This case study investigates interactions between inspectors and regulatee representatives during regulatory conversations. We study how health care inspectors pursue voluntary cooperation from internal supervisors of health care providers to alter organizational management practices. We identify ambiguity as a central characteristic of the regulatory conversations. We observe several discrepancies as inspectors display hierarchical behavior incongruent with the horizontal relationship they aim for—and incongruent with the relationship style that internal supervisors expect. Analyzing these discrepancies in terms of relationship types and associated relational signals helps explain and prevent suboptimal communication and reduced acceptance of regulators’ demands by regulatees.

本案例研究调查了监管对话期间检查员和受监管代表之间的互动。我们研究卫生保健检查员如何寻求卫生保健提供者的内部主管的自愿合作，以改变组织管理实践。我们将歧义视为监管对话的核心特征。我们观察到一些差异，因为检查员表现出的等级行为与他们所追求的横向关系不一致，也与内部主管期望的关系风格不一致。在关系类型和相关关系信号方面分析这些差异有助于解释和防止次优沟通以及受监管者对监管者要求的接受程度降低。