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Information Technology and Leadership Emergence of Women in Middle Management Decision-Making Groups

Information Technology and Leadership Emergence of Women in Middle Management Decision-Making Groups
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Author(s): Esther E. Klein (Hofstra University, USA)
Copyright: 2001
Pages: 3
Source title: Managing Information Technology in a Global Economy
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-930708-07-5.ch051
ISBN13: 9781930708075
EISBN13: 9781466665323

Abstract

Women today constitute 50% of middle management [4]. Research has suggested that this proportion is the result of educational and other “objective” credentials carrying greater weight for middle management positions than for the ranks of upper management [1]. Despite their roughly equal representation in middle management, women do not participate equally with men in group decision-making [8] [12]. Research (e.g., [14] [16]) has indicated that there is a direct relationship between the rate of participation in group discussions and leadership emergence. Thus, within middle management decision-making groups, leadership by women is lagging. IT has the potential for reversing this state of affairs. Specifically, two factors are suggested as enablers of leadership emergence by women in middle management decision-making groups: (a) technology-based information accessibility, and (b) increased participation in decision-making through computer-mediated communication (CMC).

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