Making an Impact Through Information Technology: Transformational Leadership and Technology Implementation

Introduction

Prior research (Meindl and Ehrlich, 1987; Nemanich & Keller, 2007; Liu & Phillips, 2011; Birasnav, 2014) indicates transformational leaders can effectively impact information technology, knowledge management and overall firm performance. However, the literature lacks a coherent view of these inter-related topics. To address this research gap, drawing on social capital view and the knowledge-based view, this article is structured to identify how transformational leadership influences knowledge management; explore the impacts of transformational leadership and knowledge management on organizational performance; and investigate the mediating effect of information technology in the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge management. The findings in this article are based upon previous empirical studies. Correspondingly, this research uses a literature based research approach, and establishes a framework to address the following research questions:

• 1.

  How do transformational leadership and knowledge management add value to firm performance?

• 2.

  Does information technology mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge management?

A conceptual framework is presented, followed by the final sections that discuss the theoretical and practical contributions of this study as well as recommendations for future researchers.

Methodology

This study examined past studies through using search terms such as transformational leadership, knowledge management, information technology and organizational performance to narrow this search. A search using ScienceDirect database, Elsevier database, Wiley Online Library database, the Academy of Management website, the Taylor & Francis website, IEEE Xplore Digital Library and the Amazon website indicated 96 relevant articles, book chapters and books. The following search filters were used to identify the initial relevant samples:

• •

  Publication year (published in the period 1985 to 2019)

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  Article type (peer-reviewed journal articles in English)

In the next step, I read the abstracts and the introductions of these initial samples to identify their purposes. I applied a list of inclusion criteria such as research question and key variables, validated measure and suitable data. This process resulted in 51 articles, book chapters, books, and PhD dissertations. By analyzing these articles, book chapters, books and PhD dissertations, this article yielded an integrated framework incorporating these organizational factors.