The Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and strategic leadership: new research directions and a clarion call for creating shared understanding

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors build on the first three chapters to develop additional insights into the implications of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies for strategic leadership research. Contrasting the 4IR with prior industrial revolutions, they examine the transformative consequences and detailed research implications of three core technologies - artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data and analytics, and blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. They then briefly discuss three additional technologies, which have been receiving increasing attention from researchers, including the Internet of Things and connectivity technologies, additive manufacturing, and robotics and automation. The specific research directions provide a glimpse of the promising research avenues regarding each of these key technologies. They conclude with a clarion call for future research efforts that also aim to create shared understanding about the 4IR technologies, in toto.