The Effect of e-Leadership on Organisational Trust and Commitment of Virtual Teams

The study investigates the impact of e-leadership on the dimensions of interpersonal trust and organisational commitment of remote workers and virtual teams employed by an organisation operating in the United Arab Emirates. The responses of 193 remote workers were subjected to a series of factor, and correlational analyses using SPPS and structural equation modelling. The findings suggest that some e-leadership practices, such as 'virtual management by objectives' had a significant influence on the commitment dimension of identification. Moreover, the e-leadership practice of providing virtual feedback and support influences positively the dimension of faith in peers and confidence in management (interpersonal trust) suggesting that ongoing exchange of information related to employees' performance builds trust. In addition, the results clearly demonstrated that the virtual leaders need to further develop their e-leadership practices and be proficient in deploying the coordination and control mechanisms to facilitate information sharing between virtual workers. The limitations of the study are presented and directions for future research are discussed.