Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: evidence from the health care sector

Abstract

Purpose: sound corporate governance is now a mainstream issue of concern in the business world. However, there has been no systematic investigation of corporate governance practices in the healthcare sector. Allowing for a distinction between two types of healthcare organizations (profit and non-profit), this paper aims to investigate nuances in the application of sound governance principles across different types of healthcare organizations in the context of a developing country, together with differing understanding and applications of corporate social responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach: the paper is based on a qualitative interpretive methodology, comprising in-depth interviews with top hospital executives drawn from 21 Lebanese hospitals representing both the profit and non-profit varieties.

Findings: the findings suggest some basic governance differences between for-profit and non-profit hospitals in terms of managerial structure, ownership and the role of the board of directors, as well as differing orientations towards corporate social responsibility. There is a general lack of understanding and application of corporate governance best practices in family-owned, for-profit hospitals, whereas non-profit hospitals are more in line with corporate governance best practices, and more attuned to corporate social responsibility.

Originality/value: this paper presents fresh insights into applications of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility principles in a very important sector that has not received systematic attention and consideration in the literature

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