Abstract
Forms of collective leadership, such as distributed leadership, have become increasingly important. The need for measurement of the variables involved in the delegation processes represents a new challenge for organizations that want to ensure high-level working. The present study aimed to validate the Italian version of the distributed leadership agency (DLA). The study was carried out on 704 employees (doctors, nurses, clerks, staff workers, healthcare assistants, consultants, management) of an Italian public hospital, who were selected to complete a survey on organizational perceptions. Multiple confirmatory factor analyses (maximum likelihood) have been computed to explore the factorial structure of the DLA, along with associations with other work outcomes. Results about the Italian DLA confirmed the original trifactorial structure of the construct, suggested by Yukl (2002), through good fit indexes and reliability scores; moreover, consistent with the literature, DLA was strongly related to satisfaction, commitment, and trust. Results contribute to underline the robustness of the construct of DLA in different cultural sectors and provide a useful tool to be adopted in the Italian context.
Highlights
The complex and continuous transformations involving organizations has progressively led, consistently with widespread managerialism, to an increasingly narrow focus on performance, on the standardization of production processes, and on the greater distribution of work and responsibilities (Clarke and Newman, 1997; Hardt and Negri, 2001)
Genuine leadership can no longer be limited to the mere proclamation of values to be followed, but it Distributed Leadership Agency and Work Outcomes rather represents a shared function through which the leader can manage people and processes on a daily basis, through a distribution of power (Hall, 2002)
The present study aimed to contribute to the validation of the Italian version of the distributed leadership agency (DLA) scale in the healthcare sector
Summary
The complex and continuous transformations involving organizations has progressively led, consistently with widespread managerialism, to an increasingly narrow focus on performance, on the standardization of production processes, and on the greater distribution of work and responsibilities (Clarke and Newman, 1997; Hardt and Negri, 2001). Genuine leadership can no longer be limited to the mere proclamation of values to be followed, but it Distributed Leadership Agency and Work Outcomes rather represents a shared function through which the leader can manage people and processes on a daily basis, through a distribution of power (Hall, 2002). Models and forms of collective leadership have gained increasing importance, and distributed leadership (DL), identifiable as a shared collective and widespread leadership practice, able to improve the capacity for corporate change, is definitely one worth to be mentioned. Several scholars argued that DL encourages the horizontal development of power, redistributes responsibilities, and promotes capacity building (Harvey et al, 2003); on the other, despite the proliferation of definitions and approaches to DL, its measurement is not exempt from critical points and difficulties from several perspectives (Harris, 2008; Jønsson et al, 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
