Social Science and Human Research Bulletin

A culture of feedback is crucial for the achievement of quality, especially of high-quality client centred care. Healthcare management then feels the need to support teams in the development of a robust feedback culture, for example by providing teams with feedback training. That is even more important in a multicultural, multilingual small island community. However, what kind of a feedback culture does staff need? Especially if teams consist of members from different cultures, different ages and gender? Management needs to involve staff in the co creation process of a quality feedback culture.

This research presents the results of a case study of a secondary healthcare institute in the Caribbean. In the framework of a process of co-creating a feedback culture in every team of the organization a survey was conducted on the desired feedback culture of the staff members. In total 81 healthcare staff members from seven teams filled in the questionnaire. The questionnaire revealed -opposite to what the management expected- that there were little differences in the desired feedback culture in the healthcare organization, when you look at age or place of birth. This is interesting, because it gives the management the opportunity to focus on generic aspects of a sound feedback culture, rather than having to diversify to age or culture.

quality culture; small island; client centered care; age; place of birth

1. Van Kemenade, E.A., The Continuity in the Concept: A Concept Analysis of Quality Culture in Complex Adaptive Systems, The Vietnamese Journal of Education, 2023,  7(2), pp. 157–170.  https://doi.org/10.52296/vje.2023.285
2. Yin, R.K. (2014) Case Study Research Design and Methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 
3. Khangura, S., Konnyu, K., Cushman, R., Grimshaw, J., & Moher, D. Evidence summaries: The evolution of a rapid review approach. Systematic Review. 2012, 1(10), pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-1-10
4. Cooper, H.M. (1984), The integrative research review, CA:Sage 
5. Virginia Commonwealth University. (2021). Rapid review protocol. https://guides.library.vcu.edu/rapidreview (Accessed on 17th April 2025).
6. Spear, S. Learning to Lead at Toyota. Harvard Business Review. 2004, 82(5), pp. 78-86.
7. Burlacu, G. Employee Age Differences in Formal Performance Feedback Reactions: Examining the Effects of Perceived Valence, Content, and Delivery" (2011). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 35. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.35 (Accessed 17th of April 2025).
8. Gaidhani S., Arora, L. and Sharma, B.K. Understanding the attitude of generation z towards workplace, International Journal of Management, Technology And Engineering  2019, 9(1): pp. 2804-2812
9. Baker Rosa, N.M. and Hastings, S.O. Managing Millennials: looking beyond generational stereotypes, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2018, 31(4): pp. 920-930. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-10-2015-0193
10. Simon J.R., Howard, J.H. and Howard D.V. Adult Age Differences in Learning from Positive and Negative Probabilistic Feedback, Neuropsychology. 2010, 24(4): pp. 534–541.
11. Rudolph C.W., Rauvola, Costanza D.P. and Zacher H. Generations and Generational Differences: Debunking Myths in Organizational Science and Practice and Paving New Paths Forward, Journal of Business and Psychology 2021, (36): pp. 945–967
12. Mlodzik, K.J and De Meuse, K.P. A Scholarly Investigation of Generational Workforce Differences: Debunking the Myths, Korn/Ferry International. https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/374-a-scholarly-investigation-of-generational-workforce-differences-debunking-the-myths (Accessed 17th of April 2025).
13. Stone-Romero, E.F. and Stone, D.L. (2002), "Cross-cultural differences in responses to feedback: Implications for individual, group, and organizational effectiveness", Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 275-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-7301(02)21007-5
14. Wolfe Morisson, E., Chen, Y-R and Salgado S.R. Cultural Differences in Newcomer Feedback Seeking: A Comparison of the United States and Hong Kong, Applied Psychology 2004, 53-1, pp. 1-22 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2004.00158.x
15. MacDonald, H. A., Sulsky, L. M., Spence, J. R., & Brown, D. J. Cultural Differences in the Motivation to Seek Performance Feedback: A Comparative Policy-Capturing Study. Human Performance, 2013, 26(3), pp. 211–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2013.795572
16. Coffman, K. and Klinowski D., Gender and Preferences for Performance Feedback. Management Science 2024, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.02482 (Accessed, 17th April 2025).
17. Buha, E. (2023) Bridging The Generational Gap: Effective Feedback Strategies In The Age-Diverse Workplace  https://elearningindustry.com/bridging-the-generational-gap-effective-feedback-strategies-in-the-age-diverse-workplace (Accessed 17th of April 2025).
18. Hoffman E. and Verdooren, A. Diversity Competence, 2018, Coutinho
19. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780803973244.
20. Trompenaars,F. and Hampden-Turner, C. Riding The Waves Of Culture Understanding Diversity in Global Business, 2020, John Murray
21. Van der Linden, M.  Feedback geven in het onderwijs: kwalitatief onderzoek naar verschillende aspecten van Feedbackcultuur, 2021, Erasmus universiteit, Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Pedagogische Wetenschappen
22. Kahmann, K. & Mulder, R. H. (2011). Feedback in organizations. A review of feedback literature and a framework for future research (Research Report No. 6). University of Regensburg, Institute for Educational Science.