Leadership challenges in the context of university 4.0. A thematic synthesis literature review

Abstract

Supported by an environment that is increasingly immersed in digital transformation, universities are facing important organizational changes in both tangible and intangible structures. Digital transformation isn't all about technology, there is a human side of the story. Leadership is seen as a key issue in any process of change. However, leaders of professional and knowledge-based institutions, like universities, face special demands. The present article aims to synthesize what has been investigated about leadership in the context of University 4.0. A systematic approach was adopted in conducting the literature review. The main body of the article focuses on illustrating five thematic clusters grounded in the literature and identifying co-citation network of each cluster using bibliometrics. Results demonstrate that this is an emerging theme. This paper is the first attempt to systematically review all research that so far has been made available in the broad field of leadership in University 4.0.

Strategically redefining university dynamics for the digital age: A qualitative approach

“…We recognize the challenges to HEIs attempting to integrate increasingly advanced digital technologies (Gibb et al, 2018). Nevertheless, HEIs are facing critical organizational changes in tangible and intangible structures where it is not all about technology, and it is essential to look at the human side of the story (Rocha et al, 2022). The literature furthermore includes several different studies on DT (e.g., see the work of Ghosh et al, 2021) as well as works applying this theme specifically to HEI (Guerrero et al, 2021) and HEI students (Aloulou et al, 2023), the socioeconomic impacts of entrepreneurial HEI (Urbano & Guerrero, 2013), and as amplified by the mutualism prevailing in Triple Helix (TH) dynamics (Schaeffer et al, 2021).…”

Challenges to Internationalisation of University Programmes: A Systematic Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research on Learner-Centred English Medium Instruction (EMI) Pedagogy

“…To gain a more comprehensive view of learner-centred EMI pedagogy, our aim in this study is to combine the results of multiple qualitative studies into a synthesis that offers a range of meanings, experiences, and opinions provided by student participants in a variety of EMI contexts. The depth, scope and rigour of our thematic synthesis compared to a single study may also have greater potential to influence EMI policy and inform pedagogical practice [34].…”

Editorial of the Special Issue from WorldCIST'20

“…Concerns related with leadership in the context of University 4.0 are discussed in (Rocha et al 2021). The provided thematic synthesis includes 224 papers published between 1981 and 2019.…”

“…These works include important topics such as the improvement of communication between workers (Agredo-Delgado et al 2021), visualization of Key-Performance Indicators (Martins et al 2021), optimization of workflows in IT (Pereira et al 2021), and the sharing of failed experiences (Xiong et al 2021). The works in (Pereira et al 2021) and (Rocha et al 2021) are concerned with the academic environment. In (Pereira et al 2021) the design stage of a maturity model is developed according to the Mettler methodology while in (Rocha et al 2021) a systematic literature review on leadership within University 4.0 is made.…”

“…The works in (Pereira et al 2021) and (Rocha et al 2021) are concerned with the academic environment. In (Pereira et al 2021) the design stage of a maturity model is developed according to the Mettler methodology while in (Rocha et al 2021) a systematic literature review on leadership within University 4.0 is made. Finally, a health problem is studied in (Balsa et al 2021), where COVID-19 is modeled and guidelines for the enforcement of quarantine are provided.…”