Slack and performance in the hospital industry: a configurational approach

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the healthcare management literature and improve the understanding of the slack and performance link by examining the hospital slack and performance relationship using a sample of 148 US hospitals. Design/methodology/approach: Using cluster analysis, ANCOVA and means comparisons, this study identifies different hospital slack configurations and their associated performance implications. Findings: The results demonstrate that different configurations of slack resources result in different levels of hospital performance. The findings also demonstrate equifinality in this relationship suggesting that some configurations of slack can result in similar levels of performance. Practical implications: The results indicate that managerial attention should be paid to not only identifying appropriate levels and types of slack for hospitals but also to appropriate ways to bundle these resources. The findings also suggest there may be multiple ways for hospitals’ administrators to effectively manage and bundle slack resources. Originality/value: Organizational slack and its impact on organizational performance is an important area of research within the management literature. Unfortunately, no known studies have examined how different types of slack resources are configured or bundled together in healthcare organizations and how this impacts firm performance. This study provides a significant contribution to the literature by providing a first step in understanding the slack and performance relationship in the hospital industry.