Relationship Between Senior Executive Leadership Practices and Sustained Implementation of Quality Improvement Within California State Government

OBJECTIVE
To determine what leadership practices by senior executives influenced sustained quality improvement within California state government.

METHODOLOGY
Ninety of the 155 state government organizations were selected for the study based upon either their participation in Quality Improvement (QI) or their interest in it. Each department was sent a questionnaire to determine their experience with QI, and senior executives from each department completed the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). Fifty departments responded to the first survey (56%). Two hundred and sixty-six senior executives from 44 departments completed the LPI (88%).

KEY FINDINGS
The average leadership scores for the top eight departments were higher than the average scores for the bottom seven departments, which underscored the statistically significant correlation found between total departmental leadership score and total departmental sustained QI. Leadership scores were higher for the departments ranked highest for quality than for the lowest ranked departments in all categories of leadership practices including total scores. A statistically significant relationship was also found between the specific leadership practice of Inspiring a Shared Vision and total departmental sustained QI.