The influence of information technology (IT) on organization leadership and performance

Abstract

Leadership of modern organizations depend upon ever greater levels of information technology (IT) now, such as big data and management & data analytics, a trend which shows no sign of abating now. However, not all modern organizations have benefited from such IT investments, resulting in mixed perceptions on the value of IT. Organizations must be knowledgeable in order to properly utilize IT tools and be able to apply that knowledge to create unique competencies in order to gain sustained advantage from IT investments. Information technology in the modern organizations has been proposed as the mechanism to accomplish the leadership in the concerned industries. Existing empirical research demonstrates that IT may indeed act as a mediator for the effect of leadership on modern organizational outcomes. Yet, this study is not consistent in the conceptualizations of the relationships involved, nor in their definitions and measurement of IT investment spending. Thus, they chase numerous creative and innovative procedures and approaches while adding a substantial role of informational technology in the administration of such practice. This study aims to address these concerns in an organization setting by using structural equation modelling (SEM) to compare the effectiveness of descriptive and normative measures of IT as mediating variables in knowledge-intensive organizations. Implications for research and practice are discussed.