Author
Listed:
- Vita Juknevičienė
(Institute of Regional Development, Šiauliai Academy, Vilnius University, 76351 Šiauliai, Lithuania)
- Nora Leach
(School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, Law and Social Sciences Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1UJ, UK)
- Rita Toleikienė
(Institute of Regional Development, Šiauliai Academy, Vilnius University, 76351 Šiauliai, Lithuania)
- Sigitas Balčiūnas
(Institute of Regional Development, Šiauliai Academy, Vilnius University, 76351 Šiauliai, Lithuania)
- Gotautė Razumė
(Institute of Regional Development, Šiauliai Academy, Vilnius University, 76351 Šiauliai, Lithuania)
- Irma Rybnikova
(Department Lippstadt 2, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, 59063 Hamm, Germany)
- Inese Āboliņa
(Department of Management Sciences, University of Latvia, 1050 Riga, Latvia)
Abstract
E-leadership has become particularly prominent in the public sector over the last five years. The urgent shift requires more remote work and management via information and communication technologies. In recognition of its ever-growing popularity, the objective of this article is to provide a systematic review of the existing literature on e-leadership within public sector organisations and identify key research approaches and outcomes. The analysis provides a framework of research on e-leadership in public sector entities, by focusing on various theoretical, methodological, empirical and contextual perspectives, specifically tailored to public sector organisations. The detailed framework, presented here, incorporates dimensions, approaches, clusters and findings of previous research (articles, published in the period 2013–2022), aiding a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and its practical implementation. The study complies with PRISMA 2020 requirements. As it shall be demonstrated, interest in the phenomenon surged during the pandemic, particularly within educational and management disciplines. The findings highlight a predominant focus on leadership within educational institutions, whilst areas such as healthcare and public governance remain under-researched. The most common theoretical approach adopted is associated with the transformational leadership theory and encompasses three main interpretations. Specifically, it evaluates e-leadership as a strategic approach, a leadership process and a leadership transformation. Qualitative methodology predominates in e-leadership research within the public sector, with quantitative and mixed-method approaches being less frequent. Addressing the challenges identified by previous research, such as competency and infrastructure deficiencies, is crucial for advancing knowledge of e-leadership in the public sector and improving sustainable performance.
Suggested Citation
Vita Juknevičienė & Nora Leach & Rita Toleikienė & Sigitas Balčiūnas & Gotautė Razumė & Irma Rybnikova & Inese Āboliņa, 2025.
"E-Leadership Within Public Sector Organisations: A Systematic Literature Review,"
Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-32, May.
Handle:
RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4474-:d:1655758
Download full text from publisher
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4474-:d:1655758. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.