The quality perception gap between employees and patients in hospitals.

Background: To assess hospital performance, quality perceptions of various stakeholders are increasingly taken into account. However, because of substantial background differences, various stakeholder groups might have different and even contrasting quality perceptions.

Purpose: We test the hypothesis that an overall perception gap exists between employees and patients with respect to perceived hospital quality.

Extending Miles & Snow's strategy choice typology to the German hospital sector.

Hospitals' strategy choices represent highly relevant factors that affect organizational performance and survival. This study assesses the differences among hospitals' strategic choices. This strategy definition and assessment reflects the typology proposed by Miles and Snow, who distinguish four strategy types: defender, analyzer, prospector, and reactor.