I am pleased to introduce the Special Issue on “Information Systems (IS) Leadership” from the Association for Information Systems Special Interest Group on Information Systems Leadership (AIS SIGLEAD). AIS SIGLEAD consists of 120-plus academicians and researchers worldwide promoting and focusing on the importance of IS leadership. The aim of AIS SIGLEAD is to foster a forum for IS scholars engaging in a range of issues surrounding the practice of IT-related research including IS leadership, the IT workforce, career development or training, and issues surrounding the IT profession. As information technology (IT) has been assuming a greater strategic role in today’s businesses, the role of IS executives is more important than ever. The complexities of emerging technologies, interdependencies and intricacies of business operations and processes, and a constantly changing business environment present great challenges to IS executives in setting directions, creating commitment, adapting their IT unit, and fitting the organization’s business goals. IS leadership is an important element of IS research, education, and practice because IS leaders set directions, create commitment, and adapt the IS unit to fit a changing environment. Unlike some IT issues, IS leadership is an enduring concern of all societies and organizations because leadership issues never end and leaders are always necessary. Firms that achieve sustainable, positive IS leadership are more likely to develop superior capabilities in IS and gain a considerable competitive advantage.
This special issue features three research articles in line with the mission of the AIS SIGLEAD that contribute to the accumulation of knowledge in IS academia and practice. Topics covered by this special issue include shared leadership, governance, and turn away intention.
“The Impact of Perceived Work Complexity and Shared Leadership on Team Performance of IT Employees of South African Firms,” co-authored by Christiaan Philippus Storm and Caren Brenda Scheepers, investigates how IT employees perceive work complexity and how shared leadership mitigates perceived work complexity to increase team performance. The authors surveyed 204 IT employees in South Africa to test their hypotheses. The results show shared leadership is an important predictor of team performance in the context of information technology and mediates the perceived work complexity-team performance relationship.
“Board IT governance in context: Considering governance style and environmental dynamism contingencies, ” by Peng Liu, Ofir Turel, and Chris Bart, illustrates the importance of fit between board IT governance style and the business environment to achieve performance gains. The authors surveyed 110 board members in Canada to test their hypotheses. The results show boards should consider environmental dynamics when selecting a governance style since environmental dynamism suppresses the positive influence of authoritative governance style on the board IT governance-firm performance relationship.
“Motivations for the IT Professional Turnaway Intention: A Delphi Approach,” co-authored by Luiz Antonio Joia and Mariela Costa Souza Fontenelle Sily Assis, explores the critical factors that may lead IT professionals to move out of the IT field. The authors engaged 35 IT professionals in two rounds of the Delphi method to gain a better understanding of the relevance of 14 proposed critical factors. The results show females and IT professionals seeking career advancement are the most likely to leave the IT area.
As the guest editor for this special issue, I appreciate the intellectual and practical contributions from the participating authors. I hope readers and subscribers of ISM recognize the value of these articles and leverage the findings and implications for their academic endeavors and practices in the future.