case study of tesco leadership

Case Study: Tesco

Tesco is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. Not only is Tesco one of the most valuable brands in the UK, but it is also the sixteenth most valuable retail brand worldwide as of 2021. In the UK, Tesco is the leading grocery retailer with a consistent share of over 27 percent of the market and is classed as one of the ‘big four’ supermarkets.

​The executive team for Tesco is based across Ireland, Asia and Europe with all functional team leads reporting to CEO, Ken Murphy. In 2018, Natasha Adams, then CPO and now CEO Tesco Ireland, attended Wavelength’s immersive learning study tour, Wavelength USA 2018 alongside 20 other exec level leaders from different sectors/continents, and in 2019 attended our bespoke ‘Silicon Valley Immersion’ with fifteen members of the Tesco Executive team.

Between 2014-2021 under the leadership of Sir Dave Lewis, the Tesco leadership team orchestrated a spectacular turnaround, resulting in a 34% surge in profits. However, then, as now, the retail landscape was under intense pressure as consumer behaviours changed, which has had a profound impact on the way in which people shop and eat.

Mindful of the pace of change and increasing customer demand, Tesco needed to pay serious attention to how it was innovating to remain relevant in this fast-paced, disruptive environment. How could they create the necessary conditions to use innovation as their catalyst for growth?

Wavelength were delighted that Tesco thought of us as their ideal partners in their journey towards embedding innovation in their strategy and outlook.

Silicon Valley Immersion Trip

“As a leadership team and as an organisation as a whole, we had to ask ourselves some tough questions. How could we collectively open our minds to innovate in a different way and think about innovation in the longer term? We needed to understand and feed off the big disruptions happening globally and specifically within the retail market,” commented Natasha Adams, former CPO and currently CEO, Tesco Ireland.

“Having attended the Wavelength USA trip the year before, I saw very clear synergies between that experience and the experience we wanted to create in the Tesco Silicon Valley Immersion trip. It was an opportunity to do something bespoke to focus on strategically important key themes.”

Tesco were seeking some very clear outcomes – namely, to change individual leaders’ frames of reference, mindset and expectation of innovation in their individual areas of the business. They wanted to stimulate a collective disruption around what the business was doing – and still needed to do – to fulfil their overarching strategy; all whilst remaining relevant and at the forefront of retail innovation.​

“We wanted to answer the question: ‘how do we become an innovative business where innovation flourishes to the advantage of our customers?’ This trip was about getting the stimulus to start that journey,” added Natasha.​

The bespoke Silicon Valley Immersion trip that Wavelength created for Tesco in 2019 was a world-class, unique three days packed with stimulus and encounters with the innovators, the disruptors and the enablers from across the Valley. The trip was curated around Tesco’s key strategic themes: food, loyalty, data, future of payments and AI.

Hosts included Silicon Valley Bank, Salesforce, Grove Collaborative, Starship Technologies, Andreesen Horowitz, Mayfield and a unique special event with a range of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, commentators and thought leaders.

Tesco Leaders' Event - Bringing Silicon Valley To London

Following the success of the bespoke Silicon Valley trip, Wavelength supported the next stage of the Tesco Innovation journey by designing a bespoke experience for the group which would recreate and build upon their Silicon Valley Immersion. This formed part of the Tesco October 2019 bi-annual two-day Leaders’ Event, which brought together 50 top global Tesco leaders.

Natasha was keen to involve elements from across the Silicon Valley programme in the Leaders event, with the aim of broadening the level of awareness for the need to innovate differently.

Experience and Results

For Natasha, the highlights of the Silicon Valley Immersion programme were in its breadth and diversity of content, and the top-notch quality of conversations.

“The openness and willingness of the host companies to engage with the Tesco Group meant that the brief for the trip was 100% met. And the real highlight was that the trip stimulated the disruption conversation and challenge we wanted and needed to move forward with our strategic plans” she said.

The participation of the Tesco top team in Wavelength programmes ignited serious change across the company.

As a direct result, Tesco completely re-examined and relaunched their approach to innovation – culminating in September 2020 with their launch of ‘Tesco Red Door’, their new approach to disruptive innovation. They invite innovators with new products, ideas, or emerging technologies with the potential to cause disruption in the future to contact this Group Innovation Team.

This team is now a single point of contact, responsible for quickly evaluating ideas, supporting partners to access Tesco, and helping them to develop and implement their ideas.

This team enables start-ups with products and services that could step change Tesco’s business to partner with them whilst the ‘mothership’ focuses on incrementally increasing service delivery to 24 customers every week. Current pilots include partnering with:

• Manna to deliver groceries by Drone,
• Turing to use AI to transform product development,
• WhyBuy offering the opportunity for customers to access products and services without the cost of ownership.

A new role has also been created – Group Innovation Director. This role reports directly to the CEO and has a small working team with 100% backing from the executive team.

Smaller outcomes, but no less important, are that the executive team now have a markedly different perspective, connecting with entrepreneurs with whom they have built – and continue to build – key strategic partnerships.

What SAGA said

You managed to do that difficult thing of getting people to think more broadly about their profession, sharing fresh thinking from other companies and weaving this into a stimulating and entertaining narrative – great result!

Ala’a Eraiqat Group Chief Executive Officer & Board Member Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

Dave did a thorough job of understanding ADCB journey towards Service Excellence, where we were, and what our ambition is. Dave tailored his speech in line with ADCB’s Service Ambition and illustrated the service road map beautifully to the audience. His speech was a catalyst that has reignited our leaders passion for service excellence, which is clearly evidenced by the increase in the number of change initiatives that have been kicked off and successfully implemented since the event. Would definitely recommend Dave as a speaker to help put to the customers and the employees back at the top of the agenda where it always belongs.

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If you have a chance to work with Steve Cadigan - for any reason at all - grab it! You will learn a lot. You will enjoy the experience. You will benefit from knowing and working with Steve in ways large and small. And it’s not just about the work. It’s about what kind of person Steve is. Trust me: you want to work with Steve.

Alexandra Humphries, Group Learning and Development Manager, Rentokil Initial

Working with Wavelength and their speakers was really easy. Sarah helped us shortlist a number of different speakers that were suitable for our event. Tokunbo was a great speaker, he listened to our needs about the event and what we wanted to achieve. His delivery was fantastic and we received great feedback on the session. Tokunbo spoke about the importance of embedding a long-term strategy that celebrates difference, of developing a culture of mentoring, championing and sponsorship, and that excellence is everywhere - and how employees should find it and then nurture it.

Alexandra Pierce, Group Head of Organisation Development & Culture, Aldermore Bank

I feel grateful, inspired and humbled by the incredible work of Alder Hey Innovation led by Iain Hennessey and his team. Their customer obsession, outside the box thinking and bravery in pushing the boundaries of technology to save the lives of children faster and better is refreshing and inspiring. Aldermore Bank shares a unique connection in the name, which symbolises strength, confidence and determination. I’m really proud to be part of this business and am filled with hope for how we can take and implement learnings from Alder Hey to create more value for our customers.

Alice Webb, CEO & Co-President, Mercury Studios, Universal Music Group

Aravind is an inspirational example of how to do good business and do good at the same time. This trip is built in that image, feeding your brain and your soul in equal measure. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The impact will stay with you for years!

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For me, the most significant impact has been a personal one. I have never felt more inspired by the experience and many have observed a huge lift in my confidence and leadership presence.

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Tesco Change Management Case Study

Change is a necessary part of any business’s growth and success. However, managing change can be a challenging task, especially for a company as large as Tesco. 

The UK-based retail giant faced numerous challenges during its journey of growth, including increasing competition, changing consumer preferences, and economic uncertainties. 

To overcome these challenges, Tesco embarked on a change management journey that transformed the company and enabled it to become one of the world’s largest retailers. 

In this blog post, we will delve into Tesco’s change management case study, discussing the strategies the company employed to manage change, the challenges it faced, and the results and achievements of the change management program. 

We will also examine the lessons learned from Tesco’s success story and provide insights into best practices for effective change management

Background of Tesco 

Tesco is a British multinational retailer that was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen. Initially, the company started as a market stall in London’s East End, selling surplus groceries from a stall. 

In the 1920s, the company expanded its business by opening its first store in Burnt Oak, North London. 

The company went public in 1947 and continued to expand its business throughout the UK in the following years. 

By the 1990s, Tesco had become the largest supermarket chain in the UK.

However, despite its success, Tesco faced several challenges in the early 2000s. Increasing competition from discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl, changing consumer preferences, and economic uncertainties had a significant impact on the company’s growth. 

Tesco’s sales started to decline, and the company’s market share was shrinking. To address these challenges, Tesco’s management team realized the need for a change management program that would transform the company and enable it to regain its position as a market leader.

History and growth of Tesco 

Tesco’s success story began in the early 20th century when Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco, started selling groceries from a stall in London’s East End. By the 1920s, Cohen had established his first store in Burnt Oak, North London, under the name Tesco. 

The name “Tesco” was derived from the initials of TE Stockwell, a supplier of tea to Cohen, and the first two letters of Cohen’s surname.

In the following years, Tesco continued to expand its business by acquiring other retailers and opening new stores throughout the UK. 

By the 1970s, the company had become one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK. In the 1980s, Tesco introduced new products and services, including Tesco Metro stores, Tesco Express, and Tesco Clubcard, which enabled the company to enhance customer loyalty and increase sales.

In the 1990s, Tesco’s growth continued, and the company expanded its business beyond the UK by entering new international markets such as Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. By the early 2000s, Tesco had become the largest supermarket chain in the UK, with over 2,500 stores worldwide.

However, the company faced several challenges in the early 2000s, including increasing competition, changing consumer preferences, and economic uncertainties, which had a significant impact on the company’s growth. Tesco’s management realized the need for a change management program that would transform the company and enable it to regain its position as a market leader.

Key Reasons of making changes at Tesco 

There were several key reasons for the changes at Tesco, including:

• Increasing competition : The rise of discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl had a significant impact on Tesco’s market share and profitability. These retailers offered lower-priced alternatives, which attracted customers away from Tesco’s stores.
• Changing consumer preferences: Consumer preferences were shifting towards healthier and more sustainable products, which Tesco was slow to respond to. This led to a decline in sales and customer loyalty.
• Economic uncertainties: The global economic recession of the late 2000s had a significant impact on Tesco’s financial performance. Consumers were more price-sensitive, and there was increased pressure on retailers to reduce prices.
• Internal issues: Tesco’s rapid expansion had resulted in organizational complexity, which made decision-making slow and inefficient. There were also issues with employee morale and engagement, which impacted the company’s ability to deliver high-quality customer service.

Steps taken by Tesco to implement change management 

To address the external and internal challenges, Tesco’s management team realized the need for a change management program that would transform the company and enable it to regain its position as a market leader. The changes that were implemented included a focus on cost reduction, improving customer service, and enhancing employee engagement.

To implement the change management strategy, Tesco took several steps, including:

• Leadership commitment: The company’s senior leadership team was fully committed to the change management program and provided clear direction and support throughout the process.
• Communication : Tesco developed a comprehensive communication plan to ensure that all employees understood the rationale for the changes and their role in implementing them. The plan included regular updates, town hall meetings, and training sessions.
• Cost reduction: Tesco implemented a cost reduction program to improve efficiency and profitability. The company reduced its product lines, renegotiated supplier contracts, and streamlined its supply chain.
• Customer focus: Tesco implemented a new customer service strategy, which included improving the quality of its products, enhancing the in-store experience, and increasing customer engagement through loyalty programs and personalized marketing.
• Employee engagement: Tesco recognized the importance of employee engagement in delivering high-quality customer service. The company implemented initiatives to improve employee morale, including training programs, recognition schemes, and improved working conditions.
• Technology: Tesco invested in new technologies to improve its operations and enhance the customer experience. This included the introduction of self-checkout machines, mobile payment options, and online shopping platforms.
• Measurement and feedback: Tesco established metrics to measure the success of the change management program and solicited feedback from employees and customers to identify areas for improvement.

Positive outcomes and results of change management by Tesco 

The change management program implemented by Tesco resulted in several positive outcomes and results, including:

• Increased profitability: Tesco’s cost reduction program resulted in improved profitability, with the company’s profits increasing by 28% in the first half of 2017.
• Enhanced customer experience: Tesco’s focus on improving the customer experience led to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. The company’s customer satisfaction ratings improved significantly, and it was named the UK’s top supermarket for customer service by consumer watchdog Which? in 2018.
• Improved employee engagement: Tesco’s initiatives to improve employee engagement resulted in increased employee morale and motivation. The company’s employee engagement scores improved significantly, and it was recognized as one of the UK’s top employers in 2019.
• Streamlined operations: Tesco’s focus on improving efficiency and reducing complexity resulted in streamlined operations and faster decision-making. The company was able to reduce its product lines and negotiate more favorable supplier contracts, resulting in improved margins.
• Strong financial performance: Tesco’s change management program helped the company recover from a period of declining sales and market share. The company’s financial performance improved significantly, with revenue increasing by 11.5% and profits increasing by 34.2% in 2018.

Final Words 

Tesco’s change management program is an excellent example of how a company can successfully transform itself in response to external challenges and changing market conditions. The program was comprehensive and multi-faceted, addressing the company’s challenges from multiple angles. Tesco’s leadership commitment, communication strategy, and focus on cost reduction, customer service, and employee engagement were all critical factors in the program’s success.

The positive outcomes and results of the program demonstrate the importance of change management in driving organizational success. Tesco was able to recover from a period of declining sales and market share, and become a more efficient, customer-focused, and profitable organization. The lessons learned from Tesco’s change management program are applicable to businesses of all sizes and industries, highlighting the need for organizations to remain agile and responsive to changing market conditions.

About The Author

Tahir Abbas

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Storytelling in Design Thinking – Explained with Real-life Example

• Harvard Business School →
• Faculty & Research →
• December 2002 (Revised October 2006)
• HBS Case Collection
• Format: Print
• | Language: English
• | Pages: 20

About The Author

David E. Bell

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Unleashing leadership and management excellence at Tesco

Tesco’s strategy to diversify the business and rapid pace of growth has resulted in a number of challenges for the company including:

• Providing strong, inspirational leaders who have the awareness and development mindset to capitalize on their unique strengths and skills and those of the people they lead
• Ensuring the availability, development and effective deployment of people who have both the skills and energy/passion to meet planned goals and tackle new challenges with enthusiasm, resourcefulness and competence
• Ensuring high levels of confidence and resilience to deal with the rapid rate of growth and change which inevitably leads to increased work demands and pressures

Our solution

Strengthscope® partnered with Tesco’s UK and Asian Leadership Academies and division Personnel teams to conduct dozens of management and leadership development programs over a two-year period.

This included training all store directors and managers in the UK to help them identify, develop and stretch their strengths and reduce performance risks to improve the way they lead, increase employee engagement, customer loyalty and financial results.

• Feedback from all Tesco programs was excellent with up to 5,000 Tesco employees having used Strengthscope® and the strengths-based approach within the organization.
• Nearly 100% of delegates who attended Strengthscope® Certificate training indicated that they were very likely to talk positively about the training.
• The approach has been adopted outside the UK by the Asia Leadership Academy and is being used in several Asian countries, including India, South Korea and China.
• Tesco managers outlined specific benefits arising from the programs including: improved clarity on key strengths and development needs in the business, greater appreciation of different strengths leading to better problem solving, improved leadership confidence and capability, increased levels of positive energy and stronger employee performance.

100% positive feedback from delegates

I can see now how my strengths can make a difference, not just today, but for years to come.

Store Director, TESCO

Strengthscope® is a simple and really useful tool that has been an enabler for people to focus on and excel in what they are good at.

Personnel Manager, TESCO

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Tesco  is a customer-orientated business. It aims to offer products that provide value for money for its customers and to deliver high-quality service. Tesco wants to attract new customers, but it also wants to keep its existing customers happy. Building customer loyalty is a cost-effective strategy to grow the business. This is because satisfied customers are a good advert for the business.

Tesco has more than a 30% market share of the UK grocery market, nearly double that of its nearest rival. In its 2009/2010 financial year, Tesco earned revenues of £38.6 billion in the UK and employed more than 280,000 people. To keep at the top of its game and to maintain its number one spot in the market, the company needs skilled staff at all levels and in all roles.

Roles in Tesco

Roles in Tesco range from business development, supply chain management and marketing to finance, store operations and personnel management. Each area of expertise requires leadership and management skills. Tesco aims to develop the leadership qualities of its people throughout the organisation, from administrators and customer assistants to the board of directors. It adopts a similar approach to leadership development for staff at all levels. This is in line with Tesco’s employment philosophy: ‘ We believe in treating each other with respect, with everyone having an equal opportunity to get on, ensuring Tesco is a great place to work.’

This case study will show how Tesco’s leadership framework is fundamental to developing the qualities of leadership needed at every level in the business.

Management and leadership

There is a difference between management and leadership. Management is about getting things done. Managers organise human and physical resources to achieve business aims and objectives. Leadership is about influencing, motivating and inspiring people. It is about coaching and developing people, treating them with respect but challenging them. Leaders seek to create strong teams, with people committed to the organisation’s overall goals.

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Tesco, a supermarket chain, has been transformed from a third-rate retailer to a global leader in the past ten years. This case describes how that was accomplished. Interviews with Tesco employees…

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• Discipline: Strategy
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Tesco, a supermarket chain, has been transformed from a third-rate retailer to a global leader in the past ten years. This case describes how that was accomplished. Interviews with Tesco employees explain the company's approach to understanding customers, motivating employees, succeeding on the Internet, and creating an international strategy.

Learning Objectives

Retail strategy and organizational leadership.

Dec 13, 2002 (Revised: Oct 16, 2006)

Discipline:

Geographies:

United Kingdom

Industries:

Food industry, Retail trade

Harvard Business School

503036-PDF-ENG

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Making 10 years of team development progress in just 12 months.

In brief…, in 2017, the central europe (ce) businesses of tesco were in urgent need of leadership team improvement and a rapid turnaround. complete stepped in and started work to help turn the business around through individual and collective action with a focus on relationships, development and engagement..

Eight-day team development journey

Aligned to the four quadrants of our leadership model, Complete applied practical exercises, in-depth conversations and developmental tools to customise the eight-day ‘Team Journey’ according to the maturity of each team and the commercial challenges that they faced.

Significant results in just 12 months

Our work enabled the major retailer’s leaders to make 10 years of team development progress in just 12 months. Not only that, but the Central Europe (CE) businesses saw a 26% increase in its colleagues viewing the company as ‘a great place to work’ in just 12 months. The CE businesses are now scoring well above the company average on this critical measure of success.

A word from our client …

Tesco’s CEO for Central Europe said: “We are now networked rather than functionally siloed. We are coherent rather than disjointed. The leadership team has made that transition very successfully and now we’re starting to see the benefits permeate through the whole organisation.”

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Style of Leadership in TESCO Case Study

Point of view, statement of the problem, areas of consideration, alternative courses of action, recommendation.

TESCO is among the most profitable and largest chain of supermarkets in Britain. Improper management of the company may make it lose its current competitive advantage.

Due to this fact, it is vital for the management to adopt an effective leadership style that can help TESCO to continue enjoying its current competitive level against its competitors.

Tesco focuses a lot on its customers by ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction through production and delivery satisfactory and high quality products and services.

In order to maintain the desired level of performance, the company requires a well trained and knowledgeable workforce as well as an appropriate team of leadership that is capable of developing the qualities of all the members within the organization.

Choosing the right staff is not a simple process since errors done during the selection process may have very adverse effects on the overall performance of the organization.

For instance, selecting members of staff who are not well conversant with traditional system used by the organization can be a major disadvantage to the company in the sense that some customers who are used to the traditional processes of the company may be affected in one way or another.

This may occur when the new members of staff decide to initiate new changes within the organization without ascertaining the impact of such changes. Selection of the staff depends on the type of leadership that exists within the organization.

Inappropriate leadership style is likely to negatively affect the performance of an organization while an effective leadership style is definitely roves to an organization.

This paper aims at finding out the style of leadership that should be employed by TESCO so that the organization can gain competitive advantage.

Before deciding on the style of leadership to be adopted, it is important for the top management to consider factors such as the task to be performed and the availability of resources.

Determining the manner in which the company has been operating in the past is also extremely crucial when deciding the leadership style that should be adopted. In my view, the above areas can be well addressed if the top leadership at TESCO adopts a democratic form of leadership.

The latter type of leadership can offer significant contribution to the company in different ways and consequently make it easy for TESCO to realize the set goals and objectives.

For example, a democratic form of leadership highlights the importance of respecting suggestions given by the employees during the decision making process. Respecting employees is one way of motivating and encouraging them in order to continue providing satisfactory services to customers.

Apart from relying on the employees as a tool of improving the performance of TESCO, it is necessary for the company’s top leadership to delegate authority to other staff member in all the departments of the company.

Such a leadership style helps employees to have adequate understanding of their roles without necessarily consulting the top leadership. In some cases, it is not easy to access the top leadership especially when the leaders are out of the company for official functions.

The staff tasked with the responsibility of managing the various departments within the organization should ensure that they conduct either a weekly or daily audit.

This assists in identifying and providing solutions to issues that can negatively affect the smooth running of the organization. This process should go hand in hand with inspection of other activities within the department to ensure that customers are provided with high quality services.

Another important factor that should be considered is the method of communication within the organization. Democratic form of leadership helps leaders to ensure effective communication among various teams and departments.

This can be achieved by holding regular meetings and making frequent staff inspection to make sure that all the members within the organization are undertaking their duties and responsibilities as required.

Putting in place this kind of leadership at TESCO can greatly help the company in managing the increasing rate of competition.

There are other alternatives that TESCO can use to reach the desired level of performance. For example, the organization can attempt to establish appropriate ways of attracting and retaining its customers.

Giving gifts or discount to customers who make bulk purchases is a viable strategy of retaining customers. The company can also decide to increase the level of advertisements and promotions in order to increase the number of customers on the type of products and services offered by the company.

From the above discussion, it is evident that democratic leadership style can help TESCO to reach the desired level of performance and also meet the set goals and objectives. This form of leadership provides employees with the opportunity of airing their views during the decision making process

In my view, I believe that TESCO should use appropriate techniques when carrying out various processes (such as recruiting new employees) in the company.

It is also important for the management of the company to portray a democratic style of leadership so that all the members of staff within the organization are given equal chances of expressing their views regarding the performance of the company.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, July 21). Style of Leadership in TESCO. https://ivypanda.com/essays/style-of-leadership-in-tesco/

"Style of Leadership in TESCO." IvyPanda , 21 July 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/style-of-leadership-in-tesco/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Style of Leadership in TESCO'. 21 July.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Style of Leadership in TESCO." July 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/style-of-leadership-in-tesco/.

1. IvyPanda . "Style of Leadership in TESCO." July 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/style-of-leadership-in-tesco/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Style of Leadership in TESCO." July 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/style-of-leadership-in-tesco/.

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Leadership and Change Management in Tesco - Case Study

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Improving medical leadership in India and England

Professor Julie Davies (UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences) used UCL-AIIMS Strategic Partner Funds to understand and improve leadership training for medics in India and England.

30 April 2024

The process and training for people to take on leadership positions in hospitals and other medical settings vary across the world. However, it is widely felt that there isn’t enough medical leadership development and support provided. The COVID-19 pandemic in particular put a spotlight on the need for well-supported leaders in healthcare. Many doctors stepped up into leadership positions and formal or informal roles during the pandemic, but stepped down again afterwards due to being stressed, overworked, and to help reduce waiting lists. There is also a low proportion of women in medical leadership roles, further highlighting a need for more training and support to achieve better gender equality.

In response to this, Professor Julie Davies applied for UCL-AIIMS Strategic Partner Funds with Dr Kamal Gulati from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, to study medical leadership in India and England in greater depth. Together with local Chevening funding subsequently awarded in 2023, the team was able to enhance their understanding of the realities of medical leadership.

How do you develop great medical leaders?

“In India, mostly male doctors are in hospital leadership positions such as Director, CEO, or Medical Superintendent, but often without having any formal leadership training beforehand,” Julie explained. “In the UK, we have an NHS graduate management trainee scheme, which is for non-medics to become managers. Neither system is optimal. There is an argument that it's useful to have physicians and other clinicians with MBAs or leadership skills and training running healthcare organisations, and we now have an MBA Health programme at UCL. But I'm quite interested to know what kind of leadership development most people currently get. Through this study, we found it was very little.”

Calling the project Enabling Medical Leadership in India and England’ (EMLIE) , the team generated new datasets about these issues, based on 60 one-to-one qualitative interviews. They also ran four workshops with 120 attendees from India and England to find out more about what works in terms of leadership training and development in healthcare contexts. They looked at the key challenges to effective leadership development and discussed the role of mentorship. Some UCL MBA Health students have subsequently become involved in mentoring clinicians in India through a LinkedIn group.

One key finding of this work was the lack of women in medical leadership positions. “In India, only about 18% of women are in leadership roles in healthcare,” Julie said. “We found huge outliers in some specialisms too. Less than 1% of spine surgeons in India are women, and in the UK, less than a quarter of trainees in orthopaedics are women.”

The team is recommending that medics at all levels, from undergraduate to consultant level, should have formal leadership development throughout medical school and beyond. In the UK, some medics interviewed for the study only did a half-day leadership development workshop before applying for a consultant role, which the team says is not enough.

Julie and her collaborators also advocate for better gender equality reporting, women-only development programmes, mentoring, flexible working and family-friendly policies, which will be key to improving medical leadership.

Professor Julie Davies and Dr Kamal Gulati (bottom row, far right) alongside colleagues involved in the project. 

Further steps to improve medical leadership

Given the success of the work done so far, Julie is continuing to collaborate with her counterparts in India. They are mentoring female and male medics in India, including at a new hospital in AIIMS Jammu which has strong links with the Indian Institute of Management Jammu and the Indian Institute of Technology Jammu. This is opening up further opportunities for collaboration.

They are also analysing the gender demographics of physicians in academic medicine at different levels in India. Additionally, the team published a paper in BMJ Leader on the project, and in March 2024 they hosted a session for International Women’s Day about career crafting and flexible working.

The team is currently gathering some positive stories about medical career development and leadership for another academic paper. Although both India and England have a “long way to go” according to Julie, both countries are also making gradual progress in gender equality in the medical profession. The pandemic even helped women in both countries with their careers, as there are some stories of female medics being able to take on more shift work after their partners began working from home, which helped with childcare issues.

“People are having some really interesting conversations about what it’s like to be a medic in different places,” Julie said. “This funding has enabled us to get an in-person understanding about the cultures and contexts in different countries. And we’ve built up a community of collaborators that has gone beyond the scope of the original project proposal. I’d never thought of doing research in India before and I had never visited the country before this. It’s really exciting, especially with projections that India will become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027.”

• UCL Strategic Partner Funds
• Professor Julie Davies
• BMJ Leader: Enabling medical leadership in India and England: A comparative study – EMLIE
• The Lancet: Addressing leadership competency gaps and gender disparities in India’s medical workforce: a call to action
• BMJ Leader: Striving for equity: exploring gender-inclusive medical leadership in India
• LSE: Where are the Women Medical Leaders in India? 
• New Thinking: India Must Address Leadership Competency Gaps and Gender Inequalities in the Medical Workforce
• NIKKEI Asia: Women in India have a key role to play in health care leadership
• YouTube: AIIMS New Delhi-UCL Medical Leadership Development Research Project

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