=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3016/paper8
|storemode=property
|title=Informal leaders and their influence within information system organisations in developing countries: A case study in Mexico
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3016/paper8.pdf
|volume=Vol-3016
|authors=Edgar Hernandez-Rojas,Ahmed Imran,Luke Nguyen-Hoan
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/stpis/Hernandez-Rojas21
}}
==Informal leaders and their influence within information system organisations in developing countries: A case study in Mexico==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3016/paper8.pdf
Informal leaders and their influence within information system
organisations in developing countries: A case study in Mexico
Edgar Hernandez-Rojas 1, Ahmed Imran 2 and Luke Nguyen-Hoan 3
1
University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari St, Bruce, ACT, Australia
2
University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari St, Bruce, ACT, Australia
3
University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari St, Bruce, ACT, Australia
Abstract
The emergence of informal leaders to supplement the lack of effective formal leadership is
common in many workplaces, including information system (IS) organisations. The literature
to date has examined informal leadership (including electronic interactions, characteristics and
qualities, levels of responsibility and authority, individual and group performance, social
interactions and energetic activation) in the organisational change domain. However, the IS
literature has yet to define and explain such leadership within IS organisations, particularly in
developing countries where often complex and unique sociocultural factors shape such
leadership. This paper presents a conceptual framework for identifying and defining informal
leaders in IS organisations from a new perspective, considering their characteristics and
behaviours, the nature of their leadership, organisational culture and their social context. The
framework is tested through a case study of an IS organisation in a developing country
(Mexico). The findings confirm the framework’s usefulness for identifying the characteristics
and behaviours, nature of leadership (opinion, social and technical) and the extent of influence
exerted within the organisation. Understanding informal leaders within IS organisations is
important because adding their capabilities and levels of influence to formal leaders could
boost overall outcomes within IS organisations and beyond.
Keywords 1
Informal leaders, IS leadership, leadership, developing countries
1. Introduction
Leadership in information system (IS) organisations has played a fundamental role in operational
stability, business innovation, enabling business strategies [1] and determining the success of
organisations [2]. However, several important challenges can hinder the successful implementation of
IS projects, including the project leader’s lack of essential leadership skills or sociocultural factors
external to the organisation [3]. Thite [4] indicated that although there is no single effective leadership
style for all project situations, certain characteristics help leaders enhance their management of projects,
such as intellectual stimulation, behavioural charisma, and contingent reward behaviours.
‘IS organisations’ refers to companies that use information technology and other resources to
produce specific products and/or services for internal or external customers [5] and are known for their
technical specialisation, commonly based on disruptive technologies to support organisational
strategies [6]. A handful of research has emerged over the years in the IS field to understand and explain
leadership styles and factors within IS organisations that affect IS governance, successful
implementation, and other areas of IS [7]. However, an area that has been little explored is informal
leadership in IS organisations. This is particularly important for developing countries where IS maturity
levels are still low and leadership is often absent (e.g., chief information officers [CIO]) or very loosely
defined and established [8].
7th International Workshop on Socio-Technical Perspective in IS development (STPIS’21), October 11–12, 2021, Trento, Italy
EMAIL: edgar.hernandez.rojas@canberra.com.au (A. 1); ahmed.imran@canberra.com.au (A. 2); luke.nguyen-hoan@canberra.edu.au (A. 3)
ORCID: 0000-0002-3300-8899 (A. 1); 0000-0001-8258-3550 (A. 2); 0000-0003-3725-5018 (A. 3)
©️ 2021 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)
83
Despite a vast quantity of resources used for developing formal leaders with a wide spectrum of
characteristics and skills [9], leadership training does not always equip a person to perform their role
effectively. Formal command positions within organisations, such as CIOs, project managers and
application development practice leaders, have not generated a sufficient level of influence within their
work teams [10]. Consequently, informal leader positions have emerged as key elements in the
performance of organisations. For example, charisma is a relevant trait that a leader may or may not
possess, and the absence or presence of this trait may be the distinguishing factor that allows an informal
leader to emerge [29]. Thus, the present investigation endeavours to identify the characteristics and
behaviours that define informal leaders and understand the nature of their leadership in an IS
organisation.
This research proposes a conceptual framework based on an analysis of the literature that considers
diverse elements such as sociocultural factors, organisational culture, the nature of leadership, and the
influence exerted within IS organisations. This conceptual framework provides an epistemological
paradigm to address the research problems [11] and combines a series of related concepts to explain or
predict a certain event or give a broader understanding of the phenomenon of interest [12].
Theoretically, this study fills the knowledge gap by uncovering the nature of leadership and the
extent of influence exerted by informal leaders in IS organisations. The study also has practical
implications in identifying, utilising and managing informal leaders within organisations to achieve
efficacy, productivity, and greater human resource outcomes. This is likely to have other policy
implications, including the formation and development of formal leaders, improvement of working
environments and decisions about how to mobilise people.
The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents the relevant literature review, considering
elements such as the sociocultural context of the study, organisational culture, documented
characteristics and behaviours of informal leaders and the nature of leadership, which all contribute to
the proposed conceptual framework and research questions. Section 3 describes the method used, and
Section 4 describes the findings. Finally, Section 5 provides the discussion and conclusion.
2. Literature review
The scant literature regarding the term ‘informal leaders’ is mostly confined within the
organisational change discipline and discusses levels of responsibility and authority, individual and
group performance and social and electronic interactions [13–19].
Pielstick [17] devised the idea of the existence of these informal leaders and developed a list of
characteristics and behaviours based on five pillars: shared vision, communication, relationships,
community and orientation and character. However, because informal leaders operate in a particular
context, a review of contextual circumstances is necessary to understand their influence and relevance
in a particular organisational context. Accordingly, this literature review explains the sociocultural
context for a developing country (Mexico); the organisational culture of an IS organisation; the relevant
definitions for leadership concepts, characteristics and behaviours that informal leaders possess; the
nature of leadership; and the extent of its influence.
2.1. Sociocultural context of the study
Mexico’s organisational context, culture and people management are deeply ingrained in its history,
geographical position and the cultural, economic and political challenges it faces daily. With more than
120 million inhabitants and one of the strongest economies in the region, its culture, politics and daily
life are also defined by its relationship with its northern neighbour, the United States of America [20].
According to Rodríguez and Ramírez [20], who studied Mexican organisation culture extensively,
the work culture in Mexico has an enormous number of beliefs, myths and introjections that make each
organisation a particular and unique subculture. For maintaining Mexican customs in the workplace, it
is necessary to distinguish between the employer or manager and the rest of the workers whom these
people direct. Rodríguez and Ramírez [20] explained that a good worker in Mexico never leaves the
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office before their immediate boss. This behaviour is ambivalent; the worker subjected to the authority
and force of the manager internalises the role of authority, and they unconsciously aim to repeat it but
simultaneously reject and submit to autocracy. However, when the opportunity arises, this is exercised
in the same style, whether it is in the family, as a teacher, in the unions or in the organisation [20].
Mexico is one of the countries that works the most hours a day; however, it is one of the least
productive, with the highest levels of work stress worldwide [21]. The International Labour
Organization estimated that work-related stress, depression, anxiety and workplace accidents represent
losses ranging from 0.5 to 3.5 per cent of a country’s gross domestic product; particularly in Mexico,
stress among workers produces losses of between USD 5,000 and 40,000 million a year.
In general, Mexican people refuse to assume leadership roles within work teams because they fear
being rejected or failing, that they are insufficiently trained or that it represents a greater responsibility
[20]. Therefore, informal leaders play a non-accountability role in organisations; because they do not
have official authority granted by the company, they do not think they are responsible for the
consequences of their actions [20].
Mexico’s national culture broadly falls under Hofstede’s [22] concept of collectivism, with power
distance, uncertainty avoidance seeking, masculinity and femininity characteristics. Balloo [13]
explained that power distance in societies significantly affect how leadership is exerted. For example,
in countries with low power distance, people prefer egalitarian leadership. Balloo [13] specified that
the main difference between public, private and voluntary organisations centres on the degree to which
leaders define goals. Conversely, in countries with high power distance, people prefer leaders who are
more authoritarian and directive. Each kind of leader is perceived to be more effective according to
their context [23].
Further, organisational cultures or subcultures seem to be a key situational factor because they are
presented in the environment where the leader demonstrates their level of influence. Organisational
culture, in general, constitutes the ways of doing things, attitudes, behaviours and beliefs exhibited in
an organisation [13]. However, due to globalisation and increasing interconnectedness, fostering unique
organisational cultures has become more complex and diverse. Hence, leaders must often manage
different perspectives and employees who do not share the same values [24].
Schein [25] stated that various frameworks of formal leadership styles have been developed and
implemented within organisations. However, although some have been successful, many others have
been a resounding failure because they have not considered the country’s cultural context or the
business and the company itself [25].
Previously, soft skills were often considered unimportant because they seemed to have no effects on
the results or, at least, were not the focus in a world where technical skills have dominated the areas
that are determinant factors in those industries [26]. However, companies like Google have successfully
balanced the development of people and effective fulfilment of projects [27]. Thus, they have become
highly productive and competitive companies with the best employee satisfaction rates and
implementation of improvement strategies, where any employee can create and implement innovative
ideas [27].
Likewise, local companies that are deeply rooted in their cultural traditions tend to have
complications when they join the globalised world in adapting to global work trends and cultures. For
example, there are doubts about whether work-from-home practices generate the same levels of
efficiency as the work done at a company’s facilities [24]. Nevertheless, work is becoming more
collective and technologically dependent as telecommuting and virtual work continues to grow in
importance among many industries and organisations [28]. Global communication networks have
further promoted new kinds of communities and leadership communication styles inside these
organisations.
Additionally, dramatic changes in the current IS organisational context and more horizontal
structures with greater flexibility have increased uncertainties regarding leadership [29]. A
command-and-control leadership style may not be effective in a company with a collaborative, friendly
organisational culture [30]. Thus, the use of virtual teams is growing worldwide and IS organisations
are adopting virtual team structures across geographic distances and diverse time zones to accomplish
goals [28].
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2.2. Information systems: formal and informal leadership
Leadership has been well-recognised and heavily studied in IS as an important enabler for the
outcome and success of IS implementation [1]. It has been defined as ‘the ability that a person possesses
to influence and motivate other individuals within the company to contribute to success and
effectiveness’ [31]. Studies have also expressed that leaders must create the conditions for
organisational learning; thus, leadership can be understood as a process of interactions between
individuals, where one party directs the actions of a group with a common purpose. Therefore, using
their power, energy and personal influence, they change the organisational environment and the
individuals who interact in the organisation [29].
According to Waheed, Hussin and Jalaldeen [32], IS leadership can be defined as the management
behaviour of senior executives in an organisation who are accountable for the information technology
infrastructure and applications that enable and drive the business goals of an organisation. Often, they
are referred to as CIOs, and they are responsible for managing the common systems and information
technology (IT) infrastructure of an organisation [32]. Formal leaders have positions of authority within
organisations [33] and can achieve organisational goals [30]; however, in some cases, they demonstrate
a ‘need’ for power, using the authority of their role and coercion to accomplish the organisational goals
[17].
Conversely, informal leaders often achieve important goals and avoid project failures while acting
without any formal recognition or rank within the organisation and influencing people to follow them
[34]. They do not have a formal leadership position, authority or hierarchical level granted by the
organisation [35] to control the work team; however, they have authentic leadership to exercise power
[17]. For example, when unexpected disruptive events occur or issues arise that require immediate
attention and a formal leader cannot address the matter, an informal leader can help contain the situation.
However, this can also promote redundancy in the command of actions, fostering complexity,
ambiguity, a false sense of security and the potential for conflict [36].
Individuals without formal titles or authority serve as advocates for the organisation and heighten
their contributions and those of other employees, primarily through influence, relationship-building,
knowledge and expertise [29]. They must also become experts at using their influence to shape
strategies, establish the basic norms and values of teams, allocate resources, coordinate group efforts
and negotiate with outsiders on behalf of the group [37].
Informal networks coexist with formal structures. However, the reduction of face-to-face formal
leaders has prompted a new form of informal leadership. Despite a lack of official recognition, this kind
of leadership can effectively enhance the productivity of a formal organisation, including an increased
influence on people that work remotely [38]. In this scenario, the status of informal leadership allows
experienced employees to more effectively facilitate the work of others, especially for those with
powerful political skills, networking abilities and interpersonal skills [18].
Charlier et al. [28] analysed the implications, benefits and difficulties of working in virtual teams.
They found that in virtual teams with high levels of consensus for identifying leaders, the leaders who
emerged as informal leaders received significantly more communication than formal leaders. Further,
they concluded that the physical placement (working at the same or different location) of team members
and their leaders significantly affects leadership perceptions. Accordingly, informal leaders are likely
to emerge in situations where formal leaders are located elsewhere [28].
The existing literature has indicated that a lack of IS leadership is an obstacle to promoting effective
IT governance [39, 40]. Further, the roles and responsibilities are often not clearly defined for IS leaders
[41], there is a lack of comprehension about IT governance frameworks and concepts [39] and IS
leadership have not sufficiently addressed the major risks of the information and communications
technology [40].
2.3. Characteristics and behaviours of informal leaders
Section 2.3 identifies the possible characteristics and behaviours of informal leaders based on a
comprehensive literature review. For this study, ‘characteristics’ includes all the traits and qualities that
could define an informal leader, such as their temperament, personality and physical appearance, and
86
‘behaviours’ includes the behaviours/reactions that informal leaders exercise in relation to their
colleagues within the cultural and organisational context in which they operate.
Through his first meta-ethnographic study, Pielstick [17] created a profile of an authentic leader
using six major themes, including shared vision, communication, relationships, community, guidance
and character, listing the first list of characteristics and behaviours of informal leaders. Moreno [42]
confirmed that these characteristics exist in informal leaders in small work teams. These scenarios have
the highest communication levels because the leadership tasks are provided from a given consensus and
context, demanding a high amount of verbal interactions. Stincelli [19] listed similar characteristics
using three themes: individual competence, organisational culture and situational requirements. Neubert
and Taggar [43] also listed similar characteristics and suggested that some female traits and
contributions are relatively unappreciated, especially in those who alter their behaviour to be more
consistent with male stereotypes. The possible characteristics of informal leaders are listed in Table 1.
Similarly, Tables 2 illustrates the potential behaviours of informal leaders according to the conceptual
framework proposed in this study.
Table 1
Informal leadership characteristics
Characteristic Reference
Caring [17, 42]
Problem-solving/intelligence [16, 17]
Commitment [16, 17, 19]
Communication skills [19]
Confidence [17]
Cooperative/supporting/partnering [14, 43]
Credibility [17, 19]
Effective [19]
Empathic/considered/hearing [17, 19, 42]
Ethical [17]
Experience in position [17]
Expert or referent (knowledge) [16, 17, 19]
Extraversion [44]
Fair [17, 42]
Honesty [14, 17]
Humility [16, 17]
Integrity [17]
Interpersonal aptitude [19]
Likes to have fun/sense of humour [17, 42]
Locus of control [19]
Motivation [42]
Persistence [16, 17]
Principle-centred [17, 42]
Promotes gender equity [17, 42]
Responsibility [14]
Trustworthiness/credible [14]
Willingness [19, 35, 36]
Table 2
Informal leadership behaviours
Behaviour Reference
Empowerment [19]
Encouragement [19]
Group cohesion [16, 19]
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Knowledge sharing [19, 42]
Managing diversity/inclusive [19]
Motivating others [44]
Relationship orientation [19]
Shared vision [19]
Social identity [19]
Treats everyone with respect [17, 19, 42]
Intellectual stimulation [44]
2.4. The nature of leadership and influence
Leadership is a continuous process of influence and is an essential skill that a leader must master to
affect the behaviour of others in a particular direction or reach a specific goal [33]. DuBrin [30] defined
‘influence’ as the ability to motivate others by using diverse tactics, such as rational persuasion,
inspirational appeal and consultation, or through pressure, coalition or appealing to legitimate authority.
According to Balloo [13], although formal leaders do not have direct control over the behaviour of
others, it is important to understand the different ways in which influence and power may be projected
within organisations; for example, understanding and using the five sources of power, including reward,
coercive, legitimate, referent and expert powers. Having power over others modifies their behaviours
in the desired manner without having to modify the leader’s behaviours. Although the leader can
command certain behaviours, this does not mean their subordinates will comply with the order(s).
In the past, leaders in any type of organisation were expected to have many followers and keep them
under control, and the followers were expected to do anything requested by the leaders. However, this
is no longer ideal or acceptable in today’s context [45]. Therefore, it is important to identify the
relationships between informal structures and leadership to build the capacity of a leader to manage
increasingly complex situations in constantly changing environments. For example, according to the
social exchange theory, the quality of the social interactions between actors in a network is based on
the calculation of mutual exchange by building and maintaining the ties between them [46]. Another
approach refers to the influence of the composition of teams formed between men and women, with
gender being a representative variable in informal or emerging leadership dynamics in work teams. For
example, Neubert and Taggar [43] argued that due to a high level of general mental capacity, informal
leadership is more frequent in women than men, while a high level of awareness and emotional stability
has been demonstrated in more men than women [43].
The literature demonstrates that informal leaders emerge and influence the forms of IS organisations
and their work. However, not all informal leaders have the same influence because of the differences
between the personal characteristics of each informal leader and the nature of their leadership
techniques. The different types of leaders discussed in the literature include opinion, social or technical
leaders [47–50].
2.4.1. Opinion-type leaders
Opinion-type leaders influence the opinions, beliefs, motivations, construction of ideas, visions and
behaviours of others. They commonly have a greater influence in a certain group due to their status as
an expert and a reliable resource [50, 51]. When a collaborator has a question or an ethical or ideological
problem, they will go to these leaders. Due to this interaction, the influence of opinion-type leaders is
the most complicated to detect and monitor. Further, according to Chan and Misra [47], if a new product
or service is in an ‘adopt’ stage, opinion-type leaders may be used as indicators of innovativeness; they
can be early adopters of products and services and persuade others to do the same.
Opinion-type informal leaders are great contributors to organisational cultures and significantly
affect informal communication processes [52]; if they want to spread an idea, it is highly likely that the
idea will be taken and dispersed throughout the organisation. Further, they have important
communication skills and the ability to camouflage themselves and not attract attention [47]. Thus, it is
important to correctly identify these figures because it allows an organisation to rely on them for change
88
management strategies, promoting healthy organisational environments, increasing engagement with
company values and as sources for motivation and the alignment of critical objectives [14].
According to Pielstick [17], informal leaders are more likely to have a moral and inspiring purpose
based on the common good, listen and seek to understand what is happening, actively put their words
into actions, empathise with others and demonstrate equity in their relationships, treating everyone with
dignity and respect. In summary, an opinion-type informal leader can be defined as a person who does
not have a hierarchical rank in an organisation and is not in charge of a team, but whose vision people
trust, giving them the power to represent them, and who are commonly leaders of unions or
communities.
2.4.2. Social-type leaders
Social-type leaders are usually recognised in organisations for excelling in empathy,
communication, organisation, and collaboration skills. Often, they do not have a rank within the
organisation’s hierarchy. However, their levels of influence motivate people when it is necessary to
organise events, celebrate birthdays, generate communications, reduce conflicts or lower tensions [53].
Commonly, their levels of influence are governed by empathy, which is why they are described as
cheerful, positive people who integrate well with others. They may also have a high level of charisma,
which helps them establish personal or moral credibility, using reasoned and emotive language to
persuade others to act [30]. They can have a considerable influence within an organisation, despite not
having formal authorisation to lead. This influence is often nurtured by the time they spend generating
strong relationships with their peers and, in some cases, affecting organisational results [48]. However,
they can also be informal leaders who function as agents of change to facilitate the improvement and
growth of an organisation.
Creighton and Singer [54] explained that social-type leaders especially in the IS organisations prefer
not to be recognised for social competencies. Thus, sometimes their social leadership is weak, and they
prefer to have informal social leaders in their teams who develop this task effectively. Consequently,
there are some areas of opportunity to be improved, such as intercultural competence, negotiation skills,
decision enforcement in critical situations and conflict management.
A Social-type informal leader can be defined as a person who does not have a hierarchical rank in
an organisation and does not manage a team; however, people rely on them due to their charisma, traits,
behaviours and attitudes. Although they may lack the knowledge to solve problems, they can influence
others to solve them.
2.4.3. Technical-type leaders
Organisations typically recognise technical-type leaders as teachers or trainers but do not have an
official role (commonly known as a mentor). Some companies may decide to give a technical leader a
hierarchical position, although this is not always the best decision because their soft skills, such as
communication, integration, collaboration and team management, are not usually their strengths [49].
When an organisation has a technical problem beyond a formal leader’s capacity, technical-type
informal leaders may solve the problem, sometimes silently and without asking for recognition, while
exerting their influence and motivating others to follow their lead [36]. These types are normally hired
for complying with certain profiles that require specific technical competencies. For example, in the IT
field, technical competencies may include data analyses, computer programming, project planning, task
management or technical writing [55]. Employees usually receive a formal education, certification
courses or diplomas to acquire these technical skills. These competencies are always backed by a
practical exercise that demonstrates that the employee has theoretical knowledge and understands how
to apply that knowledge [56]. However, some people within companies may also learn and dominate
certain technologies required by the company and, without having any formal knowledge, become
experts in a particular area [57]. The experience factor may cause some people to learn how to solve
certain technical problems better than others.
89
Therefore, a technical-type informal leader can be defined as a person who does not have a
hierarchical rank in the organisation and does not manage a team but uses their experience of certain
technical aspects to solve complex technical problems requiring a specialisation grade.
2.5. Conceptual framework
The rationale for the conceptual framework proposed in this study (see Figure 1) is based on the
theoretical framework of leadership, which incorporates the elements of sociocultural contexts,
organisational cultures and influence [19], the characteristics that define leaders [58] and their
behaviours in specific situations [59]. However, this framework aims to be more specific to the context
and type of organisation. In this study, we refer to an IS organisation in a developing country (Mexico).
The framework also incorporates the nature of the leadership type (i.e., opinion, social or technical) and
its influence to shape informal leaders in organisations [29, 36, 47, 48, 51]. The framework is a starting
point to investigate informal leaders in a case study and test its usefulness for addressing the following
research questions:
1. What are the characteristics and behaviours that define and identify informal leaders in IS
organisations?
2. What is the nature of the leadership exerted by informal leaders in IS organisations?
Figure 1: Conceptual framework for identifying informal leaders
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3. Methodology
Given the exploratory nature, this research employed an interpretative case study approach to gather
and analyse data associated with this study [66]. The case study allows to understand multiple
perspectives and human action in social and organisational contexts, explore contested viewpoints,
demonstrate the influence of key actors and interactions between them in the studied phenomenon [60].
This qualitative approach helps to uncover deeper issues and allows the examination of perceptions and
understandings regarding individuals and supports the development of theories based on the
experiences and perspectives of the research participants [61]. A semi-structured questionnaire was
developed for the 15 interviews with employees of different levels and roles within an IS organisation
in Mexico (see Appendix A). The participants included a systems engineer, software engineer, business
analyst, architect of solutions, IT manager, technical support manager, project manager, senior delivery
manager and security coordinator.
Signed approval was obtained from the Chief Executive Officer from the IS organisation under
study, providing approval to approach employees for participation in the study using a company email.
In some cases, participants were called directly to participate. The identity of participants has been kept
confidential following the protocol of ethical clearance. Participation in this study was voluntary. The
lead researcher was responsible to collect, store and access signed informed consent, accomplishing all
procedures according to ethics clearance obtained from affiliated university. The questions were
designed to provide an understanding of the participants' perceptions of informal leadership, its
characteristics, behaviours, and nature of leadership. A pilot test was conducted on two participants
who gave feedback on the questionnaire and conduct of the interview. Following this pilot, the
questionnaire was reorganised, hence that it became easy to follow by the target audience. Some
questions that were redundant or not directly related to the initial topic were deleted or replaced.
The interviews were conducted virtually, using the Microsoft Teams program, due to the COVID
19 pandemic restrictions in place at the time of this study. The participants answered 20 questions
during 20- to 55-minute interviews. Their responses provided the data that was extracted and analysed
step by step using NVivo software. The steps included (i) getting a general sense of the information,
(ii) coding the material, (iii) identifying themes, (iv) representing the material, and (v) making an
interpretation or meaning of the data [67].
Before each interview commenced, the participant we explicitly informed that there were no right
or wrong answers to the questions in the survey. The collected data did not include sensitive personal
data. Consequently, the participants were invited to answer the questions openly and extensively. The
transcriptions and interpretations were conducted by the lead author, who is a Mexican native with a
strong understanding of local cultures.
3.1. Case description
The case study was conducted in a private IS organisation in Mexico, with offices in the main cities
(Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey). The organisation’s main functions include application
development, infrastructure projects and technical support services for government and private
companies across the country. Founded in 2003 by the chief executive officer (CEO) and chief operating
officer, the organisation has 350 employees. It is associated with leading international companies, such
as Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Systems and Dell, and is a growing organisation in the national market.
Its founders are both 45-year-old systems engineers with more than 20 years of experience
developing IT projects. They began their professional careers in operational positions and decided to
form their own company during the growth stages of their careers. The company has an organic
structure that consists of the CEO, to whom three directors report: finance and administration,
operations and the innovation department. With six managers in the different areas, 10 supervisors and
10 project leaders hold the formal leadership positions within the company and the other staff members
are operational personnel.
About 60 per cent of the staff members are support personnel and infrastructure and software
engineers. Their educations range from high school to master’s degrees, and they are mostly men, aged
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21 to 45 years, with an average seniority within the company of three years. Thus, the turnover rates
are high, and they have difficulty attracting new talent to the organisation.
Middle management has been developed within the company. People were identified for their good
performance and given leadership roles without any prior training or soft skills. Because of the large
workforce with few formal leaders, the presence of informal leaders has been constant. This has been
useful in most cases because there are people who take responsibility and make decisions effectively.
4. Findings
The findings have helped uncover the nature and characteristics of informal leaders in an IS
organisation using the conceptual framework derived from the literature review and considering the
diverse interactions between leaders, followers, cultures, situations, characteristics and behaviours [19,
44, 59, 62]. The study revealed some new considerations for this conceptual framework, some of which
may also be applicable beyond the study’s specific socio-cultural context of Mexico and IS
organisations.
4.1. Nature of informal leadership
The evidence for the three types of leadership (i.e., opinion, social and technical) and the extent of
their influence proposed in the conceptual framework have been demonstrated in this study.
The findings indicated that opinion-type leaders exert informal leadership within the organisation.
For example, Participant 3 (business analyst with the company for 1 year) explained: ‘an informal leader
is a congruent person, that shared our values, that clearly understands our role within the company,
obviously with knowledge about our labour circumstances’. Participant 9 (software engineer with the
company for 10 years) says “must person who sees for the team, a person with character, who knows
how far to take responsibility, but also knows how to indicate when it is no longer part of our scope”.
Charisma was indicated as the main characteristic that social-type informal leaders possess, which
includes a friendly behaviour in daily dealings and a convening power for social events. For example,
Participant 4 (business analyst with the company for 1 year) explained: ‘regardless [of] whether [or not]
we have a project manager, we sometimes look for support from the informal leader because it can take
advantage of friendship with the end-user to a better understanding of requirements. Another,
participant 13 (senior deliver manager with the company for 10 years) added "it is very funny, if I sent
an invitation from my role as a formal leader an invitation to 20 people, 10 don’t, but if the informal
leader sends it, they go 20, 25, or 30, but they go".
Technical influence received the most observations during the survey, possibly because the company
has a technological profile, which demands experience and expertise in specialised technologies and
tools. For example, Participant 2 (software engineer with the company for 2 years) stated: ‘the informal
leader is someone on whom you do not depend directly but who for some special characteristic helps
you to do some specialised work or solve a technical problem, using its [sic] expertise and knowledge,
and his [sic] ability even to communicate with others’.
The participants indicated that the technical-type, informal leaders have more influence than formal
leaders when considering factors such as experience in a position and knowledge about practical
applications. The different leadership types have been classified according to situations where an
informal leader may exert their influence (see Table 3).
Table 3
Situations when different leadership types exert their influence
Situation Leadership type
A strong voice for representing staff when speaking to their superiors Opinion
Seeking advice to adopt new products or services Opinion
The superior is not present in the office when issues occur Opinion
Intermediary to communicate information at operational levels Social
Facilitating the resolution of personal conflicts Social
92
Organising social events Social
Attending to emergencies Technical
Implementing new projects because of knowledge and expertise Technical
Solving technical problems Technical
Resolving project delays Technical
Teams are too large for one leader to manage Technical
Workload is too much for the team Technical
4.2. Characteristics and behaviours
In relation to the characteristics (see Table 1) and behaviours (see Table 2) of informal leaders, three
new characteristics and four new behaviours have emerged from this case study.
The additional characteristics of informal leaders are congruence, creativity and resilience.
Regarding congruence, Participant 1 (systems engineer with the company for 2 years) explained: ‘the
informal leader would have to be someone that I can trust, that can represent my ideas, that is congruent
with what he [sic] says and how he [sic] behaves, that is honest and that gives you the certainty that
[they are] not going to betray [you]’. Creativity was also explained in the findings. For example,
Participant 7 (architect of solutions with the company for 2 years) explained: ‘the informal leader is
sometimes the one who guides the team, for example, in the programming area he [sic] is very creative,
because even though we have a specific problem, it looks for different ways to solve it, regardless of
whether [or not] it is in his area of responsibility’. Participant 7 also described resilience: ‘an informal
leader is a person who, in the face of failure, finds a way to change things, always being resilient in the
face of adversity, sometimes in our case, if there is work that the team has not finished, this leader stays
late or is the first to arrive in order to ensure that the work is completed in a timely manner’.
The new behaviours revealed in this study are ‘first to raise their hand to help’, ‘facilitator of
communication between users and technologists’, ‘quick response’ and ‘talks openly about project
risks’. The ‘first to raise their hand to help’ behaviour was associated with instances when a technical
problem arises that has previously occurred, and the informal leader (the person with the most
experience) is the first person to raise their hand and explain how the problem should be solved. The
study found that the ‘facilitator of communication between users and technologists’ behaviour occurs
when, for example, developers rely on informal leaders to communicate any doubts with the project
manager or end-user, taking advantage of their interpersonal skills to understand the requirement better
and ensure that the development meets the project’s expectations. The ‘quick response’ behaviour was
exemplified in the findings as relating to technical problems that generate emergencies. For example,
if a system has stopped and the situation requires an immediate solution, the informal leader, in the
absence of the formal leader, manages the adversity as soon as possible. Finally, the ‘talks openly about
project risks’ behaviour was explained in the findings. For example, informal leaders in work meetings
are not afraid to express their concerns regarding the risks of a project, highlighting to others that their
concerns are genuine and justified.
4.3. Informal leader definition for information system organisations
Based on the analysis of the characteristics and behaviours of informal leaders, Section 4.3 defines
informal leaders in IS organisations (considering the present study and prior studies). The word
frequency analysis using NVivo software revealed that the keywords of this definition are mainly
associated with participation; for instance, ‘confidence’, ‘supporting’, ‘motivate’, ‘following’, ‘hear’,
‘partner’, ‘propose’, ‘considered’ and ‘solving’. The participants also shared their insights from their
experiences. Participant 5 (software engineer with the company for 7 years) shared: ‘an informal leader
is one who does not necessarily have the official endorsement of the company, who does not have the
title in the role of the project as responsible or as the functional leader or as the technical leader;
however, it is one in which team mates can get support about technical questions’. Further, Participant
15 (software engineer with the company for 5 years) commented: ‘in work meetings, the informal leader
[is] not afraid to express their concerns or comments regarding the risks that exist in the project, pointing
93
out to others that their concern is genuine and that it makes sense with what they are doing regarding
the task to accomplish the planned work’.
Thus, this research defines an informal leader in an IS organisation as a self-confident person who
is willing to support and motivate the team, listens carefully to their colleagues’ circumstances, shows
consideration and partnership, often proposes improvements to solve problems and has interpersonal
skills and technical expertise.
5. Discussion and conclusion
The case study conducted in a Mexican IS organisation revealed the existence of informal leaders,
their level of influence in teams, the nature of their leadership and the extent of their influence
depending on the situations in their organisational environments. Further, the identifying characteristics
and behaviours of informal leaders were demonstrated as those outlined by the proposed framework
(see Figure 1).
This study has made several contributions. First, the research opens a new avenue of research into
an important area within IS organisations that has not been explored in the past with a specific focus on
informal leaders. The paper also illustrates the complex interactions between IS leadership and the
sociocultural context of Mexico, a developing country with organisational characteristics that can be
similar to other developing countries. Stincelli [19] explains these complex interactions as part of the
organisational leadership process that influence individuals to work together in order to achieve a
common goal, however, some of them have connotations of friendship, sharing same values and ideals.
The in-depth focus on informal leaders in IS organisations provided a rich insight into the ability of
informal leaders to facilitate communication between strategic and operational levels of a company,
resolve personal conflicts and integrate team members, which exhibits the nature of social-type leaders
[48]. Informal leaders were also found to provide encouragement, enhance motivation and illustrate the
leader’s vision, values and beliefs by using metaphors, analogies, stories, ceremonies, celebrations,
rituals and traditions, demonstrating the nature of opinion-type leaders [50]. The technical influence
was also prominent, with some informal leaders tackling emergencies in the absence of formal leaders.
Informal leaders often help define new projects derived from their own experiences and technical
knowledge, providing a distinct advantage. They can manage emergency situations to ensure deadlines
are met when the team is too large for the formal leader to manage adequately or when work has
overloaded the team due to a lack of expertise or technical knowledge [29].
Smart [29] posited that informal leaders have the desire to influence others rather than use authority,
coercion or threats. They utilise their abilities to communicate and work well with others, thereby
building strong relationships. However, this study showed that informal leaders do not necessarily have
a desire to influence others or have a position of power within organisations because it may limit their
field of action and generate greater responsibilities. This appears to be influenced by the sociocultural
context and traditions in Mexico, as outlined by Rodríguez and Ramírez [20]. Likewise, Gibson [65]
explains that contemporary organisations cannot depend on the leadership exercised from the authority-
control perspective that historically has been effective, and the respect for formal authority is declining,
moreover, the level of influence that an informal leader has presented in this study depends on the
situation and circumstance that occurs within the labour scope.
Three characteristics emerged in this study that have not been documented in previous informal
leadership studies, including congruence, creativity and resilience. Future studies could examine the
existence of these characteristics within other contexts and cases.
Further, four new behaviours of informal leaders were identified, including ‘first to raise their hand
to help’, ‘facilitator of communication between users and technologists’, ‘quick response’ and ‘talks
openly about project risks’, which are also influenced by local organisational cultures. ‘First to raise
their hand to help’ is a behaviour associated with the ‘willingness’ [19, 35, 36] characteristic of informal
leaders; however, it was not considered within the 98 variables that Pielstick [17] or subsequent studies
discussed. The ‘facilitator of communication between users and technologists’ behaviour could be
directly associated with the ‘relationships’ theme of informal leaders—more specifically, with the
‘collaborates with others’ variable. However, according to Pielstick [17], it is important to consider that
an aspect of technical expertise is presented in the profile of informal leaders in IS organisations. The
94
‘quick response’ behaviour is particularly linked to ‘willingness’ or ‘knowledge sharing/willingness’
[19, 35, 36]. This behaviour is exhibited in the response time and accountability that distinguishes
informal leaders [16] in IS organisations. The ‘talks openly about project risks’ behaviour is related to
the ‘honesty’ [14, 17] characteristic. However, in this study, this behaviour was identified particularly
in relation to informal leaders who are vocal about a project’s risks in the IS field. These findings
confirm the merits of this conceptual framework, particularly its ability to help management teams
identify informal leaders.
Previous studies revealed the importance of an informal leader in the organisation, explaining how
the interactions between leader-and-followers contribute to solving organisational issues [19]. This
study would allow organisations and management to identify key people and develop them towards
formal leadership roles to best benefit from their behaviours and skills. People who demonstrate
behaviours such as knowledge sharing, group cohesion, managing diversity, motivating others,
intellectual stimulation and social identity exhibits informal leadership.
This study also has implications regarding strategies for implementing better personnel management
practices, such as forming and developing formal leaders, improving the work environment and people
mobility decisions. CEOs can use the tool for the precise identification of informal leaders to make
strategic decisions and monitor their performance and engagement levels. People that are committed to
the company consistently promote values and help make the culture and organisational environment
enjoyable [29].
The study was limited because it was based on a single case study, which was a medium-sized IS
organisation in a developing country and represented a specific socio-cultural environment.
Consequently, the findings cannot be generalised. However, the results could be similar in further
studies with the comparable sociocultural context and organisational culture.
Nonetheless, this research can lead to future investigations about the levels of influence between
formal and informal leadership and the effects of that influence within an organisation using other
methods, such as sociometric methods [63, 64]. Subsequent research could quantitatively determine the
support that an informal leader could obtain from their followers according to the nature of their
leadership (i.e., opinion, social or technical). Another investigation could determine the influence of a
team’s gender composition, with gender being a representative variable in the dynamics of informal or
emerging leadership in teams.
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Appendix A
List of interview participants
# Date Length of Time
Participant’s Data
(min)
1 July 2020 20:03 Position: Systems Engineer, Department: IT Internal Services,
(pilot) Gender: Female, Years in the Company: 2, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 28
2 July 2020 35:10 Position: Software Engineer, Department: Professional Services,
(pilot) Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 2, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 35
3 August 54:59 Position: Business Analyst, Department: Professional Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 1, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 34
4 August 28:50 Position: Systems Engineer, Department: IT Internal Services,
2020 Gender: Female, Years in the Company: 7, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 36
5 August 41:34 Position: Software Engineer, Department: Professional Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 7, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 37
6 August 33:38 Position: Architect of Solutions, Department: IT Internal Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 6, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 36
7 September 44:19 Position: Architect of Solutions, Department: Professional Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 2, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 40
8 September 32:47 Position: IT Manager, Department: IT Internal Services, Gender:
2020 Male, Years in the Company: 5, Education: Bachelor’s degree, Age:
37
9 September 36:52 Position: Software Engineer, Department: Professional Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 10, Education: High School,
Age: 36
10 September 36:17 Position: Technical Support Manager, Department: IT Internal
2020 Services, Gender: Female, Years in the Company: 14, Education:
Bachelor’s degree, Age: 36
11 October 33:55 Position: Project Manager, Department: Professional Services,
2020 Gender: Female, Years in the Company: 1.3, Education: Master’s
degree, Age: 36
12 October 35:16 Position: Software Engineer, Department: IT Internal Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 2, Education: Master’s
degree, Age: 37
13 October 39:26 Position: Senior Delivery Manager, Department: Professional
2020 Services, Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 10, Education:
Bachelor’s degree, Age: 36
14 October 30:42 Position: Security Coordinator, Department: Cyber Security,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 3, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 41
15 October 48:06 Position: Software Engineer, Department: Professional Services,
2020 Gender: Male, Years in the Company: 5, Education: Bachelor’s
degree, Age: 30
99