E-Leadership: Operationalising an Empirical Research Agenda for Future Theoretical Generation and Assessment

Digital and e-leadership are embryonic terms which observed serious discussion at the turn of the 21st Century. Despite two decades of history, it has proved impossible to provide a relevant set of digital leadership axioms and an eleadership taxonomy given the multidisciplinary nature of e-leadership research. E-leadership has been explored through various lenses, including but not limited to: leadership and management scholars, information systems (IS) professors, and computer scientists. This paper discusses how e-leadership can be operationalised to promote further empirical investigation. Following a narrative review, consideration is given to the multitude of sub-topics of e-leadership such as the source (locus) of e-leadership and the mechanism (transmission) of leadership rather than solely focusing upon on the individual-level of analysis e.g. an e-leader. Consideration is given to leadership processes and how e-leadership and digital leadership are represented by a series of processes that in turn, influence people, groups and organisations - all mediated by the exposure to, and application of, Advanced Information Technology. New theoretical advances have been slow to emerge with Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) and Organisational Semiotics (OS) are often the only cited models available to explain digital leadership. This paper addresses a key knowledge gap by outlining how to operationalise and conduct empirical research on digital eleadership. In order to promote new research into the vital area of e-leadership, an empirical research agenda is outlined that outlines the power of case study research as a tool to both test and develop e-leadership theory.