The Complimentary Roles of Information System Leadership : An Empirical Perspective of Information System Transactional and Transformational Leadership Roles

Information systems (IS) research in the area of IS leadership particularly dimensions of IS leadership roles have been especially sparse with calls for more rigorous, theory-based empirical research from the IS leadership literature to advance strong theoretical knowledge into the emerging role dimensions of IS leadership. One useful study of IS leadership roles which had its origin in a longitudinal analysis of IS careers plus a careful reading of the IS leadership literature described the IS executive's responsibility in terms of two dimensions: transformational role and transactional role. This two dimension description of IS leadership has made some contributions to the IS leadership research by capturing the dynamic complexity of the emerging role dimensions of IS leadership. Furthermore, as organizations are becoming more dependent on IS to achieve efficiency and effectiveness, fast changing business environments characterized by rapid technological growth and heightened levels of competition present great challenge to the emerging role dimensions of IS leadership to the extent that IS leaders are being call upon to engage in a mix dimension of leadership roles.