Managing without managers: An interpretative case study of distributed leadership and employee motivation within a management consultancy firm

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to explore how distributed leadership is practiced and perceived by the knowledge workers in a management consultancy firm. Furthermore, we investigated the possible connection between the distributed leadership approach and employee motivation. In doing so, we drew upon Alvesson and Kärreman (2012) ‘motivation triangle’ in order to incorporate the often undermined aspect of social context. The empirical part of this study was conducted through an interpretive, abductive and qualitative research method. The main empirical data was collected through ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with employees. The perception of the leadership approach practiced at our chosen case company can be summarized as constructed around three main pillars; no managers, autonomy, and personal responsibility. We also found that it was influenced by a strong organizational culture and power asymmetries. Our findings indicated these factors both have hindering and enabling implications on employee motivation. Furthermore, we found that the distributed leadership approach was made possible at Centigo through the use of normative control.