Digital leadership in the fourth industrial revolution enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has brought about significant changes in organizational leadership. However, the accelerated transformation towards digitization was not without the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the COVID-19 pandemic aided the digital revolution in several organizations across the globe. This paper presents global evidence from a systematic literature review on the influence of digital leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic on organizational variables such as performance, relationship, satisfaction, collaboration, expertise, effectiveness, and efficiency. A PRISMA protocol was adopted for this review, while a thorough search of the Scopus bibliographic database was used to identify 416 academic papers. Eight papers met the inclusion criteria for in-depth analysis. The findings from the selected articles showed the role that technology played in enabling leaders to navigate the complexities of this global crisis. This review revealed that digital leadership has an influence on the organizational variables considered in this study. This paper, therefore, serves as reference material in guiding administrators and school leaders in leading a new organization’s digital culture. It will also aid in demonstrating digital technology-focused leadership required from school leaders.