Research on the Effect of E-Leadership on Employee Innovation Behavior in the Context of “Self” and “Relationship”

Introduction

The development of information technology facilitates people’s work communication, and yet, it also has a significant impact on the traditional management mode of organizations, posing new challenges for leaders’ e-leadership in the new era. E-leadership is often referred to as information leadership or electronic leadership. According to the most recent research, it is defined as leaders’ ability to integrate resources, motivate, and influence employees to continually achieve personal and organizational goals through information technology as a medium in the knowledge economy (Tang et al., 2017). Employee innovation is the main element for all firms to obtain a competitive advantage (Hou, 2018). According to studies, employee work behavior is influenced by leadership, the work environment, employee psychology, and other variables (Grant & Francesca, 2010). The influence of leadership on employee behavior has long been a popular subject of research for scholars. However, most new research has been on leadership styles.

In contrast, e-leadership, a novel form of leadership that combines traditional leadership and cutting-edge information technology in the context of the information age, is understood less fully. In recent years, as information technology has advanced, e-leadership has steadily garnered the attention of scholars, and several studies have been conducted on the development. Although the theory of e-leadership has undergone ongoing revision, no consensus has yet been achieved among scholars regarding its fundamental ideas and significant theories, nor has it developed into a coherent theoretical framework.

According to a study of the research on leadership, the impact of leadership on employees is primarily seen in the following two areas: First, at the level of organizational relationships, leadership influence increases employees’ positive expectations of organizational connections; second, at the level of the individual employee, leadership influence increases employees’ self-efficacy and work well-being, and improves employees’ work engagement. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of leadership research findings, it is still uncommon to examine the processes of leadership influence on employees at both the relationship and individual levels. Additionally, the influence of earlier studies focused on the effects of various leadership philosophies, such as inclusive and paternalistic, on employees; e-leadership, however, received little attention. If the concept of leadership is not updated in time for future research and practice, adapting to the emerging trend of digital management will be difficult for businesses. The leadership situation, the leader’s function, and the essence of leadership have all been significantly altered by digital technology and the information environment it provides. The leadership model must adapt as well. In the era of the Internet economy, leadership innovation is the key to leadership, and the leadership theory of the new era must reflect the characteristics of digitization (Pulley et al., 2000).