Multiple Choices and Challenges - A Study of E-leadership in the Digital Era

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the increasing specialisation of tasks in contemporary organisations and ensuing demand of expertise, and how these factors are affecting the leadership within virtual teams (teams in organisations working virtually with help of technology). Globalisation and a technological revolution has greatly transformed the business world during the last decades, with an increasing amount of collaborations occurring across cultural as well as professional borders. Through isolating the aspect of expertise as a factor which deserves attention, the study aims at investigating how it influences the form and orientation of leadership in virtual teams. The study is using a qualitative method with an interpretative approach. Throughout the gathering of the empirical material, I have used an abductive approach, which have allowed a going back and forth between theory and empirical findings for an integration of new discoveries. In the analysis I have applied a critical and reflexive standpoint. The study is examined with reference to previous literature in the research area of different forms (single and shared leadership) and orientations (task and relationship) of leadership. The research is based on a qualitative study where eight respondents from a large IT consultancy company were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The respondents were team members of virtual teams working globally and in different roles. Great challenges and barriers exist in global virtual teams. Due to some of these barriers the teams have difficulties in effectively fulfilling their working tasks. The work in global virtual teams as well as the leadership seems to be strongly task-oriented. More focus on relationship-oriented leadership as well as finding the right form for the leadership seems crucial for the effectiveness of global virtual teams.