Well, that escalated quickly... : Exploring how leaders have managed the rapid change of leading a group of people in a physical environment into a digital environment due to Covid-19.

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Well, that escalated quickly…

Exploring how leaders have managed the rapid change of leading a group of people in a physical environment into a digital environment due to Covid-19.

BACHELOR DEGREE PROJECT THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ECTS

PROGRAMME OF STUDY: International Management & Civilekonom AUTHORS: Johanna Fellbrant, Emma Fridén & Clara Ohlsson

Tutor: Michal Zawadzki JÖNKÖPING May 2021

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Acknowledgment

We wish to express and acknowledge our deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported the thesis and its development. Without their contribution, the study would not have been achievable.

Firstly, we wish to thank our tutor Michal Zawadzki for always supervising our thesis with both a critical eye and helpful insights through every stage of the process. His experience and broad knowledge within the field have provided us with valuable feedback during this Spring.

Secondly, we are sincerely grateful for the respondents in this study. Their experiences and time spent have made it possible to develop an analysis regarding the topic, and gain rich knowledge and insights.

Lastly, we wish to thank Anders Melander for supporting us with the key guidelines and expectations regarding the thesis.

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Summary

Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Well, that escalated quickly.. Exploring how leaders have managed the rapid change of leading a group of people in a physical environment into a digital environment due to Covid-19

Authors: Johanna Fellbrant, Emma Fridén & Clara Ohlsson - Group 48 Tutor: Michal Zawadzki

Date: 2021-05-24

Key terms: Covid-19; Leadership; Change management; Digitalization

Abstract

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has not only affected people's health seriously around

the world, but it has also forced people to change the way they live their lives abruptly. The pandemic has had a significant impact on how people communicate and interact, and changed our normal working routines to a digital setting.

Problem: Leadership is more important than ever during a time of crisis, hence, this

phenomenon must be investigated further. The pandemic has created new changing realities for organizations and individuals. Considering constant changes in the world, one can argue that leadership also changes with time and thus indicates the need for updated research on the subject. Therefore, leadership is an important subject to investigate constantly despite its complexity.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of leaders' and employees'

experiences of leadership within a time of crisis that has created new, digital, working conditions for organizations. This thesis will also contribute to the psychological philosophy of change management theory with new valuable insights.

Method: A qualitative research design with 12 semi-structured interviews has been used to

conduct the research.

Results: Leaders need to focus on the social and human parts in a digital working

environment to keep the team together. Moreover, is a future combination of working from home and in the office preferred by respondents. Hence, one can conclude that offering

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in this research is that employees explain increased coaching from their leaders that has enabled a more independent way of working. Moreover, the theory approaches training as an important aspect of change. The results indicate how people have been able to manage the change towards a digital environment without the help of training from their leaders or employers. Instead, people have become more willing to help each other and share their knowledge. This highlights the importance of keeping the team together when experiencing change, rather than focusing on training separate individuals.

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1. Introduction

This section states the background and research problem within the field of study. Further, the research purpose and the research questions will be explained so the reader will get an understanding of the choice of the research field of this research.

1.1 Background

The current Covid-19 pandemic has not only affected the world with serious health concerns but has also caused an unpredicted economic and social crisis (Bartsch et al., 2020). This has contributed to people being forced to change the way they live their lives abruptly as well as exposed limitations and weaknesses of societies around the world (Grint, 2020).

The Covid-19 outbreak and the pressured economic situation it has brought, have certainly challenged leaders in organizations all around the world to understand, evaluate and deal with new changes both in the external and internal environments (Iqbal, 2021). Additionally, the pandemic has shown a significant effect on leadership and certainly tested existing leadership theories and practices (Grint, 2020; Jacquart et al, 2020; Tourish, 2020). Moreover, the pandemic has had a significant impact on how people communicate and interact since they have been forced to shift their communication to an online setting (Bailey and Breslin, 2021). Hence, Covid-19 has put pressure on business leaders to quickly adapt to work from home (Iqbal, 2021). For a company to be able to succeed with a digital transformation, the vital part is the skills of the people in charge of the change (Zeike et al., 2019; Klein, 2020). Thus, a leader who wants to succeed with leading in a changing digital environment needs to be open to adjust the way they are leading.

The pandemic has put a great deal of pressure on today's leaders as they are required to undertake actions for the well-being of the business as well as their employees (Iqbal, 2021). On top of that, the weaknesses and strengths of leaders and individuals are easily exposed due to stress and other factors a pandemic brings (Wilson, 2020). One can wonder if the world will ever be the same again when the pandemic decides to stabilize (Grint, 2020). Considering this thought, is it highly important that a leader adjusts to the changing

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during these difficult times. It is also essential to redesign and adjust the organization's strategies and decision-making processes, to be prepared for a society that might be considered as the “new normal” (Iqbal, 2021).

1.2 Problem Discussion

The psychological philosophy of change management describes change as powerful, but also complex. People are used to doing certain tasks in a particular way that provides them with proficiency and comfortability. When change occurs and these tasks or priorities change, it is common that people start questioning whether they will manage to perform well under these new circumstances (Smith and Sutherland, 2011). Working from home is associated with a digital working environment since it requires several digital tools to enable an individual to do their job from home. Thus, leaders need to adapt to change and adjust their leadership to lead their team successfully in a digital environment (Kane et al., 2019). Moreover, a leader's characteristics are a critical factor that affects the level of success of digitalization (Sainger, 2018; Porfirio et al., 2021).

Nonetheless, leadership is a hard-defined term with significant complexity. However, the most simplified interpretation of this phenomenon is that a leader is a person responsible for employees, although some might disagree (Grint, 2020). The theory of change management describes how organizational change is said to occur as a response to the environment. It is further stated that a leader's handling of change will be based on assumptions about the change process, which in turn is based on experiences and how things have been handled before (Smith and Sutherland, 2011). Important to point out is that Covid-19 struck the world with force, and shocked the whole world, including organizations and their leaders (Rarney, 2016; referred in Jacquart et al., 2020). One can therefore imagine that a majority of today’s leaders lacked previous experiences of similar situations from before. Thinking that one can anticipate, plan and smoothly handle change is an outdated mindset (Beerel 2009). Considering constant changes in the world, one can argue that leadership also changes with time and thus indicates the need for updated research on the subject. Hence, is leadership an important subject to constantly investigate, despite its complexity.

Several companies had already started the process of moving more towards a digital environment before the pandemic, where people could choose to work from home when

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needed. Nevertheless, the pandemic added significant speed into this process and made the voluntary working from home environment mandatory for many organizations (Kniffin et al., 2021). Covid-19 and its effects have led to organizations facing challenges they have not met for many decades (Bailey and Breslin, 2021). No one can know whether the world will ever be the same again or not, thus it is important that leaders adapt to this changing environment (Iqbal, 2021). One can therefore see leadership in this change towards a digital setting as highly accurate phenomena to further investigate.

1.3 Research Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of leaders' and employees' experiences of leadership within a time of change that has created new digital working conditions for organizations. This research aims on investigating seven Swedish organizations through interviews with people holding leadership positions and their employees. The authors seek to explore how and why leadership has been affected due to the current change, and whether leaders' perspective of this corresponds to employees'.Hence, this research will be done with an exploratory purpose and both fill a gap of knowledge and contribute to the already existing academic literature.

The findings of this research are expected to contribute to the theory of change management with valuable insights regarding how individuals respond to change in a digital environment. Thus, the unexplored digital aspect of the psychological philosophy of change management will be investigated with a focus on leadership. Additionally, this research might provide current and future leaders with valuable information regarding leadership in a digital environment.

1.4 Research Question

RQ1: How did employees and leaders experience leadership during the change towards a digital working environment?

1.5 Delimitation

In order to narrow down the scope of this study, delemitations have been made. The research was delimited to Swedish respondents since the interviews consisted of only Swedes.

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had experience from working both physically and digitally. Lastly, the study was delimited to individual experiences and did not take other aspects into consideration.

1.6 Definitions

To help the reader better understand the research, a list of definitions with useful words has been constructed.

COVID-19 = An infectious disease that has caused a pandemic all over the world with over 165 million cases counting May 2021 (WHO, 2021).

Employees = In this research employees refer to those having a leader to report to.

Leader = In this research a leader refers to someone providing guidance to employees.

Digitalization = Without changing the process itself, one creates the shift from analog to a digital form. Thus, lowering the costs while increasing efficiency and productivity (Bloomberg, 2018).

Change management = New realities are the reasons for change and will continue to occur whether we like it or not. For organizations to remain relevant, they must read and respond to these new realities and the changes they bring (Beerel, 2009).

Physiological change management = A Change management theory philosophy that

encourages us to think more about individual experiences regarding organizational change (Hughes, 2018).

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2. Frame of References

This chapter starts with a section explaining the Method of Gathering the Literature and continues with Frame of Reference. Further, previous research regarding the theory of change management, leadership in general, digital leadership, and how the covid-19 pandemic has affected leadership is explained. A brief explanation of the working environment in an organization before and after the Covid-19 pandemic has finally contributed to a research gap that is identified and will be investigated further by the authors.

2.1 Method of Gathering the Literature

A systematic approach is used when searching and gathering the literature of the research. Peer-reviewed journals from the ABS list have been used where the authors have studied the impact factor of the journals closely to maintain critical and trustworthy sources. Once reviewing the journals, two main subtopics were identified which were digital leadership and leadership in times of crisis that later led to a deeper investigation of change management theory. These areas of interest were identified and further discussed in the frame of reference. The most relevant peer-reviewed journals were analyzed to find a gap in the theory for future investigation.

During the research for relevant articles, the authors agreed on not using any sources from earlier than the year 2008. The authors mainly used articles from recent years (2020-2021), specifically about the pandemic since it is a relatively new academic field. However, regarding leadership and change management theory the authors prioritized commonly cited articles to remain high trustworthiness. A chart within each subtopic was created to have a good structure of what the journal's main point was, from what year it was, what future research was suggested, and what the author's personal opinion was (Appendix A). Comments for the used keywords were also added, to help in the search for relevant journals. Some of the most frequently used keywords were “digital leadership skills” and “leadership skills covid-19” “Covid-19” “Leadership”. When searching for “digital leadership” the authors received 855 000 hits and once adding “skills”, it resulted in 485 000 hits instead. In a more detailed search in the Journal of Business Research Leadership the authors received 1

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authors to easily get an overview of what journals had been collected and what sources should be used and focused on during the frame of reference. The journals have been found and structured through databases such as Google Scholar, Jönköping’s online library Primo, Diva, Business Source Premier, and Scopus.

2.2 Organizational Change Management Theory

Huges (2018) explains that there is an inherent uncertainty of organizational change as a label since it can be viewed as a change that affects all organizational life. Although, this might not be the case since it might only change a part of the organization, therefore the name could get misinterpreted. Furthermore, Beerel (2009) states that new realities are the reasons for change and will continue to occur whether we like it or not. For organizations to remain relevant, they must read and respond to these new realities and the changes they bring. The virtual evolution of the world has increased the arrival of new realities and hence the need for change. Organizational change occurs as a reaction to the environment. The way a leader handles or approaches change is mainly based on existing assumptions regarding the change process. These assumptions can be based on previous experiences and concepts of how things have been done (Smith and Sutherland, 2011). Beerel (2009) further explains that this can lead to one sometimes feeling overwhelmed by all the new realities that are necessary to embrace. Moreover, there is an outdated mindset regarding change, implying that change is a series of events that one can anticipate, plan and smoothly handle. However, one needs to instead create new mindsets that admit and embrace that the perceptual changes are the reality. New realities are incessantly arriving, leading to the appearance of change when one least expects it.

Time is a crucial and integrated part of organizational change, however, it has been covered surprisingly vaguely in the academic literature. Moreover, there is a tendency that one views organizational change as an event or outcome from a particular practice or policy. To get an understanding of how organizational change takes place, one needs to understand why it occurred in the first place. To clarify, there is not one way to best lead and manage organizational change, or only one way to best conduct a study of organizational change (Hughes, 2018).

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There are several different philosophies related to organizational change and are explained as sets of assumptions, implementation approaches, tacit beliefs or conscious theories. These frameworks govern the point of view in an organizational setting and these philosophies are the most suitable as an approach to change. When studying organizational change, the philosophies aim to serve researchers with a tool kit and therefore provide a lot of value to the researchers (Smith and Sutherland, 2011).

Organizational change, leading change, or managing change are not academic disciplines. However, psychology, sociology, and economics are and can be used to inform organizational change. Academic disciplines make it possible to have different thinking approaches to organizational change. An example of this is the psychology discipline, which encourages us to think more about individual experiences regarding the organizational change. Another academic discipline is sociology, which inspires us to understand how society changes or shapes. Moreover, it is very hard to study the field of organizational change without recognizing the discipline and also its subfields (Hughes, 2018).

2.2.1 Psychological Philosophy of Change Management

There are different kinds of philosophies within change management, nevertheless, do they often exclude the important aspect of how individuals answer to change. The psychological philosophy looks at changes as powerful and complex. This means that people are used to performing a certain task in a particular way, which gives them the feeling of comfortability and proficiency. When these tasks or priorities change, people question if they will be able to master the change and fear that they will not perform as well as before. This can also lead to a concern for work overload and termination (Smith and Sutherland, 2011).

A common assumption in psychological philosophy is that resistance is the first response towards change for an individual (Smith and Sutherland, 2011; Hughes, 2018). Change triggers feelings such as uncertainty and anxiety, additionally, the individual might sometimes question the need for change. Furthermore, it is stated that when one fears or expects a loss, it is more common to resist change. Change can also provide other issues such as less meaningfulness, opportunities, and a sense of losing control. According to the psychological philosophy are empowerment, education, participation, negotiation, and facilitation common

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people that resist change rather than organizations. Therefore, members of an organization must be provided with guidance through the change process (Smith and Sutherland, 2011). Moreover, Huges (2018), highlights the importance of the approach since it emphasizes individuals that might have experienced a negative or positive organizational change.

2.2.2 Psychological Philosophy of Change Management - Human Response

As there exists resistance to change, there is also acceptance to change. This acceptance is highly associated with collaboration, teamwork, workplace communication, training, and development. Mentoring and coaching is another common approach in psychological philosophy which refers to guidance, feedback, and training regarding certain tasks and performance (Smith and Sutherland, 2011).

Psychological philosophy and organizational development look at the human side of the occurring change and their responses. Organizational development is influenced by the humanistic background and sees the employees as a major resource for productivity, development, and learning. Nevertheless, for the employees to reach their full potential they need to be in environments that promote creativity, flexibility concerning change, and self-determination encouragement. Furthermore, flexibility offers members in the organization to approach new experiences that create challenges that lead to personal growth. Therefore, the change manager needs to integrate strategic objectives that follow the employees’ development needs (Smith and Sutherland, 2011).

2.2.3 Psychological Philosophy of Change Management - Empowerment

Empowerment enlarges commitment to change. Hence, it is highly important when managing acceptance to change according to psychological philosophy. Change psychologists argue that empowerment aims to help the members of the organization to feel good about their work, contribute to society and to foster a community. Genuine empowerment is about seeing that the team members possess boundless quantities of knowledge and motivation. Also, empowerment in the psychological philosophy is about assuming that employees already have power, rather than seeing it as power is given away. The psychological philosophy manages to gently sidestep the formal, inflexible structures that are said to increase the resistance to change. Cooperative goal setting and open communication with commitment and involvement are more important than structural delegation of power. Other important strategies of empowerment are positive encouragement that offset anxiety and stress,

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organizational learning, role modeling, and persuading people of their worth and capabilities. It is believed that genuine empowerment appears regardless of the structural delegation of power (Smith and Sutherland, 2011).

2.3 Leadership

2.3.1 General Leadership

Grint (2010) states that leadership is hard to define since the definition can differ depending on organizations and values. The most simplified interpretation of leadership is that a leader is a person responsible for employees, although some might disagree on this definition due to its complexity. Day (2012) agrees that it is a complex topic and also mentions that leadership is the most examined phenomenon in social science. Furthermore, Grint (2010) adds to the discussion that there is a fourfold typology that embraces a significant proportion of their definitions of leadership. To start, some might state that leadership is a process that is related to the different styles leaders adopt in a situation. On the other hand, others might state that leadership is related to the leader as a person. Additionally, there is the positional approach, meaning that some might explain leadership by only considering those with authority to make decisions. On top of that, the results approach tends to see leadership as a community or group that works to reach a purpose.

Crevani et al., (2010) contribute by stating that leadership often is assumed to be related to significant, positive, and special contributions to the organizational processes. The central role in leadership is that it is associated with communicating future visions and goals to the members in the organization to keep them motivated. Kane et al., (2019) agree that traditional leadership characteristics are associated with providing a clear direction and vision for the employees. Additionally, Anderson et al. (2017) and Klein (2020) both contribute that self-awareness, openness, and honesty towards their employees are important characteristics for leaders. An interesting observation by Anderson et al. (2017) is that leadership theories need to change as the environment and the workforce is changing. Harms et al. (2017) argue that a leaders' true character might shine through during a stressful situation and how their behavior could reflect on a major stress level for the employees. Moreover, leadership and stress are highly correlated and a good leader is someone who has the ability to manage stress well. Several researchers have stated that leadership styles are highly affected by the leader's

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behavior, this behavior also has a strong effect on the way employees are being influenced (Anderson et. al., 2017; Harms et al., 2017; Zbihlejová et al., 2018).

2.3.2 Critical Perspective regarding Leadership

The term leader and leadership are often routinely stated according to Learmonth and Morell (2019) that critically approaches leadership in their research. Furthermore, the authors explain that the leadership language has been established by the elites of management. An interesting observation is that being called a leader is flattering, since a leader is someone who is in front of something or someone. The authors continue to state that we are moving away from the terms leader and follower, where the follower is explained as an unnatural term. Moreover, the critical approach to leadership has found that leadership generally gets associated with power asymmetries, and is viewed as surrendering to someone else or the leader.

Learmonth and Morell (2019), argue that leadership is a problematic term and highlights that a manager and a leader are very different. It is common that a leader is associated with the term “boss”. The researchers continue to examine the debate between leaders and managers and claim that anyone can be a leader and does not necessarily need to be in the corporate sector. Moreover, the term leader is considered flattering compared to manager or boss, and it has shown to have significant effects. Being called a leader feels good and people might want to think of themselves in such a way. However, the effects would have been different if terms such as CEO, executive, or manager would be used in the same situation. Learmonth and Morell explain how being called manager sounds more like a bureaucrat term compared to a leader. Traditionally, managers and leaders make similar decisions and in that way, the term leader is problematized. Learmonth and Morell´s aim is to explain how people should stop calling their bosses for leaders by routine, since the term leader has become associated with elite connotations. When people refer to bosses as leaders, they are undermining the interest of workers and rather favoring the boss´s interests. Additionally, by avoiding thinking or speaking to people with senior positions as leaders, it is less likely that this corporate power invades our social world.

2.3.3 New Leadership Approaches

Yammarino et al. (2012) and Crevani et al. (2010) criticize the traditional leadership approach and explain that traditional leadership has a primary individual focus and is often limited to

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leader-to-follower interactions. Yammarion et al. further suggest that new approaches to leadership need to be developed that do not focus on the hierarchical leader but instead on collective theories, such as team leadership or shared leadership. Team leadership is explained as identifying team effectiveness and does not take into consideration whether or not it is done by multiple or one member. Crevani et al. (2010) additionally state that the new ideal of leadership has a more humane focus and should replace the traditional leadership focus of heroic masculinity. The authors continue by suggesting a perspective of interactions within leadership that is more concerned with the possibilities, implications, and needs compared to the more traditional viewpoint of actions and competencies of individual managers. Schaufeli (2008) also argues how traditional organization structures do usually rely on control by the management, cost reductions, efficiency, and economic principles. In contrast, is modern management more focused on human capital management, and organizations understand the importance of having engaged workers.

Yammarino et al., (2012) explain that shared leadership in an organization concerns all team members, and the most important aspect of shared leadership is team empowerment. In this leadership approach, there is a shift in the distribution of power, and decisions are often made in the lower level of management. Therefore, time efficiency is highly associated with shared leadership since decisions are not made at a hierarchical level, thus decisions don't need to go through different levels of authority. Moreover, shared leadership focuses on having the right team member in the right position. Hence, this enables the organization to get the right expertise and skills in the correct place within the company. Hoch and Kozloqski (2014) contribute to the discussion by stating that shared leadership can be suitable for organizations who are working virtually, since leading a virtual team might require more resources and time compared to leading face-to-face. Additionally, shared leadership may contribute to higher team performance when leading in a virtual setting regardless of the amount of virtuality. Hoch and Kozloqski found that it is harder to be a hierarchical leader in virtual teams since when teams are working virtually their leaders’ behavior becomes softened or mitigated due to the distance, cultural difference, and electronic media.

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2.4 Digitalization and Organizational Change

2.4.1 Digitalization of Organizations

We are currently living in a time where digitalization is a well-discussed topic, especially when it comes to the business environment (Klein, 2020). Moreover, Sainger (2018) states that the digitalization of an organization leads to a possibility for leaders to discover new market segments, increase profit margins and grow faster. Managing digital transformation is a huge challenge for many organizations today and to succeed the skills of the acting people are very important (Zeike et al., 2019; Klein, 2020). Hensellek (2020) agrees and states that the increasing digitalization of the world creates new demands on business leaders. Porfírio et al., (2021) adds to the discussion that it is the management's rather than the firm's characteristics that are more vital when it comes to digitalization of a company. Sainger, (2018) agrees by saying that it is the leader of the organization who fosters the culture of change and thus, leads the organization towards digitally reform its business. Sainger further states that even though digitalization has changed how an organization operates, it has never transformed the organization by itself. It is the leader of the organization's vision and decision-making ability that helps the organization achieve and succeed with the digitization process.

2.4.2 Digital Leadership

Kane et al., (2019) highlight that it is highly vital to keep in mind that the transformation to digital leadership changes some things, but not everything. One of the largest pitfalls that need to be avoided is being ignorant of the primary skills that leadership requires in digital change. Additionally, Klein (2020) explains that there is an expectation on the so-called “digital leaders” to be able to act flexibly and rapidly. A good digital leader is someone who stays abreast of digital trends, implicates the trends, and knows how to use the new technologies. However, the leader does not necessarily need to understand exactly how the technologies work. It is far more crucial that they understand why it is important for the organization and how it can be used in the best way possible (Sainger, 2018). Kane et al., (2019) agree that it is important that digital leaders have an understanding of the technology. Furthermore, Zeike et al. (2019) argue that there is a relationship between managers' well-being and their digital skills. Lower digital skills tend to reduce the well-being of the managers, which might affect stress levels.

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2.4.3 Characteristics of a Digital Leader

Kane et al., (2019) argue that some core leadership skills remain the same regardless of whether the leader acts in a digital environment or not, such as leading with clear directions. However, the digital way of leading requires some additional, new skills from the leader. Sainger (2018) explains how the leader acts as a role model that has a digital vision and strategy in the organization. Furthermore, Klein (2020) contributes to the literature by explaining 24 important characteristics of a digital leader. However, one of the most crucial characteristics a digital leader needs to obtain to succeed is to be innovative. (Klein, 2020; Kane et al., 2019) Furthermore, Klein also mentions that other key characteristics a digital leader needs to master are to be visionary, have self-awareness, and creative. Mihardjo et al., (2019) agree that creativity is a key characteristic for a digital leader and Sainger (2018) explains that it is of high importance that the managers lead in a clear way. Kane et al., (2019) agree by mentioning that the leader should have foresight as well as a clear vision and sound strategy. Hence, must digital leaders clearly communicate their strategies.

Additionally, Kane et al., (2019) found that one other key skill for digital leaders is the ability to be transformative. This means that a digital leader needs to be able to anticipate trends, solve tough problems in turbulent times, and make smart business decisions. Several authors argue that fostering adaptability is highly beneficial and important for a digital leader (Kane et al., 2019; Toduk & Gande, 2016, referred to in Mihardjo et al., 2019). Kane et al. continue by saying that adaptability includes being open-minded and as mentioned above, innovative. Moreover, a highly critical skill a leader needs to develop to succeed in a digital environment is the ability to lead teams and networks of people, rather than using a hierarchical leadership style.

2.5 Changes in Leadership due to Covid-19

The covid-19 pandemic has surely had an impact across the world and can be explained as an exogenous shock that dramatically affected organizations, individuals, and societies (Rarney, 2016; referred in Jacquart et al., 2020). Bailey and Breslin (2021) describe how companies are facing new challenges and that leadership is more essential today than ever. Additionally, various researchers state that the pandemic has affected and tested the existing leadership theories and practices (Grint, 2020; Jaquart et al, 2020; Tourish, 2020). Tourish (2020)

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continues explaining that it is harder for a leader to make decisions in an environment of crisis, especially when the future is unpredictable.

Wilson (2020) argues that good and poor leadership has probably never been more in time during the Covid-19 pandemic. This has created several stress factors for people, since leading a group during this difficult time can expose individuals and leaders’ weaknesses and strengths. Bailey and Breslin (2021) criticize that crisis leadership has been absent during the pandemic and explain the importance of resilience in organizations. The pandemic has had a significant impact on how people communicate and interact, since organizations have been forced to shift the communication to an online setting (Bailey and Breslin, 2021).

2.5.1 Changes in Working Environment due to Covid-19

Covid-19 has had an immediate impact on individuals and it has changed our normal routines, leading to people being forced to adapt to a remote working environment. There is a difference between working from home (WFH), and the concept of mandatory working from home (MWFH). Previously, individuals have had the choice if they wanted to work from home, but the pandemic has made it mandatory, leaving individuals with no choice. Moreover, the important aspect is that employees who live alone may have different needs when working remotely compared to an employee who lives with family members. On the other hand, employees who live alone face fewer challenges compared to those who live with others due to less interference in the working space (Kniffin et al., 2021). Carnevale and Hatak (2020) agree that organizations are required to provide their employees with the resources to enable them to work from home and at the same time manage family-related challenges.

During the pandemic, it has become essential for leaders to be aware of workers’ psychological well-being. Remote work could be a realistic solution to the crisis, but it has also provided difficulties and challenges for both workers and leaders. The leaders need to understand that not all workers have the same skills and require the same needs of working from home, and the leaders should therefore support their employees and give constructive feedback often (Orsini and Rodrigues, 2020). Kerrissey and Edmonson (2020) agree that it is essential for a leader with constant updates about the situation and being engaged with the rest of the team.

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Trzebiński et al., (2020) argue that individuals with life satisfaction and meaningfulness can more easily handle stressful times and situations in crisis. On the other hand, individuals with high catastrophic associations and anxiety often think in the worst possible scenario and thus cope with stress worse. This may result in self-destructive decisions and non-rational behaviors. The World Health Organization (cited in Trzebiński et al., 2020) continues to describe how routines and normality in the environment are important for people such as keeping the same structure at home as at the office.

2.5.2 Positive Outcomes due to Covid-19

Even though Covid-19 has brought a lot of challenges to organizations, Bitar (2020) and Dewar et al., (2020) argue several positive changes regarding how organizations operate worldwide. Bitar (2020) states that access to technology and the internet has become a fundamental need that enables employees to work and be productive from anywhere. Moreover, conversations between colleagues have become more personal and the family life that may occur in the background during video calls is accepted, leading to a more informal and human work environment.

Dewar et al., (2020) add to the literature that the pandemic has made many companies achieve goals they only dreamed of before. This is due to fast decision-making and less traveling for the employees, leaving them with more time to get things done faster and better. Time management has increased significantly and has made the employees understand what matters and focus on the long-term goal and work as a team.

2.6 Theoretical Summary

Change management theory, more precisely the psychological philosophy, was identified as the most relevant theory of this study. The authors found the theory suitable to support the investigation of experiences of leadership in a changing, digital working environment. The theory lacks important insights regarding this unidentified area, thus will this research help evolve the theory. Therefore, the theoretical contribution is to examine how leaders have managed the digital organizational change, and thus contribute with new insights to the theory. Nevertheless, previous scholars have discussed how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way people perceive leadership, and distinguish what and how leaders should act and behave in times of crisis. The characteristics and skills of a leader are important during

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digitalization and numerous scholars have stated how the vital part of succeeding with a digital transformation is the skills of the people in charge. Although a great deal of research has been done on digitalization and leadership, there is less research on how to best manage a change that has forced people to adapt quickly to a new digital reality of working from home. This is essential to the study since the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a rapid change in our working routines and hence the leader's way of leading a team.

Leadership is a highly complex subject and the authors used theory, previous academic literature, and most importantly, people’s experiences, to receive valuable insights regarding the subject. This will further lead to knowledge about how leaders can develop and adapt their leadership in a changing digital environment in the future.

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3. Methodology and Method

This chapter will start to focus on the chosen research paradigm, approach, and design of this research. Thereafter the authors move towards the techniques used when gathering data through the method. During the method, the authors explain how primary data was collected, the sampling approach, interviews, and data analysis. Moreover, ethical consideration is also discussed, which is an important aspect to consider in this research.

3.1 Methodology

3.1.1 Research Paradigm

The research paradigm serves as a philosophical framework for the study and provides guidelines regarding how it should be conducted. Furthermore, it is the foundation based on assumptions and philosophies people have about the world and is highly associated with the nature of knowledge. Moreover, there are two main research paradigms; positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is associated with quantitative data and tends to have larger samples. In opposition, an interpretivist paradigm tends to have smaller samples and is associated with collecting qualitative data. Additional differences are that the positivistic paradigm is more concerned with testing a hypothesis and providing results with more reliability and lower validity. In contrast, the interpretivist approach is more influenced by generating theories and producing in-depth data. An interpretivist research paradigm is also associated with high validity and lower reliability compared to the positivist paradigm (Collis and Hussey, 2014).

The authors decided that this research will interpret an interpretivist research paradigm. This enables the authors to gather trustworthy and relevant insights regarding individual experiences of leadership during a change to a digital environment, which is the purpose of the research. Hence, it is suitable to conduct an interpretivist research paradigm since it allows the authors to collect in-depth data and use a smaller sample. Additionally, the research paradigm is suitable since the authors seek to investigate a complex subject.

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3.1.2 Research Approach

The research will follow the interpretivist paradigm and have an inductive research approach since the aim is to observe general patterns in terms of individual experiences of leadership during the change to working digitally. The authors seek to contribute to existing theory by collecting and observing primary data from real-life experiences. The purpose is to move from specific observations towards general, explaining conclusions (Collin and Hussey, 2014), thus, the inductive research approach is suitable.

In contrast, a deductive approach aims on developing or testing a theory with the help of empirical observations. A deductive approach can be seen as moving from the general to the specific (Collin and Hussey, 2014). To conclude, a deductive approach is more associated with a positivistic research paradigm (Wellington & Hammond 2020) and is not relevant in this research. Since the purpose of this research is to contribute with generalized insights and conclusions rather than testing an existing theory, an inductive approach is the most appropriate. The authors may conclude that the study is an interpretivist research by nature and an inductive approach will therefore develop meaningful insights and contribute to the already existing research within the field.

3.1.3 Research Design

Qualitative research tends to focus on explaining, understanding, and getting insights into people’s experiences. In comparison, quantitative research focuses more on telling what happened and not providing a deeper understanding of the meaning of the subject (Denny and Weckesser, 2019). The authors have decided to utilize a qualitative research design during this study, since it falls naturally under the topic of this research to gather rich and nominal data to answer the research question. Leadership is a subjective topic and therefore a qualitative research design is the most appropriate one since the research aims to investigate experiences of leadership during the change to working digitally. The words from leaders and their employees will be suitable when gathering primary data since it is of interest to receive both leaders' and employees’ views on leadership. A characteristic of qualitative research is that the researchers collect primary data through interviews (Collins and Hussey, 2014). During this research, it fits naturally to collect primary data through interviews since the authors seek to find rich and explanatory data regarding leadership experiences. Hence, a quantitative research design would not be suitable considering the study's focus.

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3.2 Method

3.2.1 Primary Data

Research data generated through questionnaire surveys, own experiments, interviews, or focus groups are considered as primary data (Collis and Hussey, 2014). To answer the research question in this study primary data will be the core component. The researchers have collected primary data through interviews, which is defined as conversations between those being researched and the researcher (Wellington & Hammond 2020). These interviews allowed the authors to get a wider insight into the experiences a leader and employees have had during the pandemic and relevant data was found in a structured way. Additionally, Collis and Hussey (2014) define secondary data where research data is collected from existing sources on the internet or data accessible in hard copy form.

To maintain a high quality of the interviews and to assure relevant questions during the collection of primary data, two pilot test interviews were conducted where the test participants perceived certain questions unclear or irrelevant to the study. The two test participants were within the researcher’s network and were one male, 56 years old, holding a leadership position and one female, 26 years old, not holding a leadership position. These insights from the members that qualified as the researcher’s target group, enabled the researchers to modify these questions for the interviews.

3.2.2 Sampling Approach

Firstly, a sample is associated as a subset of a population and if the population of the research is small, the researcher might use the whole population (Collis and Hussey, 2014). Since there are many different leaders in Sweden the researchers chose to select a sample within that population. Snowball sampling, or also called networking, is commonly used in research where the importance is to include people with experience about the phenomenon being investigated. An advantage with this sampling approach is that the researchers can ask the respondent if they know anyone else who has been in the same situation and might even let them get in contact (Collis and Hussey, 2014). Sometimes a snowball sampling approach is used with no sampling frame since the researchers contact groups of people (Bryman and Bell, 2011).

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During the process of selecting respondents several requirements needed to be fulfilled to qualify as an interviewee. To receive valuable insights, it was considered important to identify respondents within a broad range in age and gender. This resulted in 12 respondents between 24 and 61 years old, and the researchers interviewed just as many females as males and an equal number of leaders of employees. Another important requirement was that all respondents needed to have experienced the change from working at a physical office to working at home as caused by the pandemic. Additionally, all respondents were required to perform similar tasks, which in this sense was working at an office that was possible to do at home. It was a mutual decision to reach out to both people with and without leadership positions, to get a broader understanding and deeper analysis. Therefore, did the sampling approach not apply for a random sampling technique but rather an identified target group was used.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was both impossible and inappropriate for the researchers to reach out to, and visit the companies office. The researchers, therefore, made a mutual decision of reaching out to participants within each other’s network. Moreover, this involved interviewing leaders and employees from seven different Swedish-based companies ranging in size and within different industries.

3.2.3 Semi-structured Interviews

The authors prepared a few questions about the main topic to collect the data from the selected respondents. However, during some interviews, all questions did not need to be asked or followed the same order if the interviewee had provided the researchers with relevant information. New questions could come up that were relevant and further develop the topic, and a semi-structured interview was, therefore, a preferred method (Collis and Hussey, 2014). The answers from the respondents were recorded and noted, however, all respondents and opinions remained anonymous.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the interviews were held virtually on Zoom or through other virtual tools, but with cameras on to enable the researchers to identify non-verbal expressions. The interviews were held in Swedish since both respondents and the authors’ first language is Swedish and both parties could more easily express themselves and have a richer conversation. A consent form regarding ethical approval and how the transcript would

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be used in research and stored was sent to each of the interviewees beforehand (see Appendix

B).

The main focus is on leaders and employees that work in an office, for example, a finance- or marketing department. The information gathered from the interviews contributes to answering the research question and provides interesting contributions to the theory. The authors believed that it was important to interview both female and male leaders and have a wide range of respondents ages to receive a transparent result (see Appendix C).

3.2.4 Interview Questions

During a qualitative research design the questions for the interview are mostly variable (Bryman and Bell, 2011). To answer the gaps in the research identified in the literature review, relevant and well-thought questions were determined that provided the highest value to this study. Since the research paradigm of this study is interpretivist, the interviews under this paradigm aim to focus on people's experiences, opinions, feelings, understandings, and attitudes (Collis and Hussey, 2014). The authors strive to get a deeper understanding of leaders’ and employees' experiences during the rapid change of leadership in a physical environment into a virtual environment as an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. To get the most valuable data the researchers focused on open interview questions. Open interview questions cannot be answered with just yes or no, it instead focuses on more developed and longer answers (Collis and Hussey, 2014). The researchers used questions such as “What is

your experience of being a leader during the corona pandemic?” Another example of how

the researchers worked with open questions was that the questions started with What? How? and When? to get well-developed answers about the interviewees’ experiences and opinions. On the other hand, closed questions were used at the end of interviews to see if the participant had anything more to add (Collis and Hussey, 2014). Here, the researchers used closed interview questions both to confirm the interviewees’ answers and make sure there was a mutual understanding. A closed question such as if the respondent wanted to add anything interesting was asked in the end, to confirm that the participant had shared their opinions and experiences (see Appendix D).

The researchers also focused on using probing questions that are questions used when responding to what the participant has said by direct questioning (Bryman and Bell, 2011).

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These questions were used to provide clarity and a deeper understanding of the participants' answers and are associated during a semi-structured interview (Collis and Hussey, 2014).

3.2.5 Data Analysis

Thematic data analysis is commonly used in qualitative research as it identifies and analyzes data and reports it in very detailed information into different themes. When receiving complex data thematic data analysis is a helpful method and is described as a six-phased process (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

As suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006) was the first step to transcribe the data by reading it several times, which allowed the researchers to become familiar with the data. In this sense, the interviews were recorded and then transcribed into a document that each author read carefully. The second step in the process was to generate initial codes, meanings and identify interesting features of the data. When this was done, the third step was to categorize the codes in relevant themes, which was done in a table to receive a more clear and more visual overview. As the transcribed written documents resulted in a long list with different codes that the authors had identified, it needed to be structured and the most essential codes were highlighted. The fourth step was a refinement of the themes. Here the researchers could identify that some themes did not have enough data to support further analysis and that some themes were too similar and could be combined into one theme. Braun and Clarke further explain the fourth step to read the coded data extracts within each theme and when these themes form a coherent pattern a thematic map was created to visualize the two main themes. After doing this, the next step was to define and name the different themes. The final step was to produce the report. The data might be complicated so it was essential to convince the reader of the validity and merit of the analysis (see Table 1).

3.2.6 Selection of Quotes

Some participants’ opinions or quotes may occur more often than others in the analysis, which is due to the quality and richness of the interviews. The findings were carefully analyzed to distribute the reader with the most relevant information or quotes that would serve the purpose of this research. The content from the participants that was not used was neither less important nor less interesting, it was a matter of how the participants expressed and articulated themselves that determined which quotes were selected.

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3.3 Ethics

Ethical consideration in research projects is essential to take into consideration. The ethical aspects have therefore been closely evaluated to ensure a high quality of the study. To establish high trustworthiness in the finding of qualitative research, four criteria have been used: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; referred to in Shenton, 2004). All respondents have voluntarily participated in this study.

3.3.1 Anonymity and Confidentiality

During the research, all participants were offered anonymity and confidentiality. Anonymity means not naming any respondents. Since the interviewee’s opinions were not identified with them, being anonymous led to an increased number of respondents and more in-depth conversations (Collin and Hussey, 2014). Further on, Collis and Hussey explain how confidentiality is more focused on the data and information received. To increase a high level of confidentiality, the authors assured the interviewees that neither their name nor the name of the company was associated with their responses. By doing this, the information received during the interview will not be able to trace back to the organization or individual providing it.

3.3.2 Credibility

Credibility in a qualitative study is an essential component to establish trustworthiness in research (Guba & Lincoln, 1985; referred to in Shenton, 2004). Credibility is referring to how confident one can be whether the data and the interpretation of the data are true. It is of high importance that qualitative researchers strive to obtain confidence in the truth of their findings (Polit & Beck, 2012). The researchers of a qualitative study need to show engagement, audit trials, and methods of observation to support the credibility of their research (Cope, 2014). Bryman and Bell (2011) explain that the credibility of research is determined by the acceptability of others. Furthermore, credibility is established by the researchers when following good research practice and by submitting findings from the research to be confirmed by members in the social world. This leads to a clarification that the researchers correctly have understood the content. Another aspect that creates credibility to a qualitative study is if the person's experiences are recognized by others that have gone through the same experience (Sandelowski, 1986). Moreover, credibility is determined by

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how well researchers manage to describe and correctly identify the subject of inquiry (Collins and Hussey, 2014).

During this study, the researchers collected the most relevant and valuable knowledge through secondary data. This allowed the researchers to easily define what valuable insights the primary data collection would offer through interviews. To ensure the high credibility of the study the researchers chose to do two pilot test interviews. The pilot tests provided insights on how to maintain high credibility towards the interviews and the research at large. During the interview stage, the credibility of the research was verified since the participants described their experiences.

3.3.3 Transferability

Transferability is the criteria within ethics where the research findings can be applied in another similar context and environmental conditions. More precisely, there occur similarities in the research findings when done in a similar context (Collis and Hussey, 2014; Morse, 1994) Shenton (2004) continues by explaining that qualitative research aims to produce in-depth knowledge and understandings, therefore transferability refers to the criteria of doing research that provides general similarities. As mentioned before, the findings of the research can be transferred to another situation (Shenton, 2004). Shenton continues by explaining that it is hard to demonstrate conclusions and findings to other samples and situations in a qualitative study. In contrast, in a positivist approach, the researchers are more concerned about demonstrating that the findings or results can be applied to a deeper or more broad population. Shenton highlights the importance of providing a thick description of the research and what is being investigated, since it allows individuals to get a fair understanding of the study. This might lead to the individuals transferring the research into their situations.

The authors of this study have considered transferability and offered detailed information about the context of this study, for example geographical areas and a detailed picture of the respondents. This is further explained and mentioned in the sampling approach (see 3.2.2

Sampling Approach).

3.3.4 Dependability

Credibility cannot be reached without dependability, how stable the data is over time, and conditions. With high dependability, a researcher receives the same findings when replicating

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the study in a similar context with similar participants. Dependability could be achieved through various approaches, such as audit trail, stepwise replication, and peer examination (Polit and Beck, 2012).

An audit trail establishes confirmability in the research study as it is a systematic collection of documentation and materials that allow the researcher to make conclusions about the data (Polit and Beck, 2012). Moreover, documentation of the interviews, raw data, and observation notes have authorized other researchers to investigate the process. Stepwise replication is an evaluation procedure of the qualitative research data where multiple researchers analyze data separately and then compare the results (Anney, 2014). Thus, all authors of this study analyzed the empirical findings from the interviews separately and then compared the results. Anney later explains how peer examination is useful to contribute a deeper analysis and honest opinion from neutral colleagues with experience about the research.

3.3.5 Confirmability

Confirmability refers to the level of conformity in the results, how independent people confirm the accuracy of the data. It is therefore essential that the findings reflect the respondent's voice and characteristics and not the researcher’s perspective (Anney, 2014). Moreover, Bowen (2009) describes how both audit trial, reflexive journal, and triangulation can be used to reach a high level of confirmability in the study. Within this study did the researchers establish this through recording and taking individual notes during the interviews with the participants. The notes were revised, coded, and compared with each other to establish trustworthiness.

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4. Findings & Analysis

During this chapter of the study, analysis and the empirical findings are stated. At first, a table of the data analysis is presented where the researchers show how the findings have been interpreted. This was done to explain and analyze how leaders and employees have experienced the change of working from home and how leadership has changed and adapted. To clearly show the participant’s opinions, are their quotes presented in italics followed by whether they are a leader or an employee.

4.1 Conducting the Findings and Analysis

As stated before in this study (3.2.5 Primary Data) the primary data that has been collected was analyzed through thematic data analysis. Firstly, the researchers investigated the data and got familiar with it. Moreover, 36 initial codes were found which can be seen in the table below (Table 1). The codes provided the researchers with valuable information and were further categorized into six sub-themes. The sub-themes were selected after the authors had identified different relationships and similarities of the codes. Lastly, these six sub-themes lead to the research´s two main themes: leadership and experiences.

Table 1- An overview of the codes that lead to themes.

Initial codes

Sub-themes

Themes

The challenge, Unfamiliar, New Routines, Difference, Beginning,

Digitalization

Experiences of digital change

Experiences

Time, Money, Environment, Flexibility. Social Belonging,

Resources, Ergonomics

Positive and negative outcomes of digital change

Meetings, Activities, Team Changes in team spirit & internal communication

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Supportive, Good listener, Empowerment, Responsive, Clear

Direction, Couricus, Engaged, Caring, Communication

Important leader characteristics during digital change

Leadership

Soft values, Feedback, Support, Individual, Digitalization

Changes in leadership -Support & Feedback / Trust &

Empowerment

Future, Trust, Mix, Office Space, Digital Transformation

Future implications

4.2 Experiences during Digital Change

4.2.1 Experiences of Digital Change

The change of working at the office to working at home was explained by a majority of the respondents as something unfamiliar that they were skeptical towards. This was mainly due to a lack of knowledge or equipment. A clear majority of the respondents did not have experience or the option of working from home before, which created uncertainty about whether or not it would be possible. Two of the respondents even chose to come into the office although the rest of the colleagues worked from home, simply because of doubt and insecurity. Smith and Sutherland (2011) explain the psychological philosophy view on the change as when tasks or priorities change, people fear that they will not perform as well as before, and might start questioning their possibility of mastering this change. A common assumption is that resistance is the first response, as change triggers uncertainty and anxiety. This aligns with the findings regarding the skepticism from the respondents towards the change at first.

“I was very nervous at the beginning regarding how it would work practically.” (P10, Leader)

“In the beginning, it was a challenge to have meetings since we were very unfamiliar with the situation.” (P1, Leader)

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Moreover, Smith and Sutherland (2011) explain how people can resist change due to the fear of work overload or termination. The authors further state how change can cause less meaningfulness and a feeling of lost control for an individual. Our findings do not present support for this statement and no respondents have expressed how they felt afraid of losing their job or a feeling of less meaningfulness. In contrast, several respondents state how they have been given more responsibility and individual feedback when working from home, which one can see as an indication of how important and valuable they are as employees. According to the theory, less meaningfulness is a reaction to change that can be solved through empowerment, education, and participation (Smith and Sutherland, 2011). The findings also indicate increased control rather than loss of control for the employees, since several respondents state that they have experienced more empowerment from their leader.

“We have all learned that we can manage a lot of work on our own, we are much more independent now than before. The leader must always be there for the employees and the big

decisions, but we are more independent now and take our own initiatives.” (P7, Employee)

Even though our findings did not show any concerns regarding termination or less meaningfulness, were several respondents dissatisfied regarding practical aspects. These practical aspects mentioned were not having enough resources and equipment to do the work tasks. Some of the respondents are living in smaller apartments on their own and do not have a proper table and chair. Instead, they sat at the kitchen table or on the sofa which resulted in ergonomic consequences such as back and neck pain. A majority of the respondents also became sedentary and two respondents expressed less efficiency due to distractions at home. Kniffin et al. (2021) problematize the difference between employees who live alone compared to employees with family members in terms of needs and challenges. While those who live alone do not get interrupted in the working space, they lack the social aspect. From the interviews gathered, a recurring statement from the respondents living alone mentioned how not having anyone to eat lunch with or not talking to anyone throughout the day made them feel more lonely and unmotivated.

“The ergonomics is not as good at home as at the office, but it is not a major problem. The worst part is still losing the social aspect when working from home.” (P12, Employee)

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During crises and stressful times, a leader’s true character shines through. A good leader is therefore someone with the ability to manage this stress (Harms et al., 2017). According to Trzebiński et al. (2020), people can handle stressful times and situations in a crisis easier when they have life satisfaction and meaningfulness. In contrast, people with anxiety and catastrophic associations tend to think in the worst possible scenario and thus cope with stress worse. As noticed from the interviews, did all respondents handle the situation in different ways. All of the respondents mention sometime during the interview how this situation is different for everyone, and it is important to understand everyone’s individual needs. Smith and Sutherland, (2011) state how the formal and inflexible structures come secondary with the psychological philosophy. Instead, cooperative goal setting and open communication with commitment and involvement are more important than the structural delegation of power. The findings of this study have proven the importance of guidance during change which aligns with the theory.

"In the beginning, people were more stressed about being at work during a pandemic because taking public transport meant a higher risk of being infected. When we started working from

home the employees got calm since they felt more secure." (P5, Leader)

Although several respondents expressed doubt about working from home, it was also mentioned how it turned out well once they got used to the situation. This positive feeling was confirmed through feedback and guidance from colleagues and leaders, which aligns with the theory. All organizations also offered their employees to bring home any useful or desired equipment which was highly appreciated by the participants. According to psychological philosophy, a negative response to change could be solved by facilitation (Smith and Sutherland, 2011). Furthermore, many of the respondents argued that their leaders have facilitated the change process, which probably is one reason for the wage resistance to change by the respondents in our findings.

4.2.2 Positive and Negative Outcomes of Digital Change

Smith and Sutherland, (2011) explain that the way a leader handles or approaches change is mainly based on existing assumptions regarding the change process, which can be based on previous experiences. Also, Huges (2018) states the importance of the physiological philosophy to change management since it takes individuals’ experiences, both positive or

Well, that escalated quickly... : Exploring how leaders have managed the rapid change of leading a group of people in a physical environment into a digital environment due to Covid-19.