Do Leadership Styles Influence Employee Information Systems Security Intention? A Study of the Banking Industry

The banking industry is highly prone to Information Systems (IS) security breaches from outside organizations and inside organizations. There are processes to monitor, detect, measure, and prevent IS security threats from an outside organization. However, inside organization threats to IS security are very challenging to monitor and detect, especially employee-related. The paper aims to understand how leadership plays a vital role in employee information systems security intention in the banking industry. Therefore, research applied full-range leadership style theory (FRLT) to assess the role of leadership style on employees’ information systems security intention. The study collects 517 responses from non-managerial bank employees from Brazilian banks using questionnaires and tested the theoretical relationship using partial least square structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that transformational leadership has a positive impact on the development of employee information systems security intention, whereas passive leadership harms employee intention toward information systems security. In addition to that results also show that age, education level, and work experience have moderating effects on employee intention toward information systems security. The research will help the banking industry to influence employee IS security intention through proactive and transformational leadership. In addition, it will also help leaders to understand employee intention toward information systems security aspects. The leadership role will enable IS security and flexibility in the organization.