Formal managerial authority and frontline managers' perceived ability to lead in public organizations: results from Danish hospitals

Formal managerial authority is the right to make managerial decisions for a delimited part of an organization and its employees. Based on the literature, this article develops a measure of formal managerial authority that is used to examine the distribution of formal managerial authority. Results from a survey of 181 managing physicians and 451 managing nurses show that formal managerial authority varies significantly across types of managerial decisions and professional groups. An exploratory cross-sectional analysis shows that formal managerial authority is positively associated with self-reported visionary leadership and the perception of being able to complete leadership tasks within the allotted time. We find no association with self-reported use of verbal recognition or the perception of having the necessary leadership skills.