South African health decentralisation: requiring contextually intelligent leaders. Issue 4 (11th October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Meyer, Ellenore; Thomas, Leena; Smith, Selma; Scheepers, Caren
• Is Part Of: Emerald emerging markets case studies. Volume 7:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 23
• Publication Date: 2017-10-11
• Subjects: Organisational behaviour -- Human resource management -- Health and safety -- Public adminstration
• DOI: 10.1108/EEMCS-12-2016-0230
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-0621

Abstract

Abstract : Subject area: Public Health; Leadership; Organisational Development; Organisational Behaviour; Public Administration Management. Study level/applicability: Postgraduate level for honours or masters programmes in courses on public health; executive leadership and management programmes; MBA level. Case overview: The case unpacks decentralisation as a means to promote and improve local decision-making and accountability through community participation and engagements. Ayanda Nkele was a programme manager in a health district in South Africa. He was faced with many challenges when trying to implement his programme, most of which were related to local authority, responsibilities and decision-making abilities at his level. This case describes briefly the South African health system. and how it functions. It describes the proposed changes to the health system and its transformation towards Universal Health Coverage. The decision space analysis as discussed in the case illustrates the types of decentralisation in the country and how this also applies to Nkele's level. Expected learning outcomes: Understanding the concepts and principles of decentralisation within the context of strengthening district health services, the re-engineering of primary health care (PHC) and rolling out a National Health Insurance in South Africa. Applying the "decision space" approach to analyse the extent of decentralisation. Grasping the requirement of leaders to be "contextually intelligent" and identify the important contextual variables to take into account when analysing public health care. Supplementary materials: Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [e-mail] to request teaching notes. Subject code: CSS 7: Management Science.