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Leadership in an Electronic Age: Towards a Regional Ontology : Towards a Socio-Technical View

Leadership in an Electronic Age: Towards a Regional Ontology : Towards a Socio-Technical View Nixon Muganda, Ph.D School of Information Technology, University of Pretoria, South Africa E-Mail: nixon.ochara@up.ac.za 07/10/2013. Overview. What is the Issue? Complex Environment of Leadership

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Leadership in an Electronic Age: Towards a Regional Ontology : Towards a Socio-Technical View

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  1. Leadership in an Electronic Age: Towards a Regional Ontology: Towards a Socio-Technical View Nixon Muganda, Ph.D School of Information Technology, University of Pretoria, South Africa E-Mail: nixon.ochara@up.ac.za 07/10/2013

  2. Overview • What is the Issue? • Complex Environment of Leadership • Organizing Vision of E-Leadership • Towards a Regional Ontology for E-Leadership • Questions

  3. Current Dilemma in Leadership Research & Practice • Richard Hackman and Ruth Wageman concluded is “curiously unformed” (Hackman & Wageman, 2007, p.43). • Warren Bennis as early as 1959, stated that “[…] probably more has been written and less is known about leadership than any other topic in the behavioral sciences” (Bennis, 1959, p.260). • A fiercely behavioral school that claim ownership of the field, individual focus • The narrow conceptualization of leadership disadvantaged leadership practice, and a decade ago, (Zaccaro & Horn, 2003, p. 776) recognized the problematic and limited conceptualization of leadership theory which tended to lead to a “limited attention to the conceptual dynamics of leadership practice”. • Yet global advances in information and communications technologies (ICTs) may have tipped the scales towards reifying a more integrative view of leadership • We seek to elevate the socio-technical school within leadership theory, given inevitable advances in global information systems (IS).

  4. Complex Environment of Leadership • We are in a complex knowledge-based society: • characterized by a competitive landscape driven by globalization, technology, deregulation, and democratization (Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007; Halal & Taylor, 1999). • Unlike Ducker's 1999 prediction that developing countries would focus largely on manufacturing, on the contrary, African countries are participants in the knowledge economy e.g. m-pesa, e-fare, etc. • Organizational and societal success and sustainability in the current knowledge – economy is premised: • On accumulation and sharing of knowledge assets and leadership being emergent as an interactive dynamic (Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007); • “distributed” form of leadership within a collective interactive dynamic (Gronn, 2002); • Reducing the influence of individuals as leaders while focusing attention on activities and events for organizational transformation (Lichtenstein, Uhl-Bien, Marion, Seers, & Douglas, 2006); • and leadership outcomes based on shared direction, alignment and mutual commitment (Drath, et al., 2008) • Thus: In effect, a leadership that moves beyond leaders as individuals towards distributed forms of action, recognizing the influence of the knowledge-based context as playing a critical mediating role on leadership outcomes.

  5. Organizing Vision for E-Leadership: A Thematic Analysis 1. Objectification of E-Leadership through Interpretation and legitimation

  6. 2. Legitimization and Mobilization: Reinforcing Western Thought or Afro-Centrism?

  7. 3. Legitimization and Mobilization Reported in Research: Academic Agenda

  8. Towards a Regional Ontology for E-Leadership

  9. The “Big” Questions arising? From a Moral Engagement Perspective: • How can ethical and moral engagement be realized in the 21st century e-leadership practices? • How can leaders be developed / trained to operate in operate in a digitally transformed environment? • How can ICT leadership and business leadership work together in the current electronic era? • How can the current demand for e-leaders be matched with the current supply?

  10. The “Big” Questions arising? From a Entrepreneurial Leadership Perspective: • How can entrepreneurial leadership be a foundation for resolving Africa’s unique problems? • What forms and practices of entrepreneurial leadership can evolve from Africa to inform the international discourse? • How can we better understand leadership through acts of entrepreneurship?

  11. The “Big” Questions arising? From a Leadership Institutionalization Perspective: • How can African values be embedded in leadership practices to ensure quality and relevance in bureacratic governance? • How can Africa’s traditional authority structures be reconciled with practices enabled by social media, open data tools, and web 2-0? • In what ways can professional and legal rationality be realized in the age of technocratic governance without threatening the independence of democratic institutions?

  12. The “Big” Questions arising? From a National Systems of Innovation Perspective: • What forms of leadership can enable systems of innovation for Africa’s global competitiveness? • What competencies are required?What are the implications of open government (data) for e-leadership?

  13. Questions?For Electronic Copy Send e-mail to:nixon.muganda@up.ac.za nixon.muganda@up.ac.za

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