An assessment of the current status of the organizational structure and its dimensions in medical universities for transition to the third generation university

Background: In today's competitive world, it is hardly possible to achieve strategic goals without having a well-structured organization. Therefore, universities need to focus on improving their organizational structure in order to achieve their goals and sustain their activities. The purpose of this study was to assess the current status of organizational structure dimensions in universities of medical sciences for transition to the third-generation university. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. The statistical population included all managers and healthcare management specialists in universities of medical sciences of the 9th Planning Macro-Region of the country totaling 614 individuals. Using Cochran’s formula, 265 people were selected randomly via stratified random sampling method. To collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire was used, which held 52 items on the 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was confirmed by faculty members in terms of formal and content validity, and its reliability was obtained through Cronbach's alpha coefficient as 0.95. SPSS14 software and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the mean scores for all structural dimensions in the universities of medical sciences were lower than average (score=3) in the present situation, including informal relationships (2.43 ± 0.63), trust-based relationships (2.57 ± 0.61), interaction-based relationships (2.52 ± 0.49), emotion-based relationships (2.72 ± 0.54), formalization (2.82 ± 0.64), complexity (2.99 ± 0.52), concentration (2.83 ± 0.49), and professionalism (2.90 ± 0.50). These relationships were statistically significant (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: According to the results, universities of medical sciences require a fundamental change in their current organizational structure in order for transition to the third-generation university.