Search results

The largest organisation in the western world, the UK National Health Service (NHS), might be best viewed as a network of interdependent organisations. However, the public has only recently begun to see it as a living network. Public reforms and financial crises have increased the need for professionals to innovate and improve their role. The overarching question is how this new clinical leadership can positively affect the functioning of the system and its performance. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to clarify how leaders can be most effective in managing health networks.

A pragmatic approach was taken because of the topical and strategic importance of networks and leadership in the current climate, and hence a need for greater understanding of this largely unknown phenomenon. A focus group interview with Organisational Development experts from the Centre for Innovation and Health Management (CIHM) at Leeds University Business School was followed by three scoping reviews and high-level follow-up conversations with CIHM members, network leaders from the NHS and third sectors.

Issues that have emerged include: how networks are designed; which factors enhance its likelihood of success and predicate its failure; discussions of illuminating effective leadership.

The Stories of Effective Leadership Networks were provided by the network founders, who may have sought to emphasise the benefits (as opposed to downside) of their network. An ideal scenario would have been the inclusion of patients and carers and perhaps administrative staff to reduce bias.

Considering the limited evidence base from the literature about medical leadership for network management, the involvement of network leaders and the ability to draw-upon CIHMs knowledge and expertise has been fundamental for determining lessons that may enhance the leadership function of the UK's health system network.

The Netherlands' national government (Rijksoverheid) is an example of a large public organization that strives to recruit and retain employees from different cultural groups, and aims to reap the benefits of workplace diversity. Research has shown that a major predictor of the effectiveness of diversity policy and interventions is the diversity perspective of employees, i.e. which outcomes they associate with cultural diversity in their work environment.

The present study compares public servants' diversity perspectives in two similar independent samples, from 2008 (n = 1,617) and 2018 (n = 2,024), using the Benefits and Threats of Diversity Scale (BTDS; Hofhuis et al., 2015).

Results show that in 2018, employees of the Netherlands' national government perceived more benefits of diversity for gaining insight about and access to different groups within society. Additionally, contributions of cultural diversity to creativity and innovation within teams are reported significantly more often in 2018 than in 2008.

The findings may be of interest to diversity scholars, since data on changes in cultural diversity perspectives across time are rare, and the paper provides a unique comparison of measurements at two time points, one decade apart, within the same organization.