The goal of this study was to identify how expertise in strategic thinking develops. Given the complexity of the process, the research was limited to one industry healthcare and to only the provider segment within that industry. A technique known as “social labeling”i was used to select the referral sources, who were experienced healthcare strategy consultants and leaders of professional organizations. The sources were then asked to identify two or three individuals with whom they had worked and who met the study’s specific definition of an expert strategic thinker.
A pool of 36 potential executives was generated, from which 10 were ultimately selected to participate. The individuals were all CEOs and were representative of the general demographics of U.S. health-care CEOs with respect to geographic region, setting of the organization (urban versus suburban), type of organization (teaching versus community) and gender (male versus female). The professional work experience of the participants ranged from 23 to 40 years.
The Seidman phenomenological interviewing techniqueii was utilized to gather data. The process consisted of three 90-minute interviews with each participant. The first interview established the context for the participants’ experiences; the second focused on the reconstruction of their experiences and their developmental process; and the third encouraged reflection on the meaning of that process. The interviews, which were all audiotaped, utilized a semistructured protocol, and... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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