Three perspectives on physical therapist managerial work. (Research Report).As physical therapy practice evolves, the roles and skills of physical therapist managers who oversee clinical work must keep pace. Efforts to accurately describe physical therapy clinical practice are well under way, (1,2) but little has appeared in the physical therapy literature that describes the nature of physical therapist managerial work. The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice (2nd ed) (1) (Guide) provides a framework for organizing the work of the physical therapist who provides direct patient care, while providing only general descriptions of the work of physical therapy clinicians who take on managerial responsibilities. The Guide describes administration as a "skilled process of planning, directing, organizing, and managing human, technical, environmental, and financial resources effectively and efficiently" and includes "the management ... of resources for patient/client management and for organization operations." (1 (p49)) A Normative nor·ma·tive adj. Of, relating to, or prescribing a norm or standard: normative grammar. nor Model of Physical Therapist Education (2(pp128-129)) describes curricular content in administration and management, suggesting that new graduates should be able to delegate A person who is appointed, authorized, delegated, or commissioned to act in the place of another. Transfer of authority from one to another. A person to whom affairs are committed by another. A person elected or appointed to be a member of a representative assembly. to and supervise or manage support personnel, as well as participate in planning, budgeting, billing, reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. , and marketing activities. Fayol (3,4) introduced the concept of managerial work in 1916 by describing a manager as a person who plans, organizes, commands, coordinates, and controls. These descriptors continue to dominate the management vocabulary, appearing as chapters in management textbooks over the years. (5) Mintzberg (6,7) offered an alternative framework in the early 1970s that was supported by data. He used structured observations of 5 chief executive officers to describe 10 managerial roles, arranging these roles into 3 broad categories: interpersonal in·ter·per·son·al adj. 1. Of or relating to the interactions between individuals: interpersonal skills. 2. roles (figurehead figurehead, carved decoration usually representing a head or figure placed under the bowsprit of a ship. The art is of extreme antiquity. Ancient galleys and triremes carried rostrums, or beaks, on the bow to ram enemy vessels. , leader, and liaison), informational roles (monitor, disseminator disseminator Epidemiology A person who spreads an infection. See High disseminator, Typhoid Mary. , and spokesman), and decisional roles (entrepreneur entrepreneur (än'trəprənûr`) [Fr.,=one who undertakes], person who assumes the organization, management, and risks of a business enterprise. , disturbance DISTURBANCE, torts. A wrong done to an incorporeal hereditament, by hindering or disquieting the owner in the enjoyment of it. Finch. L. 187; 3 Bl. Com. 235; 1 Swift's Dig. 522; Com. Dig. Action upon the case for a disturbance, Pleader, 3 I 6; 1 Serg. & Rawle, 298. handler A software routine that performs a particular task. It often refers to a routine that "handles" an exception of some kind, such as an error, but it can refer to mainstream processes as well. The term is typically used in operating systems and other system software. , resource allocator al·lo·cate tr.v. al·lo·cat·ed, al·lo·cat·ing, al·lo·cates 1. To set apart for a special purpose; designate: allocate a room to be used for storage. 2. , and negotiator). Although Mintzberg's typology typology /ty·pol·o·gy/ (ti-pol´ah-je) the study of types; the science of classifying, as bacteria according to type. typology the study of types; the science of classifying, as bacteria according to type. has been challenged over the years, (8,9) it has achieved classical status in the management literature. At about the same time that Mintzberg was defining managerial roles, Katz Katz , Bernard 1911-2003. German-born British physiologist. He shared a 1970 Nobel Prize for the study of nerve impulse transmission. (10) also used structured observations to identify what administrators actually do. Katz advocated a skills-based approach, suggesting that all administrators use a minimum of 3 skills--technical, human, and conceptual--in executing their work. Pavett and Lau (11) applied Mintzberg's (7) 10-role model to compare research and development (R&D) managers and non-R&D managers from both the federal government and the private sector. Based on interviews with public sector executives, they added an 11th role--technical expert--to those proposed by Mintzberg. Pavett and Lau created a 50-item questionnaire, with a minimum of 4 activities describing each of the 11 roles. They queried 438 managers on the importance of each item to their managerial job. Pavett and Lau found that, regardless of work setting, the most important roles were leader, resource allocator, and disseminator. They concluded that these roles did not appear to be career specific and could be applied to any manager in any industry. In the absence of research describing the work of health care managers, Roemer Roemer is a surname, and may refer to
Even though no data are available that relate to physical therapist managerial work, I believe that interest in this area of study is growing. For example, in early 1999, the leadership, administration, and management preparation (LAMP) task force of the American American, river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Augustus) along the river in 1848 led to the California gold rush of Physical Therapy Association's (APTA's) Section on Administration reported its findings. (13) Using the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice (14) and A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education (2) as references, along with their own expertise, the task force produced a model of business problem solving problem solving Process involved in finding a solution to a problem. Many animals routinely solve problems of locomotion, food finding, and shelter through trial and error. that parallels that of clinical problem solving found in the Guide (examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis prognosis /prog·no·sis/ (prog-no´sis) a forecast of the probable course and outcome of a disorder.prognos´tic prog·no·sis n. pl. prog·no·ses 1. , intervention A procedure used in a lawsuit by which the court allows a third person who was not originally a party to the suit to become a party, by joining with either the plaintiff or the defendant. , outcomes). Using this model, the LAMP task force developed a comprehensive list of potential content areas that could be addressed by faculty members and others in preparing physical therapists to become managers. At about the same time, another task force published a competency COMPETENCY, evidence. The legal fitness or ability of a witness to be heard on the trial of a cause. This term is also applied to written or other evidence which may be legally given on such trial, as, depositions, letters, account-books, and the like. 2. assessment of the physical therapy manager. (15) This group of physical therapy directors produced an assessment in the form of a checklist in response to various accreditation accreditation, n a process of formal recognition of a school or institution attesting to the required ability and performance in an area of education, training, or practice. agencies that required competency assessment of all employees, including managers. Unfortunately, the validity of data obtained with these tools remains untested. A thorough understanding of the scope of physical therapist managerial work, based on data, is necessary before identifying the competencies that should be addressed by professional (entry-level en·try-lev·el adj. Appropriate for or accessible to one who is inexperienced in a field or new to a market: an entry-level job in advertising; an entry-level computer. ) education programs for physical therapists. In addition, health care administrators need to measure the competence of physical therapists in their managerial (versus clinical) duties as required by accreditation agencies. In order to target relevant physical therapist managerial competencies, agreed-upon work categories first should be identified. I began the process by measuring the relative importance that physical therapist managers and faculty members place on specified work categories. I used Roemer's questionnaire (12) to compare the perceptions of faculty members in professional physical therapist education programs and 2 groups of physical therapist managers (hospital and private practice) on the importance of a set of managerial work categories (roles and skills) that had been tested in other industries. I also compared the responses among the 3 groups to determine whether the perceived importance placed on these work categories varied among work settings. Methods Three groups were simultaneously surveyed using the same instrument. (16-18) The first group consisted of faculty members in professional physical therapist education programs. One faculty member from each accredited accredited recognition by an appropriate authority that the performance of a particular institution has satisfied a prestated set of criteria. accredited herds cattle herds which have achieved a low level of reactors to, e.g. professional physical therapist education program in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. was solicited to participate in the study. I asked that this faculty member have taught management/administration content to professional physical therapist students. All accredited US programs as of October October: see month. 1997 (n = 155) were included in this group. The second group consisted of 300 physical therapists who held management positions in US hospitals. This sample was randomly selected from the 672 members of APTA's Section on Administration who reported working in hospital settings in November November: see month. 1997. The third group consisted of physical therapists who held management positions in private practices in the United States. A sample of 375 names was randomly selected from the total of 3,388 members listed in the 1997 membership directory of APTA's Private Practice Section. The variables of interest were 11 work roles (disseminator, disturbance handler, entrepreneur, figurehead, leader, liaison, monitor, negotiator, resource allocator, spokesperson, technical expert) and 5 work skills (communication, financial control, interpersonal relations, operations, and strategic assessment) as defined by Roemer. (12) Each role or skill category was described by the same activities that Roemer used in her study. For example, an activity in the financial control category was "analyzing and using financial reports," and an activity in the negotiator category was "resolving disputes among subordinates or work groups." Faculty members were asked to rate how important they thought each activity was to physical therapist managers; both clinical manager groups were asked to rate the importance of each activity as part of their job. Each activity (n = 75) was measured on a Likert-type scale of importance anchored by scores of 1 ("no importance") and 5 ("great importance"). Scores for activities within each of the 16 categories were averaged. The rank order of these averaged scores was explored by group in order to gain insights on how each group perceived the importance of each work category. Then, the same averaged scores became the dependent variables in a multivariate analysis multivariate analysis, n a statistical approach used to evaluate multiple variables. multivariate analysis, n a set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. designed to determine differences in perceived role or skill importance among the 3 groups. Roemer (12) reported that activity assignments to each of the 16 categories demonstrated internal consistency In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores. (alpha coefficients > .60), but no data on reliability were reported. Construct validity construct validity, n the degree to which an experimentally-determined definition matches the theoretical definition. was demonstrated in a study by Pavett and Lau, (11) who used factor analysis to determine which activities best described each work category. Therefore, all 75 activities of Roemer's survey were used in the present study with no edits. The survey questionnaire with a cover letter was mailed to the selected sample from each group as described earlier. A follow-up follow-up, n the process of monitoring the progress of a patient after a period of active treatment. follow-up subsequent. follow-up plan reminder postcard was mailed 1 month later. Data were aggregated for each group by calculating the average importance scores of each of 16 work categories. Then, a multivariate analysis of variance The discrepancy between what a party to a lawsuit alleges will be proved in pleadings and what the party actually proves at trial. In Zoning law, an official permit to use property in a manner that departs from the way in which other property in the same locality (MANOVA MANOVA Multivariate Analysis of the Variance ) F value was calculated using the 16 work categories as the dependent variables and the 3 respondent In Equity practice, the party who answers a bill or other proceeding in equity. The party against whom an appeal or motion, an application for a court order, is instituted and who is required to answer in order to protect his or her interests. groups as the grouping variable. A probability level of .05 was used to determine significance. Post hoc post hoc adv. & adj. In or of the form of an argument in which one event is asserted to be the cause of a later event simply by virtue of having happened earlier: analyses were used to identify differences among groups when significant univariate univariate adjective Determined, produced, or caused by only one variable F ratios were found. All data were analyzed an·a·lyze tr.v. an·a·lyzed, an·a·lyz·ing, an·a·lyz·es 1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations. 2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of. 3. using version 9.0 of SPSS A statistical package from SPSS, Inc., Chicago (www.spss.com) that runs on PCs, most mainframes and minis and is used extensively in marketing research. It provides over 50 statistical processes, including regression analysis, correlation and analysis of variance. . * The total number of usable USable is a special idea contest to transfer US American ideas into practice in Germany. USable is initiated by the German Körber-Stiftung (foundation Körber). It is doted with 150,000 Euro and awarded every two years. questionnaires returned was 343, for an overall response rate of 41.3%. The physical therapist education program faculty member response was 61 out of 155, representing a 39.4% within-group response rate. The private practice physical therapist manager response was 121 out of 375 (32.3% within-group response rate), whereas the hospital-based physical therapist manager response was 161 out of 300 (53.7% within-group response rate). These response rates were considered acceptable because they fell between 30% and 60%, which is considered realistic for mailed surveys. (19) Of the 61 professional physical therapist education programs represented, 15 offered the bachelor's bach·e·lor's n. A bachelor's degree. degree and 46 offered the master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. . Fewer than half (42%) of the instructors of the administration/management content had a degree in management. The average number of years teaching this content was 6.2 years (range = 1-24). The average practicing manager respondent had over 10 years of management experience, with private practice managers averaging 16 years (range = 1-47) and hospital-based managers averaging 11.5 years (range = 1-34). The vast majority of respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. reported receiving on-the-job on-the-job adj. Acquired or learned while working at a job: on-the-job training. Adj. 1. on-the-job management training (91% hospital, 86% private practice); continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). (54% and 36%, respectively) and postprofessional education (31% and 21%, respectively) were the next most common ways to obtain management training. Over 90% of the private practice respondents were managers or owners of their clinics, spent 68% of their time in indirect patient care, and were predominantly pre·dom·i·nant adj. 1. Having greatest ascendancy, importance, influence, authority, or force. See Synonyms at dominant. 2. male (60%). In the hospital setting, respondents reported varying degrees of managerial responsibility (ie, 31% were supervisors, 54% were middle managers, and 15% were administrators). Most (67%) of the hospital-based respondents were female. Post hoc analyses to test the assumption of the internal consistency of each work category were conducted using the combined responses from all 3 groups. Results revealed that all 16 categories demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (alpha coefficients [greater than or equal to] .80 for 9 categories, [greater than or equal to] .70 for 13 categories, and [greater than or equal to] .64 for all categories). (19) The 3 categories with the lowest alpha coefficients were strategic assessment (.67), technical expert (.67), and communication (.64). Results The group means of importance scores by work category are depicted de·pict tr.v. de·pict·ed, de·pict·ing, de·picts 1. To represent in a picture or sculpture. 2. To represent in words; describe. See Synonyms at represent. in Table 1. The averaged importance scores across all 3 groups are arranged in descending descending /des·cend·ing/ (de-send´ing) extending inferiorly. order from highest to lowest according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the unweighted mean score (sum of group means divided by 3). The results indicate that all 3 groups included communication, financial control, entrepreneur, resource allocator, and leader in their 5 most important categories, but not necessarily in the same rank order. For example, faculty members rated financial control as the most important category, whereas both clinical manager groups rated communication as the most important. When considering the least important categories, however, there was agreement among the groups concerning the bottom 2 categories. Without exception, figurehead was rated as least important, and technical expert was ranked second lowest. The within-group rankings of work category importance appeared to be similar; however, the between-group comparisons of mean scores by category demonstrated noteworthy patterns (Figure). For example, private practice managers rated the importance of each category lower than either of the other groups, except for figurehead, whereas faculty members rated all work categories higher than the other groups, except for entrepreneur. To further explore these patterns, a MANOVA was done to test whether differences existed among groups on the mean scores of the 16 categories. The MANOVA was selected instead of 16 separate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to reduce the probability of committing a type I error. (19) [FIGURE OMITTED] The MANOVA produced a Wilks lambda, which was converted to an estimated F statistic statistic, n a value or number that describes a series of quantitative observations or measures; a value calculated from a sample. statistic a numerical value calculated from a number of observations in order to summarize them. of 7.76 (P < .001), and a significant Box M test (P < .001), which indicated that the covariance Covariance A measure of the degree to which returns on two risky assets move in tandem. A positive covariance means that asset returns move together. A negative covariance means returns vary inversely. matrices of the dependent variables were not equal across groups. (20) Because the omnibus omnibus: see bus. F level was significant, univariate ANOVAs were conducted for each work category to determine where among the dependent variables the differences existed. (21) Significant univariate F scores were found in all categories except for figurehead (Tab. 2). Because the Levene test for equality of error variances was found to be significant (P < .001) in 13 of the 16 work categories, the Tamhane T2 multiple-comparison test was selected to determine the locations of differences among groups in each of the work categories. The Tamhane test can be applied in situations where variances or sample sizes are unequal. (20) The results of the multiple-comparison tests for the 15 work categories that demonstrated significant univariate results are displayed in Table 3. The results suggest that (1) the 3 groups differed from each other on the level of importance for 4 work categories (leader, interpersonal relations, disturbance handler, and negotiator), (2) faculty members did not differ from hospital-based managers on level of importance, but did differ from private practice managers, for 7 work categories (communication, entrepreneur, operations, liaison, disseminator, spokesperson, and technical expert), and (3) the 2 groups of clinical managers did not differ on level of importance with each other, but did differ from faculty members, for 4 categories (financial control, resource allocator, strategic assessment, and monitor). Stated another way (Tab. 4), the 15 comparisons showed differences between faculty members and private practice managers in all 15 categories, 9 of 15 comparisons showed differences between hospital-based managers and private practice managers, and 8 of 15 comparisons showed differences between faculty members and hospital-based managers. Discussion Hierarchy of Work Categories Communication was considered the most important work category when all 3 groups were considered together (Tab. 1) and was considered the most important category by both groups of clinical managers. Faculty members considered financial control to be most important, with communication a close second. Entrepreneur was considered the second most important category by hospital-based managers, the third most important by private practice managers, and fifth most important by faculty members. Resource allocator and leader were also among the 5 most important categories for all 3 groups. In Roemer's study, (12) hospital-based middle managers rated communication as most important, followed by leader, disturbance handler, entrepreneur, and operations. Pavett and Lau (11) identified the leader role as most important for both public and private sector managers. Their study did not include the 5 work skills of communication, financial control, operations, strategic assessment, and interpersonal relations. Technical expert and figurehead were considered the least important work categories by all 3 groups in the present study (Tab. 1). Roemer (12) reported similar findings, whereas Pavett and Lau (11) reported figurehead as the second least important category and negotiator as the least important category. These findings suggest the universality of some components of managerial work, such as communication and leader, across study populations, perhaps industries. An unexpected pattern that emerged from the data in this study is that private practice managers consistently scored work categories as less important when compared with the other 2 groups (Figure). In addition, faculty members consistently scored the work categories as more important than both clinical manager groups, whereas hospital-based managers' scores were consistently between the other 2 groups' scores, with only one exception (entrepreneur). These patterns may be a function of the amount of time that the respondents actually engaged in managerial work in their respective work settings. In the context of their daily work, private practice managers may have to consider managerial work issues along with other clinical practice expectations that may compete for their attention because an average of 68% of their time was spent in direct patient care. Hospital-based managers, however, may encounter managerial issues more often than private practice managers but less often than faculty members think they do. The hospital-based managers in this study held positions at varying levels within their organizations (supervisor, middle manager, administrator), which may have confounded the results for this group. Preliminary analyses suggest that hospital-based managers at different levels in the organization perceive the importance of some work categories differently (DSS (1) (Digital Signature Standard) A National Security Administration standard for authenticating an electronic message. See RSA and digital signature. (2) (Digital Satellite S , unpublished data, 1999). Yet another explanation for these differences in patterns may be that the private practice group scores had much larger standard deviations In statistics, the average amount a number varies from the average number in a series of numbers. (statistics) standard deviation - (SD) A measure of the range of values in a set of numbers. in most categories when compared with the hospital-based manager scores, and especially when compared with faculty member scores. The heterogeneity het·er·o·ge·ne·i·ty n. The quality or state of being heterogeneous. heterogeneity the state of being heterogeneous. of the private practice group may have resulted in lower scores. Overall, however, these results suggest that the work setting itself may be a factor in shaping the physical therapist manager's perception of work category importance. Statistical Comparisons Among Work Settings Upon further investigation of the 16 managerial work categories across the 3 physical therapist groups, differences were found in 15 of them (Tabs. 3 and 4). Interestingly, no difference in perceived importance of the figurehead role was found among the 3 groups (Tab. 2). All 3 groups rated the figurehead role as the least important of all 16 categories, suggesting that when compared with the other 15 roles or skills, the figurehead role is not perceived as a very important component of physical therapist managerial work. No differences were found between hospital-based managers and private practice managers on 6 of the 15 categories that demonstrated differences among groups: communication, financial control, resource allocator, strategic assessment, monitor, and spokesperson (Tab. 4). These findings suggest that these 6 categories may be considered "universal" for physical therapist clinical managers in general, because their level of importance does not appear to be affected by type of clinical setting. The strongest case for universality may be made for communication, financial control, and resource allocator, because these work categories were ranked highly by all 3 groups. Differences were found between hospital-based managers and private practice managers on the other 9 categories: entrepreneur, leader, operations, interpersonal relations, disturbance handler, negotiator, liaison, disseminator, and technical expert. Without exception, hospital-based managers rated the importance of these categories significantly higher than private practice managers. The results for the role of entrepreneur were the most surprising, because entrepreneurial en·tre·pre·neur n. A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. [French, from Old French, from entreprendre, to undertake; see enterprise. activity is associated more with individuals who work in community-based private practices. Hospital-based managers' perceived high regard for entrepreneurialism may relate to the importance they place on intrapreneurialism (ie, being entrepreneurial within an organization). Regardless, these findings again suggest that type of clinical setting may influence the type of managerial roles or skills that are important to function in a particular setting. They also suggest that hospital-based managers may use these particular roles or skills more frequently or in a different way than private practice managers. Future studies should thoroughly differentiate type of setting in order to better understand the roles and skills of physical therapist managers within them. Factors such as age of the enterprise, the physical therapist manager's level within the organization (supervisor, middle manager, administrator), amount of time spent in direct patient care, and number of employees may affect the perceived importance of managerial roles and skills. The viewpoint of faculty members as compared with both clinical manager groups is intriguing in·trigue n. 1. a. A secret or underhand scheme; a plot. b. The practice of or involvement in such schemes. 2. A clandestine love affair. v. . Faculty members not only rated 11 of the 16 categories as 4 on a 5-point scale of importance, but they also rated all except one category higher than both clinical manager groups. Faculty members' ratings were higher than those of private practice managers on 15 of 16 work categories. Their ratings were higher than those of hospital-based managers on only 8 categories. These results suggest that the importance faculty members place on managerial roles and skills are more similar to those of hospital-based physical therapist managers than to those of private practice managers. These results may simply be related to the distribution of the data and warrant no further discussion. Other uncontrolled factors may be exerting their influence (eg, previous experience as a hospital-based manager or possession of a broader [systems] view of management that resulted in most work categories being considered very important). An equally likely interpretation of these results, however, is that faculty members responded to the importance that they themselves place on each work activity. They may have forgotten to follow the instruction to answer the survey in terms of what they thought was important to the clinical manager. In light of these multiple interpretations, further speculation about faculty members' scores in this study must remain guarded. Conclusions This study is the first to provide data on physical therapist managerial tasks and their perceived relative importance. Like previous studies on different managerial groups, the results confirm that communication is the most important work skill and the figurehead component is the least important role. In addition to communication, financial control, entrepreneur, resource allocator, and leader were considered the most important managerial work categories regardless of work setting. These findings suggest that these 5 categories are the ones that may be universal for physical therapist managers. An unexpected finding was that work setting (hospital, private practice, higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. ) appears to have an impact on the degree of importance placed on physical therapist managerial work categories. Marked differences were found among groups on 15 of 16 work categories, suggesting that future researchers should control for work setting when studying managerial work categories. Of note is the finding that the 2 clinical managerial groups agreed on the level of importance of 6 work categories: communication, financial control, resource allocator, strategic assessment, monitor, and spokesperson. Only the first 3 of these categories, however, appear in the top 5 noted for all work settings in this study. Researchers need to determine whether other work categories are "universal" to physical therapist managers regardless of work setting, because those used in this study may not represent an exhaustive set of choices. The meaning of the agreement/disagreement findings between faculty members and both clinical manager groups remains unclear. In my opinion, however, the viewpoint of faculty members should not be disregarded dis·re·gard tr.v. dis·re·gard·ed, dis·re·gard·ing, dis·re·gards 1. To pay no attention or heed to; ignore. 2. To treat without proper respect or attentiveness. n. in future research, because they are the ones who determine the managerial content taught in physical therapist education programs. Faculty members' decisions should be in line with what all potential clinical managers need to know regardless of setting. This study contributes to the process of identifying a universal description of physical therapist managerial work. Researchers should take into account the potential influence of the practice setting, managerial hierarchy within an organization, and other factors on managerial work. By obtaining direct evidence from practicing managers on what physical therapist managers actually do rather than their perceptions, researchers will be better able to develop relevant measures of managerial competence. In addition, faculty members will be better able to develop curricula that include appropriate management content areas and will contribute to prepare physical therapists to be effective in their nonclinical, managerial roles.
Table 1.
Group Means by Work Category With Order Based on Unweighted Means
Across Groups
Importance Mean Scores, Standard Deviations,
and Ranks
Faculty Members Hospital-Based
(n=61) Managers (n=161)
Work Category X SD Rank X SD Rank
Communication 4.50 0.51 2 4.44 0.59 1
Financial control 4.53 0.53 1 4.29 0.82 3
Entrepreneur 4.33 0.57 5 4.41 0.54 2
Resource allocator 4.40 0.49 3 4.10 0.69 5
Leader 4.39 0.52 4 4.14 0.62 4
Operations 4.13 0.57 10 4.03 0.56 6
Strategic assessment 4.26 0.56 6 3.86 0.64 9
Interpersonal
relations 4.19 0.55 8 3.92 0.57 7.5
Disturbance handler 4.16 0.52 9 3.81 0.72 11
Negotiator 4.24 (a) 0.55 7 3.75 0.71 12
Liaison 4.04 0.60 11 3.92 0.59 7.5
Monitor 3.98 (a) 0.66 12 3.64 0.66 13
Disseminator 3.94 0.58 13 3.83 0.56 10
Spokesperson 3.67 0.70 14 3.45 0.68 14
Technical expert 3.53 0.70 15 3.42 0.62 15
Figurehead 3.21 0.80 16 2.97 0.70 16
Importance Mean
Scores, Standard
Deviations, and
Ranks
Private Practice
Managers (n=121) Unweighted
Work Category X SD Rank X Rank
Communication 4.27 0.68 1 4.40 1
Financial control 4.15 0.73 2 4.32 2
Entrepreneur 4.07 (b) 0.72 3 4.27 3
Resource allocator 3.94 0.79 4 4.15 4
Leader 3.86 (b) 0.74 5 4.13 5
Operations 3.79 0.72 6 3.98 6
Strategic assessment 3.71 0.75 7 3.94 7
Interpersonal
relations 3.44 0.75 9.5 3.85 8
Disturbance handler 3.55 0.91 8 3.84 9
Negotiator 3.36 (b) 0.83 12 3.78 10
Liaison 3.38 (b) 0.89 11 3.78 11
Monitor 3.44 (b) 0.79 9.5 3.69 12
Disseminator 3.29 0.82 14 3.69 13
Spokesperson 3.35 (b) 0.78 13 3.49 14
Technical expert 3.18 0.81 15 3.38 15
Figurehead 2.99 0.86 16 3.06 16
(a) n = 60.
(b) n = 120.
Table 2.
Univariate Tests of Work Categories by Three Groups
Between Within
Work Category MS (a) MS F (b) P (c)
Communication 1.60 0.36 3.87 *
Financial control 3.27 0.55 5.22 **
Entrepreneur 4.23 0.37 10.97 ***
Resource allocator 4.82 0.48 8.70 ***
Leader 6.33 0.42 14.04 ***
Operations 2.99 0.38 7.27 ***
Strategic assessment 6.71 0.44 14.04 ***
Interpersonal relations 14.05 0.40 33.72 ***
Disturbance handler 7.77 0.58 13.32 ***
Negotiator 15.75 0.54 29.39 ***
Liaison 13.59 0.50 26.29 ***
Monitor 5.78 0.50 11.56 ***
Disseminator 12.22 0.43 29.18 ***
Spokesperson 2.10 0.52 3.83 *
Technical expert 3.21 0.50 6.01 **
Figurehead 1.78 0.58 2.32 NS
(a) MS=mean square.
(b) F statistic derived from one-way analysis of variance
(df=2,339).
(c) P < .05, ** P < .01, *** P < .001, NS=not significant.
Table 3.
Post Hoc Multiple Comparisons for Observed Means (a)
Importance Mean Scores
Hospital- Private
Faculty Based Practice
Work Category Members Managers Managers
Communication 4.50 4.44 4.27
Financial control 4.53 4.29 4.15
Entrepreneur 4.33 4.41 4.07
Resource allocator 4.40 4.10 3.94
Leader 4.39 4.14 3.86
Operations 4.13 4.03 3.79
Strategic assessment 4.26 3.86 3.71
Interpersonal relations 4.19 3.92 3.44
Disturbance handler 4.16 3.81 3.55
Negotiator 4.24 3.75 3.36
Liaison 4.04 3.92 3.38
Monitor 3.98 3.64 3.44
Disseminator 3.94 3.83 3.29
Spokesperson 3.67 3.45 3.35
Technical expert 3.53 3.42 3.18
(a) Tamhane T2 post hoc test, which compares mean differences, was
used because it adjusts for unequal variances and sample sizes.
Continuous lines represent means that did not differ (P > .05).
Means that did differ (P < .05) are separated by the break(s) in
the line. Overlapping lines mean that differences were found
between faculty members and private practice managers, but no
difference was found between hospital managers and either of the
other 2 groups.
Table 4.
Levels of Significance of Post Hoc Multiple Comparisons for
Observed Means
Multiple Comparisons (a)
Work Category F/H H/P P/F
Communication *
Financial control * ***
Entrepreneur *** **
Resource allocator *** ***
Leader ** ** ***
Operations * **
Strategic assessment *** ***
Interpersonal relations ** *** ***
Disturbance handler *** * ***
Negotiator *** *** ***
Liaison *** ***
Monitor * ***
Disseminator *** ***
Spokesperson *
Technical expert * **
(a) Tamhane T2 post hoc test, which compares mean differences, was
used because it adjusts for unequal variances and sample sizes.
F=faculty member, H=hospital-based manager, P=private
practice manager. * P < .05, ** P < .01, **** P < .001, blank=not
significant.
* SPSS Inc, 444 N Michigan Michigan (mĭsh`ĭgən), upper midwestern state of the United States. It consists of two peninsulas thrusting into the Great Lakes and has borders with Ohio and Indiana (S), Wisconsin (W), and the Canadian province of Ontario (N,E). Ave AVE Avenue AVE Average AVE Alta Velocidad Espanola (train between Madrid and Seville) AVE Alta Velocidad Española (Spanish: High Speed Train) AVE Audio Video Entertainment AVE Advertising Value Equivalent , Chicago Chicago, city, United States Chicago (shĭkä`gō, shĭkô`gō), city (1990 pop. 2,783,726), seat of Cook co., NE Ill., on Lake Michigan; inc. 1837. , IL 60611. References (1) Guide to Physical Therapist Practice. 2nd ed. Phys Ther. 2001;81: 9-744. (2) A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education: Version 97. Alexandria Alexandria, city, Egypt Alexandria, Arabic Al Iskandariyah, city (1996 pop. 3,328,196), N Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is at the western extremity of the Nile River delta, situated on a narrow isthmus between the sea and Lake Mareotis (Maryut). , Va: American Physical Therapy Association The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is a national professional organization representing more than 66,000 members. Its goal is to foster advancements in physical therapy practice, research, and education. ; 1997. (3) Fayol H. Administration Industrielle et Generale. Paris, France: Dunod Dunod may refer to:
(4) Fayol H. General and Industrial Management. London London, city, Canada London, city (1991 pop. 303,165), SE Ont., Canada, on the Thames River. The site was chosen in 1792 by Governor Simcoe to be the capital of Upper Canada, but York was made capital instead. London was settled in 1826. , England England, the largest and most populous portion of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1991 pop. 46,382,050), 50,334 sq mi (130,365 sq km). It is bounded by Wales and the Irish Sea on the west and Scotland on the north. : Pitman; 1949. (5) Carroll Car·roll , James 1854-1907. British-born American physician noted for his research on yellow fever. In 1900 he deliberately infected himself with the disease for experimental purposes. SJ, Gillen This is a list of notable people named Gillen, a name of Irish origin:
(6) Mintzberg H. Managerial work: analysis from observation. Manage Sci. 1971;18(2):B97-B110. (7) Mintzberg H. The Nature of Managerial Work. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY: Harper & Row; 1973. (8) Hales
The church of Hales St Margaret is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk. CP. What do managers do? A critical review of the evidence. J Manage Stud stud 1. purebred. 2. a place, usually a farm, at which purebred animals are maintained and reproduced. stud animal an animal registered in a stud book. . 1986;23(1):88-115. (9) Stewart Stewart, river, Canada Stewart, river, 331 mi (533 km) long, rising in the Mackenzie Mts., central Yukon Territory, Canada, and flowing generally W to the Yukon River S of Dawson. R. Twelve Managers. Suffolk Suffolk, county (1991 pop. 629,900), 1,466 sq mi (3,798 sq km), E England. The county seat is Ipswich. Suffolk is bordered on the N by the Ouse and Waveney rivers and on the S by the Stour River. , England: Ipswich Book Co; 1994. (10) Katz RL. Skills of an effective administrator. Harv Bus Rev. 1974; 52(5):90-102. (11) Pavett CM, Lau AW. A comparative analysis of research and development managerial jobs across two sectors. J Manage Stud. 1985; 22(1):69-82. (12) Roemer L. Hospital middle managers' perceptions of their work and competence. Hosp Health Serv Adm. 1996;41:210-235. (13) Kovacek P, Powers D, Iglarsh ZA, et al. Task force on leadership, administration, and management preparation (LAMP). The Resource. 1999;29(1):8-13. (14) Guide to Physical Therapist Practice. Phys Ther. 1997;77:1163-1650. (15) Brewer K. Competency assessment of the physical therapy manager. The Resource. 1999;29(4):10-13. (16) Moseley RC. Defining the Work Scope of Physical Therapist Managers: The Educator's Viewpoint [unpublished professional paper]. Denton, Tex: Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University, main campus at Denton; state supported; primarily for women; est. 1901. It is the largest state-supported university for women in the country. ; 1998. (17) Scheib M. Defining the Work Scope of Physical Therapy Managers in Private Practice Settings: A Survey [unpublished professional paper]. Denton, Tex: Texas Woman's University; 1998. (18) White P. Defining the Work Scope of Physical Therapist Managers: Perceptions of Clinical Managers in Hospital Settings [unpublished professional paper]. Denton, Tex: Texas Woman's University; 1998. (19) Portney LG, Watkins MP. Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Practice. Upper Saddle River Saddle River may refer to:
In 1913, law professor Dr. Health; 2000. (20) SPSS Advanced Statistics 7.5. Chicago, Ill: SPSS Inc; 1997. (21) Domholdt E. Physical Therapy Research: Principles and Applications. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders Saun´ders n. 1. See Sandress. Co; 2000. This study was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research of the Dallas campus of Texas Woman's University and received exempt status. This article was submitted January 30, 2001, and was accepted July 11, 2001. DS Schafer, PT, PhD, is Associate Dean, School of Physical Therapy, Texas Woman's University, 8194 Walnut Hill Walnut Hill may refer to:
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