INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Impact of Informational Technology on Transformational Leadership

Abstract

The global economy has undergone a major transition that is fundamentally changing how organizations build new markets and relate to their stakeholders. At the center of this transformation is Advanced Information Technology (AIT), which is enabling completely new ways of working and creating value in both the physical world and the virtual world (Rayport & Sviokla, 1995). These changes require a significant adaptation on the part of the leadership in organizations to the new emerging realities of the marketplace, while also continuing to evolve and remain productive in the "old world order". Past leadership research has not focused on issues confronting the leadership in organizations where work is mediated by AIT.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION5

Why Leadership Is Valuable At All Organizational Levels7

ADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP12

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL-LEADERSHIP15

ADAPTIVE STRUCTURATION THEORY18

Modifications to Adaptive Structuration Theory22

LEADERSHIP & ADAPTIVE STRUCTURATION FRAMEWORK23

Leadership and Adaptation to New Technology24

Technology's Effect on Leadership27

Summary28

LEADERSHIP IN GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEM SETTING29

Studies of the Effects of Group Leaders without Leadership Manipulation30

Studies of Effects of Group Support System Facilitation38

Studies of the Effects of Group Leaders with Leadership Manipulation46

Summary56

ADDITIONAL GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEM RESEARCH WITH INDIRECT LINKAGES TO LEADERSHIP57

Relational Development in Group Support System Contexts63

Impact of Group History on Group Support System Interactions64

Further Explorations of Anonymity Impact on Group Support Interactions65

Group Identification and its Impact on Group Support System Interactions66

Cultural Differences and Computer-Mediated Group Interactions68

Impact of Distance on Computer-Mediated Interactions69

TECHNOLOGICAL-LEADERSHIP AND TRUST-BUILDING IN VIRTUAL TEAMS69

Modeling the Effects of Transactional and Transformational Leadership in Virtual Teams71

Effects of Leadership on Trust and Interaction73

Effect of Technology's Media Richness on Trust and Interaction75

Interaction of Leadership and Collaboration Technology on Trust75

Effect of Team Interaction on Team Outcomes76

Proposed Research Design76

Data Collection78

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE79

Some Future Directions for Technological-Leadership Research82

REFERENCES93

Impact of Informational Technology on Transformational Leadership

INTRODUCTION

The global economy has undergone a major transition that is fundamentally changing how organizations build new markets and relate to their stakeholders. At the center of this transformation is Advanced Information Technology (AIT), which is enabling completely new ways of working and creating value in both the physical world and the virtual world (Rayport & Sviokla, 1995). These changes require a significant adaptation on the part of the leadership in organizations to the new emerging realities of the marketplace, while also continuing to evolve and remain productive in the "old world order". Past leadership research has not focused on issues confronting the leadership in organizations where work is mediated by AIT.

Although leadership has been a topic of interest for thousands of years, scientific research in this area was only begun in the 20th century. Early research, building upon the great man theory of leadership, found that the situation also plays a vital role in determining leader effectiveness and that; to be effective, leaders must behave differently in different situations. The focus then shifted to discovering which behaviors and circumstances must be joined to produce effective group and organizational outcomes. Early research at Michigan and Ohio State universities discovered that leaders must attend to both task-oriented and social/emotional issues ...