Strategic leadership and transactional leadership: the mediating effect of digital leadership in the world of Industry 4.0

Abstract

Purpose

The dearth of leadership competencies to transform traditional industries to Industry 4.0 is a barrier to global production. This study explains the deficiencies in leadership competencies that hinder the transformation of traditional industries to Industry 4.0.

Design/methodology/approach

Leadership was explained into transactional leadership, digital leadership and Leadership 4.0. Then, the network of relationships between these leadership constructs was plotted in a path diagram to learn the mediating effect of digital leadership.

Findings

The results indicate that a lack of digital competencies to coordinate tasks, share information and solve problems in a digitalized environment is the barrier to the transformation.

Practical implications

The findings can be used in human resources (HR) management. In addition, the findings provide evidence to present the contingency theory as a universal theory of leadership.

Originality/value

The study is the first to assess the mediating effect of digital leadership on transactional leadership to explain the changes to strategic leadership due to the emergence of Leadership 4.0.

Citation

Avwokeni, A.J. (2024), "Strategic leadership and transactional leadership: the mediating effect of digital leadership in the world of Industry 4.0", Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEAS-05-2023-0138