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Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital
Distributed leadership has been proposed to offer value for health systems – by enabling people to work towards collective goals within settings such as hospitals. Yet, there is still lack of clarity about what distributed leadership is and how to nurture its development. To address these knowledge...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Public Health and Family Medicine
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613220952342528 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Motshweneng, Oupa Steven |
| author2 | Gilson, Lucy |
| author_browse | Gilson, Lucy Motshweneng, Oupa Steven |
| author_facet | Gilson, Lucy Motshweneng, Oupa Steven |
| author_sort | Motshweneng, Oupa Steven |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Distributed leadership has been proposed to offer value for health systems – by enabling people to work towards collective goals within settings such as hospitals. Yet, there is still lack of clarity about what distributed leadership is and how to nurture its development. To address these knowledge gaps, this case study draws on conceptual work in empirically examining leadership in one district hospital in the Western Cape province, South Africa, seeking to identify evidence of distributed leadership and the factors influencing its emergence. Data were extracted from 28 academic theses, policies and strategic documents relating to health leadership, management and governance in the provincial health system (Phase 1) and 12 semi-structured, in-person interviews were conducted with hospital personnel (Phase 2). Phase 1 data provided the context of the case and guided the collection of data in Phase 2. All data were thematically analysed. The analysis reveals that there were pockets of distributed leadership within the hospital, as characterised by chains of multiple leaders working together to co-create shared meaning, take collective decisions and achieve common goals, enabled by relational leadership practices. These pockets supported both routine service delivery and bottom-up service improvement action. However, the unequal distribution of decision-making power, in the context of bureaucratic and professional hierarchies, limited the widespread emergence of distributed leadership. The case study suggests that distributed leadership can emerge in district hospitals with positive consequences for health service delivery, but that efforts to nurture its emergence should both bolster the leadership capabilities of individual leaders and address the bureaucratic and professional hierarchies that characterise the context within which hospital leadership unfolds. To aid the future practice of, and research about, distributed leadership the paper presents a comprehensive definition of the concept, synthesised from the wider literature and this study's empirical findings. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42505 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:41.376Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Department of Public Health and Family Medicine |
| publisherStr | Department of Public Health and Family Medicine |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42505 Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital Motshweneng, Oupa Steven Gilson, Lucy Western Cape Government Health and Wellness District hospital Distributed leadership has been proposed to offer value for health systems – by enabling people to work towards collective goals within settings such as hospitals. Yet, there is still lack of clarity about what distributed leadership is and how to nurture its development. To address these knowledge gaps, this case study draws on conceptual work in empirically examining leadership in one district hospital in the Western Cape province, South Africa, seeking to identify evidence of distributed leadership and the factors influencing its emergence. Data were extracted from 28 academic theses, policies and strategic documents relating to health leadership, management and governance in the provincial health system (Phase 1) and 12 semi-structured, in-person interviews were conducted with hospital personnel (Phase 2). Phase 1 data provided the context of the case and guided the collection of data in Phase 2. All data were thematically analysed. The analysis reveals that there were pockets of distributed leadership within the hospital, as characterised by chains of multiple leaders working together to co-create shared meaning, take collective decisions and achieve common goals, enabled by relational leadership practices. These pockets supported both routine service delivery and bottom-up service improvement action. However, the unequal distribution of decision-making power, in the context of bureaucratic and professional hierarchies, limited the widespread emergence of distributed leadership. The case study suggests that distributed leadership can emerge in district hospitals with positive consequences for health service delivery, but that efforts to nurture its emergence should both bolster the leadership capabilities of individual leaders and address the bureaucratic and professional hierarchies that characterise the context within which hospital leadership unfolds. To aid the future practice of, and research about, distributed leadership the paper presents a comprehensive definition of the concept, synthesised from the wider literature and this study's empirical findings. 2026-01-09T11:17:23Z 2026-01-09T11:17:23Z 2025 2026-01-09T10:22:58Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42505 en eng application/pdf Department of Public Health and Family Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Western Cape Government Health and Wellness District hospital Motshweneng, Oupa Steven Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital |
| title_full | Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital |
| title_fullStr | Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital |
| title_short | Barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a Western Cape Government Health and Wellness district hospital |
| title_sort | barriers and enablers to the emergence of distributed leadership in a western cape government health and wellness district hospital |
| topic | Western Cape Government Health and Wellness District hospital |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42505 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT motshwenengoupasteven barriersandenablerstotheemergenceofdistributedleadershipinawesterncapegovernmenthealthandwellnessdistricthospital |