The influence of leadership on stakeholder involvement in the digitalisation of the UK healthcare sector: an activity theory perspective

Objective: Leadership plays a critical role in shaping an organisation’s digitisation journey and driving complex change processes. As the necessity to involve stakeholders in achieving digitalisation objectives across sectors is becoming increasingly evident, this study used Activity Theory as theoretical lens to explore leadership influence on stakeholder involvement in the digitalisation of the UK healthcare sector. Methods: This study followed an interpretive qualitative approach using the UK healthcare sector as a case study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and survey responses complementarily. Results: A thematic analysis of 14 interview transcripts and 121 survey responses revealed that leadership’s influence on stakeholder involvement transcends leadership styles and traditional attributes. It is multi-dimensional and encompasses the ability to navigate multiple systemic elements to shape stakeholders’ commitment to the common digitalisation goal. Conclusions: This study provides insights into the moderating and mediating role of leadership in stakeholder involvement, by dissecting its influence across five major dimensions: involvement integrability, commitment to stakeholder involvement, stakeholder inclusivity and engagement, leadership-digitalisation-stakeholder trust triality, and leadership obstructiveness.