Concept analysis of e-leadership
E-leadership has become a topical research theme due to increased remote work and technological development. However, the current literature does not provide a shared approach to defining e-leadership. This theoretical study provides a concept analysis of e-leadership in the business and management context. The data consists of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters (N=33) in which e-leadership is the central focus and is selected based on a systematic literature search. In our findings, we show how e-leadership definitions have evolved from 2000 to 2022. We identify that the literature defines e-leadership as a social influencing process, e-leadership conditions, or e-leadership competence. Moreover, we identify five attributes of e-leadership: (1) leading dispersed organizations, (2) applying ICTs in organizations, (3) leading virtual teams, (4) emphasizing communication, and (5) e-leadership competence. Finally, we present an integrative theoretical definition of e-leadership.
