IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ijhplm/v34y2019i4pe1495-e1509.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leadership in limbo: Characteristics of successful incident commanders in health sector of a disaster‐prone country

Author

Listed:
  • Ali Nasiri
  • Aidin Aryankhesal
  • Hamidreza Khankeh

Abstract

Objective Iran, as one of the most disaster‐prone countries in the world, is exposed to a wide range of hazards. Hence, the health sector should be prepared to deal with the consequences of emergencies. This study aimed to explore Iranian disaster management status and to identify the necessary characteristics of successful incident commanders in this field. Methods A qualitative content analysis was designed using in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with 30 commanders and experts, selected by purposeful sampling, who had first‐hand experiences in managing health disasters. Field notes, formal institutional reports, and photos were employed as well. Verbatim transcribed interviews and other data sources were analyzed using constant comparison method. Ethical issues were considered carefully throughout the study process. Results Two main themes were developed: The first theme, "limbo situation," as expression of the problem describes inadequacies and complexities of disaster management in Iranian health sector, including seven categories. The second theme was "effective disaster leadership" consisting of "commanders' traits" and "commanders' competencies" as subthemes. Conclusions The study demonstrated the chaotic feature of disaster management in Iran and probably some other developing countries, with crucial and unclear role of field commanders. Working under stress, time pressure, uncertainty, and management of paradoxes needs timely and on‐field decision making. This study revealed that Iranian health sector incident commanders should be transformational leaders with the ability of influencing subordinate staff and have Janusian thinking skills for overcoming the existing limbo situation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ali Nasiri & Aidin Aryankhesal & Hamidreza Khankeh, 2019. "Leadership in limbo: Characteristics of successful incident commanders in health sector of a disaster‐prone country," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 1495-1509, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijhplm:v:34:y:2019:i:4:p:e1495-e1509
    DOI: 10.1002/hpm.2816
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.2816
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hpm.2816?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Cote, 2017. "Vision of Effective Leadership," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 8(6), pages 1-10, September.
    2. Smith, Wendy K. & Lewis, Marianne W., 2012. "Leadership Skills for Managing Paradoxes," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 227-231, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kirsti Iivonen, 2018. "Defensive Responses to Strategic Sustainability Paradoxes: Have Your Coke and Drink It Too!," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 309-327, March.
    2. Jones, Janice & Seet, Pi-Shen & Acker, Tim & Whittle, Michelle, 2021. "Barriers to grassroots innovation: The phenomenon of social-commercial-cultural trilemmas in remote indigenous art centres," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    3. Ali M. M. S. ALAJMI & Peter LENGYEL, 2020. "Managing Employee Resources The Extent To Which Labour Flexibility Can Generate Employee Commitment," SEA - Practical Application of Science, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 24, pages 321-327, December.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/15186 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Olli-Pekka Kauppila & Michiel P. Tempelaar, 2016. "The Social-Cognitive Underpinnings of Employees’ Ambidextrous Behaviour and the Supportive Role of Group Managers’ Leadership," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 1019-1044, September.
    6. Krzysztof Leja, 2015. "Positive Management Of The University," GUT FME Working Paper Series A 30, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology.
    7. Zhuo Zhang & Jie Li & Tomoki Sekiguchi, 2022. "Exploring The Predictors and Mechanism of Protean Career Orientation in Eastern Context: The Effect of Yin-Yang Values, Career Adaptability, and Traditional Gender Role Beliefs," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 22-07, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    8. Hyun-ju Choi, 2021. "Effect of Chief Executive Officer’s Sustainable Leadership Styles on Organization Members’ Psychological Well-Being and Organizational Citizenship Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-29, December.
    9. Silu Chen & Yu Zhang & Lili Liang & Tao Shen, 2021. "Does Paradoxical Leadership Facilitate Leaders’ Task Performance? A Perspective of Self-Regulation Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Luca Carollo & Marco Guerci, 2018. "‘Activists in a Suit’: Paradoxes and Metaphors in Sustainability Managers’ Identity Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 249-268, March.
    11. Sea Matilda Bez & Anne-Sophie Fernandez & Frédéric Le Roy & Stéphanie Dameron, 2015. "Integration of coopetition paradox by individuals. A case study within the French banking industry," Post-Print hal-01637707, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ijhplm:v:34:y:2019:i:4:p:e1495-e1509. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0749-6753 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.