Buy-in to a Credible Vision! Why Leaders Make Prospector Responses to Learning-Oriented Performance Reform

Abstract

The implementation of learning-oriented performance reforms that seek to replace performance regimes based on external accountability is an important phenomenon. This article examines how leaders respond to such reforms and what factors make leaders pursue a prospector response. The article conceptualizes and examines the phenomenon through a mixed method study in the Danish hospital sector and find that some leaders respond in a prospector way and that reactor responses disappear over time. The key result is that leader buy-in to the vision of learning-oriented performance reform and the perception of higher level commitment to the reform further prospector responses.