Measuring distributed leadership agency in a hospital context.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an instrument that can measure distributed leadership (DL) as employees' active participation in DL tasks. The authors designate this as the distributed leadership agency (DLA). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected throughout all departments and occupational groups at a merged centralized hospital setting in Denmark. A total of 1,774 employees from 24 hospital departments and 16 occupational groups completed our survey. Structural equation model and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to identify appropriate items and a test for measurement invariance, predictive, discriminant and convergent validity, and ANOVAs were applied to analyse group differences in DLA. Findings The identified unidimensional questionnaire consists of seven items, as it is different from, but associated with, empowering leadership, organizational influence, attitude to participation and trust in management. As theoretically predicted, DLA is positively related to self-efficacy, job satisfaction and innovative behaviour. Chief physicians, permanent employees and employee representatives scored higher on the scale than the rest of their respective counterparts. Practical implications The survey offers a method to assess a distribution of leadership agency in hospital organizations. Such assessment may provide a basis for organizational and leadership development. Originality/value The present study provides a reliable and valid quantitative instrument that measures how much employees at all hierarchical levels are involved in concrete leadership activities in the hospital context. Taking a normative perspective the authors could show that DL - measured with the DLA-questionnaire - has positive effects on employees' behaviour.
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
Thomas
T
Jønsson
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
Christine
C
Unterrainer
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
Hans-Jeppe
HJ
Jeppesen
Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
Ajay Kumar
AK
Jain
D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008332:Management Quality Circles; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Decentralization; Distributed leadership; Employee involvement; Hospital management; Research methods