Purpose -The paper aims to investigate the forms of power, politics and leadership exercised by project leaders within asynchronous virtual project environments (VPEs). The purpose of this paper is to link effective project leadership to particular forms of power and politics within a VPE. Design/methodology/approach -The empirical data are based on a quantitative telecommunications sector case study, complemented with some interviews, following a semi-structured approach. The research was approached based from a positivistic philosophical paradigm and using a survey research strategy. The questionnaire-based survey consisted of a sample of 28 respondents split between project managers (39.3 percent) and team members (60.7 percent). Findings -The research results indicated a significant finding which linked leadership effectiveness to asynchronous VPE usage and communication. Factor analysis of the type of leadership exercised within an asynchronous VPE revealed two forms of effective leadership. The first one, named, Structured Charismatic Exchange, is underpinned by three forms of leadership styles: charismatic, virtual and transactional leadership. The second insight from the factor analysis also revealed significant loadings for two forms of leadership: Participative and Shared leadership. The common strand in both is the need to elevate the ethos of teams, which effectively implies that control in VPE ought to be decentralized responsibly to enhance sharing. This is possibly relevant in a bid to minimize conflicts and thus develop a project organization that encourages teamwork. Therefore, this factor was named Decentralized Team Leadership. Unlike the first factor, where the focus is on how the project leader projects his/her personality to influence people, the realization is that for a project organization to succeed, project goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiating, and jockeying for position among members of different coalitions. Research limitations/implications -Reported limitations are based on the sample size, effect of sectoral culture on the findings and constrained view of the virtuality construct. Future research should investigate other sectors with a large sample and expand the dimensions of the virtuality as a construct. Practical implications -The paper concludes that project leaders should re-orient leadership practices to fit virtual project environments, taking into account the need for a more decentralized form of leadership and systematic trust building. Originality/value -The recognition of the uniqueness of particular forms of power and politics relevant for the exercise of effective leadership in asynchronous virtual environments is emphasized in this research paper.
South Africa has one of the most sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures in Africa, and was one of the early adopters of the Internet on the continent. This paper describes a longitudinal analysis of Internet diffusion in South Africa over the period 1994 to 2004 by making use of the Global Diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework. It also analyses the determinants of further diffusion. The analysis shows that in 2004, at the end of its first decade of democracy, less than 10 percent of the population accessed the Internet despite its relatively wide geographic dispersion. Across the education, commercial, health, and public sectors the Internet had been largely embraced, with potential for further diffusion. The underlying national Internet connectivity infrastructure was well established. Strong competition existed between Internet service providers despite a monopoly on fixed-line telecommunications provision for much of the period. The Internet was being used for sophisticated applications in several sectors. The overall analysis reflected South Africa's reputation as having one of the most developed ICT sectors in Africa. The findings are perhaps also a reflection of its status as a middle-income developing country. After major growth in the 1990s, from 2000 to 2004 growth declined significantly. Reasons identified included the monopoly telecommunications environment over much of the period, restrictive regulation, delayed implementation of policies, and the socioeconomic divide in the nation. Telecommunications policy directives announced at the end of 2004 helped in reversing the trend of stagnation that had set in.
Business strategy, operations, communication and technology have converged and resulted in increased demand for business flexibility. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are particularly challenged because they operate at the intersection between information technology, their organisations, and society. Amidst increasing emphasis on cost-efficiency, information technology resource investment and emergence of new technologies, stakeholders need to understand the most relevant issues within a three-to five-year period. This study was undertaken to contribute to the body of knowledge around key information systems issues in South Africa, with its unique social issues. Thirty-one responses were received from South African CIOs surveyed in late 2004. The top issues were: Security and control, Building a responsive IT infrastructure, IT value management, Service delivery, and Improving IS strategic planning. The ranked list of issues was compared to previous studies, and further analysed by industry and source of IT services (in-house, outsource or combination). Industry and the sourcing of information services were found to have an effect on the ranking of key issues.
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