The Impact of Distributed Leadership on Collective Performance Data Use

Abstract

Performance management theory has focused on organizations, with less attention given to non-hierarchical collaborations that use performance practices. We add a relational, group perspective to the performance management literature and contribute knowledge about the role of distributed leadership in fostering collective data use. We argue that a horizontal leadership approach fosters the group’s ownership of the collaborative and increases the number of information sources, both needed to make sense of, and stimulate interest in, performance data. Our analysis uses qualitative and quantitative data collected between 2019 and 2021 from a case study of community collaboratives founded to respond to the opioid epidemic in North Carolina. We find distributed leadership positively impacts collective data use and examine strategies as to how this mechanism could be activated. Our findings emphasize the importance of core teams, distributed structures, formalization, key leaders, and job resources.