| The research problem was the lack of knowledge about the effect of leadership style of the project champion on global information technology (IT) project outcomes, resulting in a high failure rate of IT projects accompanied by significant waste of resources. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to evaluate the relationship between leadership style (i.e., transformational, transactional, and passive avoidant) of the project champion and global IT project implementation success as determined by user acceptance and use. The independent variable was leadership style (i.e., transformational, transactional, and passive avoidant), measured using Bass and Avolio's (2004) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X short form. The dependent variables were Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis's (2003) tenets of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, including behavioral intention to use, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, attitude toward using the global IT system, self-efficacy, and anxiety. The population was U.S.-based global IT leaders drawn from LinkedIn's Global IT Leadership Network. A total of 102 U.S.-based global IT leaders responded to the survey, and 61 participants completed the survey in its entirety. The study findings showed a statistically significant positive relationship between project champions who exhibited transformational leadership characteristics and global IT project implementation success as determined by user acceptance and use of IT. Project champions who exhibited transactional and passive avoidant leadership attributes did not significantly influence global IT project implementation success. This study adds to the body of knowledge by confirming that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions were significantly positively influenced by project champions who exhibited transformational leadership characteristics when implementing IT collaboration projects in the emerging global markets. The quantitative results could help organizations, IT leaders, and key IT stakeholders with an increased understanding that transformational leadership style of the project champion can positively influence global IT project implementation success. |
