Barriers to the Implementation of the Strategic Plan from the Viewpoint of Managers of the Hospitals of Qom Province in 2019 (Iran)

Background and Objectives: Increasing complexity and changes in environmental conditions, policies, attitudes, systems, and structures, are factors influencing the goals of strategic planning, which can change programs. Programs without strategic thinking are not able to cope with such changes, thus they fail. Understanding of the factors affecting strategic planning, is crucial for the goals to be achieved. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the barriers to the implementation of the strategic plan from the viewpoints of hospitals managers in Qom province. Methods: The current study was performed as a cross-sectional study in the hospitals of Qom province in 2019. Samples included 50 senior executive and operational managers, quality improvement officers, and administrative-financial managers of hospitals. Barriers to the strategic plan implementation, were collected by a pre-designed questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using independent t- and ANOVA tests. Results: The present study showed that structural barriers (1.82), human-motivation barriers (1.81), and process barriers (1.8), were the most important barriers to the implementation of the strategic plan. Senior and executive managers, financial managers cited the structural barriers, quality improvement officers mentioned the process barriers and managers of administrative units cited human-motivation factors as the most important barriers to the implementation of the strategic plan. Conclusion: The results of the present research explained the points of view of Qom hospital managers in terms of the barriers to the implementation of strategic plan. It seems that when designing and implementing a strategic plan, the participation of human resource that is the most important elements, should be considered in complex organizations, such as hospitals.