Organizational Research of the Dental Teaching Clinic (CODA) of La Frontera University: CODA’s Internal Management Analysis Related to Typical Processes from Smart Organizations.

Objectives: The investigation’s main objective was to analyze the internal management processes from the Clinica Odontologica Docente Asistencial (CODA) of the Universidad of la Frontera, related to the typical aspects of the processes that are considered part of a smart organization.
Methods: The investigation was qualitative non-experimental type, which deepness level was descriptive. The members of the investigation were: 1 administrative coordinator, 3 undergraduate and postgraduate academics and 9 undergraduate students. The information gathering techniques were: 2 semi-structured interviews (coordination and academics) and three groups of students. For the interview guidelines, an operational table of variables was elaborated, and content analysis technique was used.
Results: The main results were 1. CODA is not a case of smart organization, because the main aspects such as communication and power relations are way below what’s typical from a smart organization. 2. There’s no organizational culture which comprises certain aspects like teamwork, identity, link, shared mission and vision, however, it’s reflective capacity is remarkable, which can lead to internal changes.
Conclusions: In conclusion: a) The investigation developed, using the “smart” concept, a way to continue researching the internal management processes from CODA-UFRO, at a deeper level. b) There is interest from the organization in developing new studies, with the aim of creating new action strategies, so that, the CODA could provide a successful and quality customer service.