Digital Transformation in the Construction Industry: Mapping Out the Required Leadership Attributes

Matthew Ikuabe¹, Clinton Aigbavboa², Peter Adekunle², Kenneth Otasowie²

1. University of the Witwatersrand
2. University of Johannesburg

Published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024), edited by Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, Farzad Rahimian and Mahesh Babu Purushothaman. Springer Nature, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, volume 591, 2025, pages 1654 to 1660. DOI 10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_157.

Abstract

The study presents the findings of evaluating the required leadership qualities in the construction industry during the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era. From the review of related literature, the leadership qualities were identified and presented to the study’s target respondents for rating based on their significance. A quantitative approach was employed, aided by a questionnaire for data collection, while the retrieved data was analyzed using mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test. The study’s findings showed that adaptability, strategic thinking, technological proficiency, data literacy, and collaboration are the most significant leadership qualities for steering effective project delivery in the digital era. The study attempts to fill the gap in knowledge on the requisite leadership qualities in the era of the 4IR, especially from a developing economy perspective. Also, the study’s findings would serve as a good reference base for construction organizations gearing toward the digital transformation of construction processes.

Keywords

Session

Published in the proceedings.

How to Cite

Ikuabe, M., Aigbavboa, C., Adekunle, P., & Otasowie, K. (2025). Digital Transformation in the Construction Industry: Mapping Out the Required Leadership Attributes. In A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. GhaffarianHoseini, F. Rahimian, & M. B. Purushothaman (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024) (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 591, pp. 1654–1660). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_157

About the Conference

Presented at SASBE 2024, the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, held in Auckland from 7 to 9 November 2024 and chaired by Professors Ali and Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, founders of GDI Academy. The version of record is published by Springer Nature; this page is the conference archive record kept by GDI Academy.