Leadership support and information and communication technology utilisation: The role of individualised consideration in Tanzanian universities

Abstract

The effect of transformational leadership on information and communication technology use was investigated among academic staff in selected higher learning institutions in Tanzania. Specifically, the research sought to establish the effect of leadership support and individual consideration. Transformational Leadership Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model provided a theoretical background for explaining the relationship between leadership behaviour and IT use. A quantitative research method was used for the research, and it was guided by a deductive approach with positivist philosophy. An explanatory cross-sectional design was employed for collecting one-time data. The population of the study was made up of 344 academic staff from selected universities in Tanzania, while the sample was made up of 50 respondents obtained through a stratified random sampling technique in multi-stage sampling. Five key informants were also purposively selected. The data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires, while the analysis was done using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The outcome of the regression analysis showed that leadership support played a statistically significant role in increasing ICT utilisation among academics, where the beta was recorded as 0.643 at a significance level of less than 0.001. Individualised consideration also positively impacted information and communication technology utilisation, but the impact was not as strong as in the case of leadership support, where the beta value was 0.312 with a significance level of 0.021. The findings showed that leadership variables accounted for a considerable amount of variance in ICT utilisation. Transformational leadership is identified as a vital factor influencing technology adoption within institutions of higher learning. The paper recommends improved ICT adoption within such institutions by ensuring proper leadership commitment, ICT systems support, and capacity building, among others.