Surinder Kahai is an Associate Professor of MIS and Fellow of the Center for Leadership Studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton.
He has a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Surinder has an active research program on leadership in virtual teams, computer-mediated communication and learning, collaboration in virtual worlds, CIO leadership, and IT alignment. His research has been published in several journals including Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, Decision Sciences, Group & Organization Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management Information Systems, Leadership Quarterly, and Personnel Psychology. He is currently serving on the editorial boards of Group and Organization Management, IEEE-TEM, and the International Journal of e-Collaboration. He co-edited a Special Issue of Organizational Dynamics on e-leadership and a Special Issue of International Journal of e-Collaboration on Virtual Team Leadership.
Surinder has won numerous awards for his teaching, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Surinder has spoken on and consulted with several organizations in the U.S. and abroad on the topics of virtual team leadership, e-business, and IS-business alignment, and IS strategy and planning
Both AFP and Reuters are reporting a spike in video calling as air travel is halted in Europe due to volcanic eruption. According to Cisco, there has been a huge surge in demand for its telepresence facilities in Europe. Skype, too, is seeing an increase in video-calling during the past few days. Some executives who have been prevented from getting… Read more →
In my last post, I mentioned that the best way for business leaders to understand Twitter or other social media is to begin using them. I recently saw how experimenting with social media can help business leaders appreciate its power. I had an opportunity to advise a business leader, Ms. Peg Breen, about blogging. Peg was without employment like thousands… Read more →
It has been a while since I blogged. It feels good to be back! The usefulness of Twitter continues to be debated. Last week, George Packer, a staff writer at The New Yorker, wrote that he wants to yell Stop every time he hears about Twitter. With constant updates, Twitter only adds to the overwhelming amount of information we… Read more →
I have long admired John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco. In my various readings of Cisco, I have observed how Mr. Chambers has been able to produce a strong culture of customer satisfaction at Cisco. In my personal interactions with those working at Cisco, I have found Cisco’s employees (including executives) to be extremely helpful and willing to spare their… Read more →
The reaction that I often get when I introduce Twitter to my students is that it is something silly. I get to hear remarks such as “you can’t do much in 140 characters” and “I’d rather be doing something instead of simply telling others what I’m up to.” The reaction of my students is not atypical. Anyone who is… Read more →
The June 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review contained a brief note by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman titled “10 Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders“. The authors, who analyzed 360-degree feedback, identified the following 10 most common shortcomings of ineffective leaders. The worst leaders: Lacked energy and enthusiasm; Accepted their own mediocre performance; Lacked clear vision and direction; Had poor… Read more →
Some months back, Betsy had blogged about a New York Times article by Clive Thompson on how technologies such as Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter lead to ambient awareness. She wrote: “These technologies make it convenient to quickly and easily give or get updates with a number of other people. Although each individual message might have little meaning as a stand-alone,… Read more →
Last weekend’s Wall Street Journal carried an article by Safeway’s CEO, Steven A. Burd, addressing the national health-care reform debate. Safeway has been able to hold the per-capita health-care costs flat since 2005, while for most American companies these costs have increased by 38% during the same period. Mr. Burd attributed this to a program that Safeway designed in 2005… Read more →
Since virtual teams are supported by technology and technology tends to filter out vital nonverbal cues, can a leader be effective in virtual contexts? This is one of the questions that I have tried to answer in my past research. I have found that leadership can indeed make a positive difference in virtual contexts. I have also found that certain… Read more →
After I gave my final exam this week, one of my students came up to me and said that one of his takeaways from my course was his discovery of the Internet as a tool for learning. I use the videos and latest news posted on the Internet to make my courses more relevant and to also show how the… Read more →