Analysing the influence of operations management as an approach to sustaining effective corporate governance in the public health sector : a case study of the provincial department of health

Abstract

Operations management has gained considerable attention in the corporate world and establishment due to its perceived benefits. It assists in the effective management function of controlling and supervising of services and people. With efficient operations management, people such as nurses, physicians and other healthcare personnel can provide attentive services. In light of the effect of operations management, the objectives of the study were to determine whether executives and health representatives can engage in planning that creates the highest level of efficiency within the organisation; establish if the management exercises control that can promote rational decisions; determine whether, through the operational skills and exposure, the management can direct operational resources towards achieving the best efficiency; establish whether the executives and their subordinates can recognise the factors hampering OM and their method of corporate governance, and assess the extent to which health representatives can expedite the efforts of OM to implement effective corporate governance. For this study, simple random sampling was applied to select required respondents from the KwaZulu-Natal health care units and centres. The 259 responses received were accepted as the sample size of this study. Data collected were captured and analysed on Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) v26.0 to yield descriptive and inferential statistics. The most important outcome of the study was that the healthcare workers referred to the fact that the management function of planning, organising, controlling, supervising, staffing, coordinating and leading were all very valuable in setting up and operating a successful business. The issue that surfaced from the respondents was that the operatives were not committed to the ethical code that direct their operations, even though some of them did endeavour to embrace transparency, accountability, fairness, teamwork, risk management and integrity in their line operations and mode of governance. The main recommendation that is made here is that healthcare leaders and operatives must be enlightened with the importance of an ethical code to maintain effective corporate governance. This could also be a path for further research.