<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure and compare the leadership styles of information technology (IT) professionals across levels of leadership responsibility and minority/non-minority status. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Short Form (MLQ 5X-Short) was used to obtain measurements for each individual for the dependent variables. The MLQ 5X-Short measures nine facets of leadership styles that can be assigned to three higher order factors, namely, the transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles. The sample was recruited via informal professional networks across the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2008) job classifications and included IT professionals from different sized organizations in a mix of industries across the United States. The convenience sampling technique helped identify professionals in leadership and non-leadership positions across the IT industry. In the study, a non-experimental factorial design was used to compare leadership style across levels of leadership responsibility and minority/non-minority status. The study findings indicated no significant differences exist between the leadership styles of minority and non-minority groups at the different organizational responsibility levels. A finding based on the analysis showed that for the transformational leadership style, significant differences exist between professionals at the executive level and professionals at a middle management level for all races. For the transactional leadership style, specifically the contingent reward category, significant differences exist between professionals at the middle management level and non-managers for all races. Organizational leaders could use the discoveries from this study as a point of reference to guide diverse workforce employees. Findings could also help minorities reach their career potentials in advancing to executive positions in the IT industry through understanding the most desirable leadership styles for upward mobility.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3574899 |
| Date | 21 November 2013 |
| Creators | Taha, Nagwa |
| Publisher | University of Phoenix |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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