Context in information systems leadership

It is widely acknowledged that context greatly influences leaders’ behavior and effectiveness. Scholars, over the years, have documented various elements of information systems leadership and incorporated some contextual elements in their research. Since both information systems leadership and organizational contexts have evolved during the past few decades, it is important to examine how scholars incorporate context in their research. Through a systematic review of literature, we examine the nature and extent of attention to organizational context as factors influencing information systems leadership. Our findings indicate that the type of industry or firm and organizational size are the most common contextual elements studied, leaving behind crucial elements such as culture, demographics, modes of governance and duration of leadership, among others. Seven major contextual components are used to guide the categorization of the reviewed articles. Suggestions are offered for improving our understanding of the interaction between information systems leadership and organizational context.