Leadership Influence in Virtual Work Environments: A Study of Power Base Exertion Through Communication and Coordination 2026 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis

Abstract [en]

• Background: The shift toward virtual work arrangements has changed the conditions under which leadership influence operates. In face-to-face settings, leaders rely on physical presence, informal interaction, and direct observation to exert influence. Virtual work removes these conditions, which raises the question of how leaders exert influence when the social and physical structures that support it are no longer available. 
• Purpose: Research on leadership in virtual work settings has largely focused on whether leadership styles and behaviors continue to predict team outcomes in virtual settings. What remains underexplored is how leaders exert influence in technology-mediated environments, specifically through what communication and coordination processes they exert power bases through which influence operates. This study addresses that gap by examining how leaders exert the six bases of social power identified by French and Raven (1959) and Raven (1992) when face-to-face channels are unavailable. 
• Method: The study employs a qualitative research design based on fourteen semi-structured interviews with leaders operating in virtual work environments across different organizations, sectors, and countries. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, generating six themes and eleven sub-themes. 
• Conclusion: The findings show that virtual work does not just transfer existing power dynamics into digital channels, but it changes the conditions under which influence operates. Across all six power bases, leadership influence shifts from physical presence and direct interpersonal action toward deliberately designed communication and coordination structures, and digital systems. The study contributes three extensions to French and Raven's framework: a third form of coercive power embedded in coordination platforms rather than in the leader's direct action; a reframing of expert power as something leaders must continuously signal rather than passively possess; and leadership in virtual work remains fundamentally dependent on periodic physical co-presence that virtual practices can sustain but not generate. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages

2026.

Keywords [en]

Leadership, Virtual Work, Communication, Coordination, Power Bases, Influence

National Category

Business Administration

Identifiers

URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-71700OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-71700DiVA, id: diva2:2066102

Supervisors

Examiners

Available from: 2026-06-29 Created: 2026-06-04 Last updated: 2026-06-29Bibliographically approved

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Business Administration

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