semi-structured in-depth interviews. The results showed that non-clinical managers were increasingly aware of a change towards sustainability. Still, sustainability was not enough incorporated into the underlying beliefs and values of non-clinical managers. This was caused, inter alia, by non-clinical managers’ main focus towards the primary process. Besides, the Radboudumc needs to do more to spread the word about sustainability; to increase the visibility of sustainability, and to integrate it into the underlying beliefs and values of non-clinical managers. As a result, sustainability was only partly managed and disseminated by the non-clinical managers. This research extends existing literature as it studies the micro foundations of sustainability; focusing on the role of middle managers. In addition, it supports the change process towards sustainability of the Radboudumc and of other hospitals that are integrating sustainability into the organisation.