Extent of director involvement in the strategic management process: Does occupational background make a difference?

Propositions were tested with original survey data from 224 directors from nineteen hospitals to determine the extent of their involvement in the strategic management process. In most areas, board members whose occupational background is in health care tend to be less engaged than their counterparts whose background is not in health care. Significant differences were observed with respect to broad cross-functional strategic issues and overall hospital performance. Both groups had limited involvement in setting standards for rewarding top management and evaluating their performance. The results raise potentially important strategic and ethical dilemmas for hospitals and offer proponents of changes in board composition support for their normative suggestions.