The Changing Nature of Work: e-Leadership
The powerful influence of electronic technology on work has given rise to new types of required leadership skills. Avolio et al. (2003) referred to this as “e-leadership,” the fusion of leadership and information technology. Successful leaders in the new economy must be skilled in getting their organizations to adopt information technology systems and not resist or reject them. They must be adept at getting those new systems integrated into the existing norms and culture of their organization. In a survey of chief information officers, Oz and Sosik (2000) reported that passive leadership was the main factor contributing to the failure of implementing information technology systems. Leadership can restrict the adoption and use of new information systems to such an extent that they have little impact on organizational effectiveness. Some reluctance on the part leaders to adopt these systems may be understandable given there is on recent precedent in business. In the 1960s, when computers were first available for widespread commercial use, some companies were slow to shift away from manual systems of record keeping. However, that era was more than a generation ago, and few leaders today grew up in a computerless environment. Furthermore, the sheer speed of technological change todayis greater than at any time in the past. Thus the adoption of information technology is an ongoing process, with each new iteration in technical capability. One perspective for thinking of business is supply chain management. Every business is linked to suppliers and customers; that is, every organization is both a customer of some other company and a suppliers to yet another. The connection of suppliers and customers creates a chain. And each organization is a link in the vice. Entire information systems have been developed to help connect suppliers and customer in this chain. The successful e-leader is one who solidifies an organization’s position in the chain and is consistently attuned to changes that occur “upstream” and “downstream” in the chain.