1744 Virtual Communities and E-Business Management interaction, while at the same time opening the way to alternative lines of business. Further- more, there is a need to examine in more detail the application of virtual community marketing VWUDWHJLHVDLPHGDWVSHFL¿FVHFWRUV3DUWLFXODUO\ interesting here is the use of virtual communities in political marketing strategies. Finally, it would be useful to analyze in more detail the role of virtual communities in corporate environments, such as CRM systems. CONCLUSION In this article we have proposed the virtual com- munity as a useful ingredient of a successful e-business strategy. Virtual communities have a VWURQJLQÀXHQFHRQVWUDWHJLFSODQQLQJGXHWRWKH fact that they offer a new form a communication, serve as a source of strategic information, generate barriers to prevent the entry of new competitors, increase consumer security and trust, facilitate the development of relationship marketing strategies, and may became a source of incomes and new clients. Nevertheless, the success of these strate- gies is dependent upon the monitoring of trends, such as helping self-management by minimizing FRQWURORQWKHJURXSG\QDPLFGH¿QLQJUROHVRU using suitable technologies. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to express their gratitude for the ¿QDQFLDOVXSSRUWUHFHLYHGIURPWKH0LQLVWU\RI Education and Science and the Aragón Govern- ment (S-46; PM34) and Telefónica. REFERENCES Alba, J., Lynch, J., Weitz, B., Janiszewski, O., Lutz, R., Sawyer, A., & Wood, S. (1997). Interactive home shopping: Consumer, retailer and manu- facturer incentives to participate in electronic marketplaces. 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Clemente, J., & Escriba, C. (2003, May-June). ,QÀXHQFLDGHOFRPHUFLRHOHFWUyQLFRHQHOVLVWHPD agroalimentario. Distribución y Consumo, 93- 99. Cohen, A. P. (1985). The symbolic construction of community. Chichester, UK: Ellis Horwood. Cothrel, J., & Williams, R. L. (1999). Online com- munities: Helping them form and grow. Journal of Knowledge Management, 3(1), 54-60. Dellarocas, C. (2001). Building trust on-line: The design of reliable reputation reporting mecha- nisms for online trading communities. Working Paper, Center for eBusiness, MIT Sloan School of Management. Retrieved March 20, 2004, 1745 Virtual Communities and E-Business Management from http://ebusiness.mit.edu/research/papers/ 101%20Dellarocas,%20Trust%20Management. pdf Dwyer, F. R., Schurr, P. H., & Oh, S. (1987). Developing buying-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 51, 11-27. Fernback, J., & Thompson, B. (1995). Virtual communities: Abort, retry, failure? 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Proceedings of the 9 th European Con- ference on Information Systems, Bled, Slovenia. Retrieved March 20, 2004, from http://ecis2001. fov.uni-mb.si/doctoral/Students/ECIS-DC_Go- ersch.pdf Guthrie, P. (2000, March). Creating communities online. Computer Weekly, 23. Retrieved March 20, 2004, from http://www.computerweekly. com/Article21645.htm Hagel III, J., & Armstrong, A. G. (1997). Net gain. Expanding markets through virtual com- munities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Hagel III, J., & Singer, M. (1999). Net worth. Shaping markets when customers make the rules. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Hoffman, D. L., & Novak, T. P. (1996). Marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments: Conceptual foundations. Working Paper No. 1 Project 2000: Research Program on Marketing in Computer-Mediated Environments. 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Determinants of trust in supplier relations: Evidence from the au- tomotive industry in Japan and the United States. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 34(3), 387-417. 6WHLQ¿HOG &$GHODDU7 /DL <- Integrating brick and mortar locations with e- commerce: understanding synergy opportuni- ties. Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Big Island, HI. Retrieved March 20, 2004, from http://www.msu. HGXaVWHLQ¿H+,&66SGI Walczuch, R., Seelen, J., & Lundgren H. (2001). Psychological determinants for consumer trust in e-retailing. Proceedings of the 8 th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets. Retrieved March 20, 2004, from http://www- i5.informatik.rwth-achen.de/conf/rseem2001/pa- pers/walczuch.pdf Wang, Y., Yu, Q., & Fesenmaier, D.R. (2002). De- ¿QLQJWKHYLUWXDOWRXULVWFRPPXQLW\,PSOLFDWLRQV for tourism marketing. Tourism Management, 23, 407-417. Webmergers. (2003). Internet companies three years after the height of the bubble. Retrieved March 20, 2004, from http://www.webmergers. com/data/article.php?id=67 Whittaker, S., Issacs, E., & O’Day, V. (1997). Wid- ening the Net. SIGCHI Bulletin, 29(3), 27-30. Yap, A.Y. (2002). Enabling e-commerce growth through the social construction of a virtual community’s culture. Journal of Electronic Com- merce Research, 3(4), 279-294. KEY TERMS Bluetooth: Wireless telecommunications sys- tem which provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs) or mobile phones. Community: Social network whose members are characterized by a common interest, similar behaviors, and a sense of moral responsibility. CRM (Customer Relationship Manage- ment): Systems with technological tools related to the implementation of relationship marketing strategies. i-Mode: A wireless Internet service for i-mode mobile phones using http protocol. Relationship Marketing: Marketing activities and strategies related to the creation, maintenance, and development of successful relationships. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunica- tions System): One of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. This technology pro- vides the mobile phone access to several services, such as videoconference. Virtual Community: Community that uses the new communications technologies (e.g., the 1747 Virtual Communities and E-Business Management Internet) to maintain and develop social interac- tions. Wi-Fi:6KRUW IRUZLUHOHVV ¿GHOLW\´D VHWRI product compatibility standards for wireless local area networks (WLANs). ENDNOTES 1 In this respect we may say that establish- ing control mechanisms on how members relate to each other is not very advisable. In fact, the use of a certain communication system cannot be imposed. Secondly, some freedom in the contents of conversations and messages should be granted. Obvi- ously, any contents that may be offensive for the company or other members should be screened, but excessive control is not recommended. The community itself will create its own internal rules and will reject those participants who do not provide any value. In fact, it might be interesting to create a space where the members are free to talk about anything they want to, even though it has nothing to do with the community’s primary aim. It is also advisable to publish on the Web site the community’s conduct UXOHVDVVRRQDVWKH\DUHGH¿QHG 2 Some possible roles are: (a) social weavers: individuals who introduce new members to the community; (b) moderator: a respected member who channels the debates into a suitable direction and regulates conversa- tions; (c) knowledge manager: a member who evaluates and searches for useful resources for the community; (d) opinion OHDGHU D UHVSHFWHG PHPEHU ZKR GH¿QHV the community’s ideological tendencies (establishing a system of scoring the mem- bers’ comments is an interesting possibility IRUWKHJURXSWRGH¿QHZKRLVDOHDGHUDQG who is not); and (e) instigator: a member who, voluntarily and respectfully, proposes controversial discussion topics, thus encour- aging participation. This work was previously published in Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, E-Government, and Mobile Commerce, edited by M. Khosrow-Pour, pp. 1163-1168, copyright 2006 by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global). 1748 Copyright © 2009, IGI Global, distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 6.2 Concepts and Challenges of E-Leadership Krista J. Crawford-Mathis Capella University, USA INTRODUCTION Technology increasingly allows one to work from anywhere, altering the mode and style of communication. Videoconferencing, online col- laboration software, cell phones, e-mail, Wi-Fi, and other technological tools are contributing to a growing number of virtual companies and teams. Some larger companies have made portions of their workforce virtual, allowing employees to simply work out of their homes. These changes in work force dynamics require additional skill sets for leaders. What follows is a description of e-leadership and the unique leadership challenges DVVRFLDWHGZLWKWKLV¿HOG BACKGROUND (OHDGHUVKLSKDVEHHQGH¿QHGDVDVRFLDOLQÀX- ence process mediated by technology to produce a change in attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, and/or performance with individuals, groups, and/or organizations (Avolio, Kahai, & Dodge, $PRUHDQHFGRWDOGH¿QLWLRQLVSURYLGHGE\ Chan (2002), where e-leadership means challeng- ing the accepted belief that running a business means bringing the staff under one roof from 9-to-5 every day; measuring success differently WKDQLQWKHSDVWDQG¿QGLQJQHZZD\VWREHD leader, new ways to motivate when you do not see every employee everyday. E-leadership can include one-on-one, to one- on-many interactions within and across large units and organizations. It has been suggested that technology will become so ingrained in busi- ness practice that soon it will not occur to anyone WR DGG DQ ³H´ LQ IURQW RI WKH ZRUG OHDGHUVKLS However, organizations are currently struggling with integrating technology into the management process. This is further complicated by the steep technology learning curve that many employees face (Avolio et al., 2001). 1749 Concepts and Challenges of E-Leadership E-LEADERSHIP Often, e-leaders have two employee populations they serve. E-leaders have to balance relationships ZLWK ³RQOLQH´ YHUVXV IDFHWRIDFH IROORZHUV $ VLPSOH³,¶OOJHWEDFNWR\RX´WRDQHHPSOR\HH¶V idea without accompanying verbal cues may be alienating. Frequent communication may offset the lack of non-verbal cues (Avolio & Kahai, 2003). Several factors impact the quality of e-leadership including the degree of face-to-face interaction, media richness, and team composition. Face-to-Face Examining the level of face-to-face interaction associated with e-leadership, Hart and McLeod (2003) categorized the content of communication exchanges between 126 pairs of teammates. The communications were divided into task oriented and social-emotional categories. Summarizing the ¿QGLQJVWKHVWXG\LQGLFDWHGWKDWOHDGHUVVKRXOG encourage a variety of task-related communication to foster closer relationships in geographically dispersed teams. Leaders must provide virtual team members with a reason to work together, by promoting interdependence and reliance on one another, by taking such steps as dividing members by tasks or assigning mentoring duties. Hart and McLeod (2003) conclude that the results are consistent with a growing body of research that close personal relationships are possible in virtual settings. Leaders can aid in fostering these relationships. Media Richness In addition to the level of face-to-face interaction, media richness plays a role in the quality of e- leadership and subordinate relationships. Media richness refers to the capacity of the technology to provide immediate feedback, the number of cues and channels used for the personalization of messages, and the language variety. In the context of e-leadership, media richness becomes a key factor of interaction (Avolio et al., 2001). E-leaders have many opportunities, or chan- nels, to be in touch with stakeholders. For example, anonymously clicking into either an employee or a customer related chat room may provide information needed for a same day global tele- conference. Leaders need to learn the vividness and interactivity of media to make their presence felt in a positive way (Avolio et al., 2001). In a study involving online youth and language style, emergent leaders demonstrated collabora- tion, sociability, and persuasiveness in the absence of face-to-face interaction (Huffaker, Tversky, & Ferriman, 2006). The adolescent talk may be an index of what is to come in the future. A quick look at a text messaging session between teenag- ers shows that communication takes place in a very truncated style. Given that the frequency of messages, not length, was found to be important for establishing closer relationships, the leader of the future may be better able to form virtual bonds. Virtual Teams A large portion of research on e-leadership has involved virtual teams (Combe, 2006; Kerber & Buono, 2004; Kikrman, Rosen, Tesluk, & Gibson, 2004; A survey of e-commerce, 2004). A virtual team uses information technology and telecom- munications to facilitate collaboration between geographically dispersed members who work on the same project. A virtual team can consist of other workers outside of an organization but is usually made up of employees working for the same company (Combe, 2006). E-teams and traditional teams share many characteristics; what distinguishes e-teams is their frequent geographic dispersion and their time-limited mission or task. E-leaders need to act as liaisons, set and convey team directions, and coordinate team operations in an environment of limited and mediated commu- nication. The strain of dispersion requires e-team 1750 Concepts and Challenges of E-Leadership leaders to devote attention to developing effective interaction dynamics, including cohesion, trust, and motivation (Zaccaro & Bader, 2003). Virtual teams present unique leadership challenges. Virtual team leaders have to balance all of the traditional leadership challenges plus barriers associated with working across distance and time, cross cultural and language barriers, and limited opportunities to identify common values. In spite of these additional hurdles, few ¿UPVFXUUHQWO\SURYLGHWUDLQLQJVHVVLRQVWDUJHWHG to virtual team leaders and members (Rosen, Furst, & Blackburn, 2006). Malhotra, Majchrzak, and Rosen (2007) identi- ¿HGVL[OHDGHUVKLSSUDFWLFHVRIHIIHFWLYHHWHDPV (1) the establishment and maintenance of trust through the use of communication technology; (2) ensuring that diversity in the team is under- stood, appreciated, and leveraged; (3) managing virtual work-cycle and meetings; (4) monitoring team progress using technology; (5) enhancing external visibility of the team and members; and HQVXULQJLQGLYLGXDOVEHQH¿WIURPSDUWLFLSDWLQJ in virtual teams. Perhaps the most important of these dynamics is that of trust. Recognizing this, Lewicki and Bunker (1996) developed a three stage model of trust development. Stage one is calculus-based WUXVW,WLV¿UVWIRXQGZKHQPHPEHUVFRPHWRJHWKHU and recognize the gain from working with one another. They learn how each other approaches a problem and what skill set they offer the team, leading to stage two or knowledge based trust. The deepest form of trust is found in stage three, LGHQWL¿FDWLRQEDVHGWUXVW7KLVRFFXUVZKHQ members recognize that they share similar goals, values, and intentions with other team members. ,GHQWL¿FDWLRQEDVHGWUXVWLVDVVXPHGWREHPRUH important for e-teams because members are so dispersed. Recent research has shown strong sup- port for a new multidimensional measure of trust suitable for testing the theory of trust development (McAllister, Lewicki, & Chaturvedi, 2006). E-leaders should stay on top of both task and affective communications to ensure that team members understand what they are required to accomplish, while also being attentive to relational problems. They should identify the team liaison, the team direction setter, and the team operational coordinator roles of the e-leader, creating what the authors call the social capital of the team (Zaccaro & Bader, 2003). Virtual teams can have a tendency to share less information about themselves, possibly due WRWKHDUWL¿FLDOQDWXUHRIWKHHOHFWURQLFFKDQ- nels. It is therefore essential for e-team leaders to foster programs of team trust. Leaders of QHZO\IRUPHGWHDPVVKRXOGUHTXLUH³RQOLQH´DQG frequent interaction as quickly as possible. The use of an electronic archive that records actions, decisions, and roles will aid the participants in determining how members make decisions and perform their roles. Situations where there is a loss of trust require e-leader intervention. If face- to-face interaction is not possible then video and audio conferencing should be explored (Zaccaro & Bader, 2003). Field studies of e-leadership have found that YLUWXDOHQYLURQPHQWVDUHRIWHQQRWVLJQL¿FDQWO\ different than traditional ones. For example, what happens early on in the formation of the leader- ship of virtual teams predicts subsequent levels of trust, satisfaction, and performance. In addition, YLUWXDOWHDPVZKRVSHQWWKH¿UVWIHZRFFDVLRQV of interaction identifying who is participating in their team, clarifying their expectations, and how they wanted to work together had higher performance several months later. An additional ¿QGLQJLVH[LVWLQJQRUPVDUHLPSRUWHGLQWRQHZ virtual groups (Avolio & Kahai, 2003). Controlled experiments on e-leadership have found that participative leadership may be more suitable for generating solutions for a semi-struc- tured or unstructured problem, whereas, directive leadership may be more suitable for generating solutions for a structured problem. A groupware’s system of anonymity feature may substitute for 1751 Concepts and Challenges of E-Leadership transformational leadership’s effect on promot- LQJÀH[LELOLW\LQWKLQNLQJ,QDGGLWLRQWKHPRWL- vational effect of transformational leadership is enhanced by anonymity, for example, by getting all members to work for the good of the group (Avolio & Kahai, 2003). ,WFDQEHGLI¿FXOWWRHVWDEOLVKFORVHERQGVZKHQ separated by time and space. The leader can play DVLJQL¿FDQWUROHLQWKHGHYHORSPHQWRIUHODWLRQ- ships in virtual teams. In a virtual relationship, everyday messages, from the mundane to the im- portant, represent the essence of the relationships between team members. One study cites several ¿QGLQJV)LUVWWHDPVWKDWH[FKDQJHWDVNRULHQWHG messages, as opposed to more personal oriented messages, exhibited closer personal relationships. Next, team members with stronger relationships communicate more often, but with short mes- VDJHV$QG¿QDOO\YLUWXDOWHDPPDWHVGHYHORS and strengthen relationships by focusing on work related challenges (Hart & McLeod, 2003). 9LUWXDOWHDPVFDQEHFODVVL¿HGE\IRXUFDWHJR- ries: teleworkers, remote, matrixed teleworkers, and matrixed remote teams. Each of these types of teams have leadership challenges, including: WKHGLI¿FXOW\RINHHSLQJWLJKWDQGORRVHFRQWUROV on goal progression, promoting close cooperation among teams to integrate deliverables, encourag- ing and recognizing emergent leaders in virtual teams, establishing and maintaining norms in the team’s development, and establishing proper boundaries between home and work. E-leaders should think carefully about three key behaviors within these categories: virtual collaborative skills, virtual socializations skills, and virtual communication (Avolio et al., 2001). A unique aspect of e-leadership is that the software employed by teams can take on a role, including the role of the leader. Leaders in virtual teams need to project some level of tele-presence to be felt, and ultimately to be effective. Lead- ers need to learn how to use the vividness and interactivity of media to make their presence felt in a positive way and to exercise appropriate LQÀXHQFHWRPRYHWKHWHDPIRUZDUG/HDGHUVKLS in virtual teams has to strike the right balance EHWZHHQ SURFHVV ÀH[LELOLW\ DQG HQIRUFHPHQW Finally, leadership in virtual teams is expressed through technology, therefore leaders and team members have to make sense of technology in order to make the most of it (Zigurs, 2003). FUTURE TRENDS Organizations face many challenges associated with the growth of virtual work environments, including security, employee feelings of belong- ingness, and organizational culture. Between January and December 2005, the FTC received over 685,000 consumer fraud and identity theft complaints. Consumers reported losses from fraud of more than $680 million, a small but growing percentage of those complaints were related to information stored by their employer (Federal Trade Commission, 2006). Employees want to feel that they and their personal information are secure while enjoying personal time and perform- ing work duties. The threat of cyber terrorism is another security factor that leaders should attend (Hoving, 2007). Leaders of organizations will have to continue to explore new ways of personalizing employees work experiences, overcoming issues of space and time. The resulting isolation associated with working from home can result in increased con- ÀLFWD QGD QDEVHQFHRIDIH HOLQJRIEHORQJL QJ QHVV &RQÀLFWDULVHVLQDOOZRUNVHWWLQJVKRZHYHUWKH hurdle of not being in the same room to address FRQÀLFWUHTXLUHVWKDWFRPSDQLHVSURYLGHGLQFUHDV- LQJYHQXHVIRUFRQÀLFWUHVROXWLRQ Hoving (2007) summarizes the leadership challenges associated with the rate of technol- ogy invention by four categories: harnessing the technology; providing business value, manag- ing the resources, and executing the work. To properly execute the work, attention should be paid to factors supporting the corporate culture. 1752 Concepts and Challenges of E-Leadership The expansion of the use of technology to lead people and organizations is spotlighting a change LQFRUSRUDWHFXOWXUHDIDFWRUWKDWLVGLI¿FXOWWR measure (Leidner & Kayworth, 2006). Edgar Schein posits that leadership in the future should think like an anthropologist by: (1) acknowledg- ing that to change culture you must thoroughly understand the culture that created you; (2) being aware that there is large variation among countries, companies, and subgroups within companies; (3) being culturally humble; and (4) cultures can not be implemented, instead behaviors can be imposed based on new values. CONCLUSION Presented here has been a very brief overview of some of the unique challenges associated with e- leadership. E-leaders have to master traditional leadership skills under complex environments. As organizations move through the next generation of technological advancements, leaders will need to both embrace and incorporate new techniques to serve and manage stakeholders. Those involved in the execution of the human resource function w i l l n e e d t o e n s u r e t h a t e m p l oy e e s , n o m a t t e r t h e i r location, are connected to the corporate culture, and have the training and tools needed to perform in the ever changing e-environment. REFERENCES $YROLR%.DKDL6$GGLQJWKH³H´WR e-leadership: How it may impact your leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 31(4), 325-338. Avolio, B., Kahai, S., & Dodge, G. (2001). E- leadership: Implications for theory, research, and practice. Leadership Quarterly, 11(4), 615-668. Chan, P. (2002). E-leadership: Proven techniques IRUFUHDWLQJDQHQYLURQPHQWRIVSHHGDQGÀH[LELOLW\ in the digital economy. Personnel Psychology, 55(1), 247-251. Combe, C. (2006). Introduction to e-business management and strategy. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Ltd. Federal Trade Commission. (2006). Consumer fraud and identity theft complaint data. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://www.consumer. gov/sentinel/pubs/Top10Fraud2005.pdf Hart, R., & McLeod, P. (2003). Rethinking team building in geographically dispersed teams: One message at a time. Organizational Dynamics, 31(4), 352-361. Hoving, R. (2007). Information technology leadership challenges—past, present, and future. Information Systems Management, 24, 147-153. Huffaker, J., Tversky, D., & Ferriman, K. (2006). The language of online leadership: Gender and youth engagement on the Internet. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 436-449. Kerber, K., & Buono, A. (2004). Leadership challenges in global virtual teams: Lessons from WKH¿HOGSAM Advanced Management Journal (1984), 69(4), 4-10. Kikrman, B., Rosen, B., Tesluk, P., & Gibson, C. B. (2004). The impact of team empowerment on virtual team performance: The moderating role of face-to-face interaction. Academy of Manage- ment Journal, 47(2), 175-192. Leidner, D., & Kayworth, T. (2006). A review of culture in information systems research: Toward a WKHRU\RILQIRUPDWLRQWHFKQRORJ\FXOWXUHFRQÀLFW MIS Quarterly, 30(2), 357-59. Lewicki, R., & Bunker, B. (Eds.). (1996). Devel- oping and maintaining trust in working relation- ships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., & Rosen, B. (2007). Leading virtual teams. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70. 1753 Concepts and Challenges of E-Leadership McAllister, D., Lewicki, R., & Chaturvedi, S. (2006). Trust in developing relationships: From theory to measurement. Academy of Management Proceedings, G1-G6, Retrieved October 16, 2007, from the Business Source Premier database. Rosen, B., Furst, S., & Blackburn, R. (2006). Training for virtual teams: An investigation of current practices and future needs. Human Re- source Management, 45(2), 229-247. Schein, E. (2006). Leadership competencies a provocative new look. In F. Hesselbein & M. Goldstein (Eds.), The leader of the future (vol. 2, pp. 253-264). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Zaccaro, S., & Bader, P. (2003). E-leadership and the challenges of leading e-teams: Minimizing the bad and maximizing the good. Organizational Dynamics, 31(4), 377-387. Zigurs, I. (2003). Leadership in virtual teams: Oxymoron or opportunity? Organizational Dy- namics, 31(4), 339-351. KEY TERMS E-Business:'H¿QHGEURDGO\DVDQ\EXVLQHVV process that relies on an automated information system. E-Commerce: Consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. E-Leadership:$VRFLDOLQÀXHQFHSURFHVV mediated by technology to produce a change in attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, and/or performance with individuals, groups, and/or organizations. Groupware: Software that integrates work on a single project by several concurrent users at separated workstations. Media Richness: Refers to the capacity of the technology to provide immediate feedback, the number of cues and channels used for the personalization of messages, and the language variety. Virtual Team: Geographically dispersed members who work on the same project through the use of information technology and telecom- munications to facilitate collaboration between them. This work was previously published in Encyclopedia of Human Resources Information Systems: Challenges in e-HRM, edited by T. Torres-Coronas and M. Arias-Oliva, pp. 161-165, copyright 2009 by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global). . retailer and manu- facturer incentives to participate in electronic marketplaces. Journal of Marketing, 61, 38-53. Anderson, E., & Weitz, B. (1989). The use of pledges to build and sustain. liaisons, set and convey team directions, and coordinate team operations in an environment of limited and mediated commu- nication. The strain of dispersion requires e-team 1750 Concepts and Challenges. appreciated, and leveraged; (3) managing virtual work-cycle and meetings; (4) monitoring team progress using technology; (5) enhancing external visibility of the team and members; and HQVXULQJLQGLYLGXDOVEHQH¿WIURPSDUWLFLSDWLQJ in