E-Leadership from the Process Virtualization Theory perspective

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the process virtualization phenomenon, which was gradually developing. Since then, processessuch as education, medical care, purchasing, and others, have been approached virtually using Information Technology. The process of leadership in virtual teams was no exception to this, thus forcibly evolving into electronic leadership or E-leadership, a construct proposed at the beginning of the century and addressed in this study from the Process Virtualization Theory perspective. The research suggests three objectives: determine the quality of E-leadership results in project management in Lima for 2022; provide evidence to support the Process Virtualization Theory by conducting an empirical study on E-leadership; and identify factors impacting the virtualization of the leadership process. A questionnaire was filled out by a sample of 43 professionals who served as virtual team leaders or members during the pandemic period in Lima. The data were submitted to structural equation modeling and exploratory factor analysis. The study results meet the proposed objectives, and one of the main objectives was to identify two new constructs that contribute to moderating the degree of virtualization of the leadership process. The results may also be relevant to understand the roles played by Information Technology and the leader in scenarios of leadership process virtualization.