Abstract
Abstract
Purpose:
Digital platforms have reconfigured organisational coordination by enabling asynchronous workflows across distributed teams operating in non-overlapping temporal cycles. While leadership theory has traditionally assumed synchronised work rhythms and shared decision timelines, platform-based organisations increasingly function through temporally disjointed processes that may disrupt coordination and collective action. This paper seeks to conceptualise temporal fragmentation leadership (TFL) as an emergent leadership approach required to sustain organisational alignment in environments characterised by asynchronous decision-making and digitally mediated work rhythms.
Design/methodology/approach:
This study adopts a conceptual and theory-building approach drawing on recent scholarship in digital work, temporality in organisations, and distributed leadership. By synthesising interdisciplinary insights from organisational theory and information systems research, the paper develops a preliminary conceptual framework outlining leadership practices necessary to coordinate temporally fragmented organisational processes.
Findings:
The analysis suggests that digital infrastructures restructure organisational temporality by enabling asynchronous task execution, decision latency, and temporally distributed collaboration. These dynamics may generate coordination breakdowns not attributable to communication failure but to temporal misalignment across digital workflows. Leadership in such environments may therefore shift from synchronisation-based coordination towards practices of temporal integration and adaptive pacing across distributed work cycles.
Originality/value:
By introducing the construct of temporal fragmentation leadership, this paper contributes to emerging debates on leadership in digitally mediated organisational environments. It extends leadership theory by foregrounding the temporal consequences of platform-based infrastructures and offers a foundation for future empirical research examining leadership coordination in asynchronous work ecosystems.
Keywords:
Digital leadership; Organisational temporality; Platform work; Asynchronous coordination; Distributed leadership; Hybrid organisations