Leadership and digital communication in Australian SMEs amid COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and employee performance (EP) in the context of digital communication in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the supermarket and grocery stores industry in Australia. EP is the key to any organization’s success and leadership plays a significant role in influencing employees. TL affects performance and it’s posited that such effect is positive. However, criticisms of the leadership style have also been postulated. Due to these inconsistencies in previous studies’ observations, this study explores how TL is affected by digital communication in the new era impacted by digital transformation. Findings from this study will fill the gap in the existing literature by developing new knowledge on the relationship between TL and EP in the context of COVID-19, where many SMEs have shifted operations online.

KEYWORDS:

• SMEs
• COVID-19
• digital communication
• employee performance
• transformational leadership
• e-leadership