The effects of physicians' personal characteristics on innovation readiness in Taiwan's hospitals

This paper examines innovation in the healthcare industry in Taiwan. Specifically, we looked at how two critical factors (physicians' creative traits and authoritarian personality) are related to innovation readiness within the medical care system in Taiwan. We argue that innovation readiness is the cognitive precursor to the behaviors supporting innovation. Additionally, we also examine the moderating effects of hospital types (teaching versus non-teaching hospitals) on these relationships. Data from 417 physicians belonging to 26 hospitals is used to test our hypotheses. Results show that the degree of innovation readiness a physician perceives is associated with both creative traits and authoritarian personality. With regard to the organizational variable, the evidence shows that of the specific kind of hospital is far less important than the people who work there when it comes to innovation readiness.