A Grounded Theory Study on E-Leadership in the U.S. Army
Department of Doctoral Studies, Colorado Technical University
How they used Delve
A Doctor of Management candidate at Colorado Technical University used Delve to code Zoom transcripts of semi-structured interviews with 11 former U.S. Army leaders who had led or been led remotely, in a grounded theory study of how the Army Leadership Development Strategy could incorporate e-leadership. Open coding in Delve broke the transcripts into excerpts and codes, axial coding grouped them into categories, and the cycle was repeated to theoretical saturation.
“I purchased and utilized a relatively new computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDA) software product from Delve to assist with the massive amount of collected data. Delve saved me valuable time and assisted in my ability to evaluate the Zoom audio and visual data files by transcribing the audio files and allowing me to add notes regarding the nonverbal data attained from the visual files.”
- Field
- leadership development; military organizations
- Data
- 11 semi-structured Zoom interviews (about 45 minutes each) with former U.S. Army leaders who had virtual or remote leadership experience
- Approach
- Grounded theory design within an exploratory qualitative approach: theoretical sampling, open coding of excerpts into codes, axial coding into categories, iterated to theoretical saturation; cites Delve's grounded theory guide (Ho & Limpaecher, 2022)
- Data types
- Interviews
Abstract
While the transformational effects of the digital age are well documented, less attention focuses on the fundamental change digitalization exacts on leadership development and how this new organizational form influences U.S. Army leadership development. Despite a legacy of developing leaders, the emergence of the e(electronic)-environment and the reliance on virtual teams challenge the Army Leadership Development Strategy (ALDS) because it remains dominated by traditional face-to-face leadership theories. In this grounded theory study, 11 former Army leaders (with virtual or remote leadership experience) participate in semistructured interviews to address multiple aspects of two research questions regarding the challenges Army leaders observe while practicing leadership in a digital environment and how the Army can adapt the ALDS to include e-leadership? All interviews were via Zoom teleconferences which provided transcriptions uploaded into Delvetool.com computer-aided software; this process assisted in organizing data and identifying emergent themes. Insights gained help to detail the challenges Army leaders perceive while leading through advanced communications technology (ACTs) and make recommendations on how the Army can augment the ALDS to incorporate salient tenets of e-leadership. Although Army-specific, these findings may also apply to the other armed services and other contemporary organizations transitioning to the e-environment because of geographical separation, financial constraints or COVID-19 global pandemic restrictions.
Citation
Steven A. Baker (2023). A Grounded Theory Study on E-Leadership in the U.S. Army. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (Colorado Technical University).