E-Leadership

Abstract

As we know that the top needs to make a fast decision. A hierarchy is predicated on the idea that someone is in charge, is presumably in control, and has "the answer." The trouble is that many people at the top don't know the answer; in fact, there may not be one. Technology is changing the context in which we workÐ'--creating an accelerating rate of change, increasing ambiguity, intensifying paradoxes, and causing a greater need for working collaboratively across borders. As future Creative Leadership, we're looking at answering question as, is there a possibility of e-leadership? How does e-leadership differ from leadership? Does it differ at all? We believe that within the next decade, technology will be so ubiquitous that it will not occur to anyone to add an e to the word leadership. But at the moment, we're in a transitionÐ'-a time when technological advances are outpacing the ability of individuals and organizations to absorb them. People are still trying to understand new technologies and how best to use them. Organizations are struggling with technological-integration issues, while employees face a steep learning curve. That transition is creating a tremendous amount of instability and churning in the workplace, exacerbated by the tech wreck in the stock market and ripple effects of external environment.

2. Introduction

E-leadership refers to how leadership is evolving in light of the Networked Economy. The Web is bringing a tsunami wave of change that affects all aspects of society. The result is that we need to think about how to lead in new ways. We think that one of the most significant implications is that the locus of leadership is shifting from the individual - the hero leading the charge - to a network of relationships. It is becoming more of a collective effort, or community of people, moving together toward a similar vision and goals.

E-Leadership means playing many crucial roles:

Visionary: To see the big picture and translate it for others.

Convener: To bring diverse people and organizations together to find common ground and solve problems.

Team Leader: To form and guide on-site and virtual teams.

Manager: To obtain and allocate resources with full accountability, and manage on site and virtual organizations.

Innovator: To discover new ways of doing the unexpected.

Mentor: To foster new leadership.

In a nutshell, geographical distance between a supervisor and the sub-ordinate has become the order of the day. It takes more than a conventional leadership principle to be able to succeed in such a situation.

The project aims to study the impact of e-leadership in the modern day business scenario.

3. Methodology

A survey was carried out on professionals working under e-leadership environment. The questionnaire was prepared to assess various broad competencies of an e-leader as perceived by his/her sub-ordinates.

The questionnaire consisted of 40-odd questions designed to evaluate the leaders' Self-Competence, Ability to Work with Others and Fairness of Performance Evaluation.

Each statement in the survey was evaluated on a 7-Point Scale:

Ð'* Strongly Disagree: 1

Ð'* Disagree: 2

Ð'* Somewhat Disagree: 3

Ð'* Neither Agree Nor Disagree: 4

Ð'* Somewhat Agree: 5

Ð'* Agree: 6

Ð'* Strongly Agree: 7

3.1. Sample

The sample was drawn from the corporate world. Only respondents with over one year of experience and working for more than 3 months under a supervisor who is geographically away from him/her.

3.1.1. Total Work Experience

Respondents with 3-5 years of work experience were given the maximum preference. This preference was mainly due to following reasons:

Ð'* They are experienced enough to judge a supervisor wisely.

Ð'* They are young enough to be prejudiced about any particular leader or style of leadership.

Ð'* They are the most abundantly available professionals working for an e-leader.

The survey also tried to address the need to diversify the sample by including professionals ranging from 1 year up to 13 years of industry experience.

The following chart shows the distribution of total work experience among the samples surveyed:

3.1.2. Experience in the Current Setting

To eliminate errors due to premature judgment, only those respondents with more than 3 months experience under the current supervisors were chosen. This ensured that the impressions/judgments of the respondents had matured to a certain extent.

The following chart shows the distribution of samples with work experience in the current e-leadership setting:

3.1.3. Total Exposure to E-Leadership Environment

The sample chosen had good exposure to working under an e-leader.

The following chart shows the distribution of samples with total work experience in the e-leadership setting:

3.2. Tools

Once the raw data was collected, it was subjected to thorough analysis using Microsoft Excel.

The data was compiled to arrive at the average score and the standard deviation.

3.3. Procedure

A questionnaire with 40 questions was supplied to each respondent. The response of the individuals was recorded with no bias (i.e. each respondent had been assigned equal weight).

The questions in the questionnaire were designed to assess different competencies of an