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

PurposeThe 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/approachLeadership 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.FindingsThe 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 implicationsThe 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/valueThe 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.