european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals
european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals
european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals
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European Journal <strong>of</strong> Social Sciences – Volume 5, Number 3 (2007)<br />
1994). This style <strong>of</strong> leadership is necessary in the less bureaucratic and authoritarian organizations <strong>of</strong><br />
the future (Bennis, 1990).<br />
5. Transformational leadership and ICT<br />
Leadership is a critical factor in the initiation and implementation <strong>of</strong> the changes in organizations. This<br />
is supported by Ely (1999), who distinguished eight conditions that are relevant to ICT<br />
implementation. These conditions are dissatisfaction with the status quo, existence <strong>of</strong> knowledge and<br />
skills, availability <strong>of</strong> resources, availability <strong>of</strong> time, existence <strong>of</strong> rewards or incentives, participation,<br />
commitment, and leadership. Hence, there is a strong need for leaders who are more change-centered.<br />
In addition, one <strong>of</strong> the most important skills that a leader should have is the ability to manage<br />
change. Principals need to understand the capacities <strong>of</strong> the new technologies, to have a personal<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>iciency in their use, and be able to promote a school culture which encourages exploration <strong>of</strong> new<br />
techniques in teaching, learning and management. Hence, principals have a major responsibility for<br />
initiating and implementing school change through the use <strong>of</strong> ICT and to facilitate complex decisions<br />
about integration <strong>of</strong> ICT into learning and teaching (Schiller, 2003). Therefore, types <strong>of</strong> outstanding<br />
leadership, such as transformational, charismatic and visionary, are becoming more and more<br />
important to organizations, as workforces become more diverse, technology improves and international<br />
competition heightens.<br />
According to Bass (1997), transformational leadership may be a particularly powerful source <strong>of</strong><br />
leadership in a variety <strong>of</strong> contexts, including human computer interactions. In other words,<br />
transformational leadership is a term used increasingly in relation to large-scale innovation in<br />
education (e.g. Leithwood, 1994). This form <strong>of</strong> leadership is considered crucial for the implementation<br />
<strong>of</strong> large-scale innovations by principals (Berg and Sleegers, 1996). In the current area <strong>of</strong> continuing<br />
demands for innovations in school organizations, therefore it is not surprising that the concept <strong>of</strong><br />
transformational leadership is being applied increasingly. Hence, transformational leadership appears<br />
to be necessary to drive principals to the higher levels <strong>of</strong> concern and motivation that are needed for<br />
such kind <strong>of</strong> educational improvement (Berg and Sleegers, 1996; Leithwood, 1994).<br />
Moreover, Geijsel et al. (1999) stated that the school leaders in the high innovation schools<br />
showed more vision, more charisma, more teaching reform, more individual feedback, better<br />
delegation, more joint responsibility, and a more collaborative culture than the school leaders in the<br />
low innovation schools. On the other hand, Beatty and Lee (1992) conducted several case studies <strong>of</strong> the<br />
implementation <strong>of</strong> CAD/CAM systems in numerous British and Canadian companies in an effort to<br />
investigate the linkage between leadership and technological change in organizations. Through<br />
semistructured interviews and using a critical incident approach to assessing leadership abilities, the<br />
researchers tracked managerial involvement throughout the implementation process. The outcome <strong>of</strong><br />
their qualitative research suggests that a transformational approach to leadership, combining<br />
pathfinding with people solving and technical problem-solving skills to introduce organizational<br />
changes, is likely to be more effective in overcoming barriers to change than a transactional leadership<br />
approach that concentrates on technical problem solving to the neglect <strong>of</strong> people and organizational<br />
issues (Beatty & Lee, 1992, p. 987).<br />
This is further supported by Jung et al. (2003) who conducted a research on the role <strong>of</strong><br />
transformational leadership in enhancing organizational innovation. Their findings supported a direct<br />
and positive link between a style <strong>of</strong> leadership that has been labeled as “transformational” and<br />
organizational innovation. Also, they indicated that transformational leadership has significant and<br />
positive relations with both empowerment and an innovation-supporting organizational climate.<br />
Therefore, transformational leader is noted as one <strong>of</strong> the most important factors affecting the<br />
integration <strong>of</strong> educational technology and has input into all the essential conditions that promote the<br />
integration <strong>of</strong> educational technology (Brooks-Young, 2002; Ross, McGraw & Burdette, 2001).<br />
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