BUS603: Managing People

Leadership in the digital age refers to "leadership in any institution or sector embedded in the broader transitions toward a more knowledge intensive society" through the use of ICT. This transition brings new constraints and opportunities to the traditional understanding and practices of leadership in various organizations. To understand leadership in the digital age, it is important to note the effect of digitization on leadership in the virtual space. Khan distinguishes six characteristics of digitization:

Interconnectedness through digital communication and interactions that allow participants to share knowledge and practices for a structured environment while "unleashing creativity, innovation, dynamic networking, and participation in unstructured settings".

Diminishing time lag and abundance of information through a shortened timeframe of decision-making and increased speed of information and forms of interaction.

Increased transparency and complexity. As organizational structures become more complex and interconnected, the virtual space requires increased transparency.

Hierarchy removal and dissolving of personal barriers as a result of organizations and relationships becoming more fluid. For instance, "reverse mentoring programs" break the boundaries of corporate positions for top managers and senior executives (i.e., digital immigrants), who learn from or are led by the younger generation (i.e., digital natives).

Decision enabling and integrity enhancing. Digitization allows making leadership decisions much faster and fosters personal integrity to maintain trust among participants.

Humanizing effect. Digitization enables virtual collaborators to freely interact and interlink through virtual platforms and tools in a symbiotic way "in which virtually everyone and everything are mutually interdependent".