Rethinking Leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Lessons for Construction Business Organizations

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is changing the way organizations function and provide services. However, scholars are of the view that the construction industry is struggling to catch up with the pace of change. Some studies have queried whether leadership is required to drive the change agenda. The current study employed a quantitative research approach and a cross‐sectional survey research design to obtain information from a sample of 408 construction executives across the nine provinces of South Africa. The leadership orientation and functions of the executives employed toward the adaptation to 4IR were examined. The current study found that only a few 4IR technologies, namely, internet of things, three‐dimensional printers, and cloud computing are mostly adopted in South African construction organizations. Further, it was found that the leader functions of executing and coaching are not being employed. Based on these findings, it is concluded that there are gaps in the perceived functions of leaders in implementing 4IR in South African construction organizations, which impacts on the ability of construction companies to improve their services in the 4IR era. The study recommends a rethinking for construction leaders to fully benefit from the 4IR.