Development of Virtual Transformational Leadership Scale for Leaders in E-Commerce Businesses

Abstract

Leaders in e-commerce businesses face significant complexity and uncertainty in virtual work environments. However, research on the measurement of leadership development in a virtual work environment for leaders in e-commerce businesses in Thailand is limited. Thus, the main purposes of this study were to examine the dimensions and to develop the scale of virtual transformational leadership for leaders in e-commerce businesses and test its psychometric properties. A multi-methods design was implemented to examine the dimensions and develop the virtual transformational leadership scale for leaders in e-commerce businesses. Firstly, the integration of virtual leadership and transformational leadership behaviors and interviewed with five e-commerce experts were conducted to synthesize the virtual transformational leadership dimensions for leaders in e-commerce businesses. The final 33-item scale of virtual transformational leadership for leaders in e-commerce businesses was generated and distributed as a second result. Data was collected using an online questionnaire, and the instruments used were Likert-type scales. The participants were 600 leaders in e-commerce businesses in Bangkok. The goodness-of-fit indices showed that the virtual transformational leadership model was consistent with the empirical data (Chi-square = 2314.71, df = 585, p-value = .00, RMSEA = .07, SRMR = .04, NFI = .97) with a Cronbach’s alpha score of .96. This study contributes to behavioral science research by developing a virtual transformational leadership scale that measures virtual transformational leadership behaviors for leaders in e-commerce businesses in the Thai context.