Abstract

Past literature (Ignatieva et al., 2020) argues that leadership is one of the main factors in organizational success. Nevertheless, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) adoption requires a good organizational leader. We argue that Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) leaders need to go further than only manage the day-to-day operations by adding a strategic plan, managing change, and personnel empowerment. Therefore, a good leader must combine qualities/competencies such as communication, strategic vision, adaptability, emotional intelligence, effective communication, among others. These qualities/competencies would allow leaders to overcome challenges that their organizations must face. Vos (2002) identify factors that any organizational leader must have. Such factors are: Strategic Vision leaders’ ability to identify ICTS opportunities and to communicate a clear vision of the organization's future. Adaptability represents the leaders’ ability to adapt to technological challenges and lead the corresponding implementation. Competence and Emotional Intelligence, represents the leaders’ knowledge and skills, as well as their ability to manage their own and others' emotions. Effective Communication represents the leaders’ ability to communicate the ICTs’ benefits clearly and persuasively. Empathy. leaders’ ability to treat people with respect and support them in technological environments. Virtual Management represents the leaders’ ability to motivate and manage virtual teams in technological adoption. Facilitating Conditions, leaders’ capabilities for identifying the knowledge, training and support available that facilitate technological adoption. Therefore, we propose using these factors as determinants of the adoption of ICTs in Mexican SMEs. ICTs adoption has been studied using different approaches. Venkatesh et al. (2003) identified the following factors: Perceive Usefulness represents any individuals' perception of the ICTS’ usefulness for themselves and the organization. Perceived Ease of Use, individuals' perception of the ease of use of the technology. Perceived Influence, influence that others perceptions’ have on adoption decisions. Perceived Control: Individuals' perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the adoption behavior. Experience prior experience of individuals in using ICTs. Facilitating Conditions: knowledge, training and support available to facilitate the organization for adoption. The present research proposes to understand the effect that leadership might have in the adoption of ICTs in Mexican SMEs. We believe that an effective leader using a strategic plan and ideal communication skills will positively impact the adoption of ICTs in Mexican SMEs.

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