The impact of operational control on financial performance: Evidence from dental care clinics in Sweden

Operational control is necessary and of great importance for all organizations, and generally concerns measures taken to achieve organizational goals and develop in the desired direction. Despite an abundance of research, descriptions of models for how operational control can be concretely operationalized in the healthcare sector, particularly to investigate its effects on financial performance, remain limited. This research gap seems to cover most of the healthcare sector; this study focuses on dental clinics. The purpose of this paper is thus to examine the relationship between operational control and financial performance in dental care clinics. Building on Chandler's strategy-structure perspective, an operational control model comprising five dimensions- strategy, structure, culture, control systems, and development- is developed and empirically tested. The study uses survey data from 32 dental clinics within a large Swedish dental care organization, combined with financial data from the organization's financial system. Statistical analysis shows a positive relationship between operational control and financial performance, with strategy and structure demonstrating particularly strong associations with profit margins. The findings provide empirical support for the importance of strategy and structural fit in operational control and offer a framework for further research on operational control in healthcare and other organizational contexts.