Title: Leadership in the digital age: its dimensions and actual state in Swiss companies

Authors: Urs Jäckli; Claude Meier

Addresses: University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich HWZ, Lagerstrasse 5, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland ' University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich HWZ, Lagerstrasse 5, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract: The first aim of this study was to reveal the dimensions of an adequate understanding of leadership for the digital age. The second aim was to measure the state of this particular leadership understanding in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland. To develop the digital leadership dimensions, we drew on the rather scarce existing literature in the field. Based on the literature review, we conducted a Delphi study which involved interviewing 33 experts to develop the digital leadership dimensions. To check the validity of the ten developed dimensions, a factor analysis was applied. Finally, a survey was established and sent to approximately 2,700 companies in Switzerland of which 318 participated. The findings contribute to the second aim by revealing the state of digital leadership among the surveyed SMEs. Moreover, the study contributes by establishing two propositions based on the empirical findings. They may be examined in future research.

Keywords: digital leadership; digital literacy; agility; company size; Delphi; survey; moderation; digitisation; small and medium enterprise; SME; digital governance; error culture; autonomy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2020.110815

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2020 Vol.19 No.4, pp.293 - 312

Received: 06 May 2019
Accepted: 01 Mar 2020
Published online: 29 Oct 2020 *

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