Fahimeh Rabbanikha - Deputy of General Human Resources Management, Tehran, Iran
Reza Moradi - Department of Health Management, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fatemeh Monafi - Department of Health Management, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Amir Kazemi-Bollboloy - Department of Performance Evaluation, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran

Background: Organizational directors should change their way of thinking to keep up with the increasing changes and take measures to achieve organizational goals. When organizations are faced with new problems, old solutions are futile and no longer effective. Henceforth, strategic thinking skill is increasingly essential for different levels of directors. The present study aimed to investigate the amount of strategic thinking at different levels of (directors of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.Methods: The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017. The study population consisted of all directors of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, including Director General, Advisors to the Minister, Advisors to Deputies, and Administrative Deputies, who entered the study by census. Data were collected using the pre-validated Strategic Thinking Scale based on Liedtka model, and analyzed in SPSS version 20.Results: The mean strategic thinking score was 68/100 for different levels of directors, which is higher than average. Among dimensions of strategic thinking, systems perspective and thinking in time had the highest and the lowest mean scores, respectively. No significant differences were observed in strategic thinking and its dimensions in terms of gender, age group, work experience, being a deputy, position or type of employment. Mean score of thinking in time was significantly different in terms of education, and those with Ph.D. and higher education scored had significantly higher score than the rest.Conclusion: Given the higher-than-average scores obtained by directors in strategic thinking and its dimensions, it is recommended that measures such as holding educational workshops and use of strategic management and planning consultants be taken to strengthen dimensions of strategic thinking.

Health Services, Strategic thinking, Systems perspective