Leadership and Employee Performance in Digital Transformation:  A Systematic Review (2020–2025)

Syupriadin Syupriadin; Winda Dewi Listyasari; Linda Ika Mayasari; Kamaludin Kamaludin

doi:10.51276/edu.v7i1.1592

Authors

Syupriadin Syupriadin Universitas Negeri Jakarta
Winda Dewi Listyasari Universitas Negeri Jakarta
Linda Ika Mayasari Universitas Negeri Jakarta
Kamaludin Kamaludin Universitas Negeri Jakarta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51276/edu.v7i1.1592

Keywords:

Bibliometric Analysis , Digital Leadership , Digital Transformation , Employee Performance , SLR

Abstract

This study investigates how research on Leadership and employee performance has evolved within the digital transformation landscape through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of publications from 2020 to 2025. The literature search was conducted in Scopus and Google Scholar using the Publish or Perish tool, with search terms including “Leadership," "digital transformation," and "employee performance." The review adhered to the PRISMA framework, which comprises sequential phases: identifying relevant studies, screening titles and abstracts, assessing eligibility, and determining final inclusion. Of 500 initial publications, 30 met all criteria and were analysed comprehensively. The synthesis reveals that both transformational and digital Leadership consistently contribute positively to outcomes such as employee performance, motivation, innovation, and adaptability. The bibliometric results further indicate three dominant thematic groupings: digital Leadership, employee performance, and organisational responses to technological change. Overall, the evidence underscores that effective digital transformation requires not only technological infrastructure but also competent human resources and Leadership approaches that support organisational change. This review enriches theoretical understanding of current research patterns and offers practical guidance for enhancing Leadership capability and human resource development in the digital era.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Syupriadin Syupriadin, Universitas Negeri Jakarta

Was born in Jakarta on May 12, 1989. Currently a student at Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ). Earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law (S1 Ilmu Hukum) from Universitas Bung Karno (UBK), Jakarta, in 2013. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Education Management at Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ).

Winda Dewi Listyasari, Universitas Negeri Jakarta

She is a lecturer in the Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Jakarta. Since 2025, she has also served as the Coordinator of the Master’s Program in Educational Management. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Educational Management from Universitas Negeri Jakarta and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham Malaysia.

Linda Ika Mayasari, Universitas Negeri Jakarta

She is a lecturer in the Educational Management Study Program, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ). She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies Education (Geography) from Universitas Islam 45 Bekasi (2003–2007) and her Master’s degree in Educational Management from Universitas Negeri Jakarta (2011–2013). She later earned her Doctoral degree in Educational Management from Universitas Negeri Jakarta (2016–2020) through the LPDP BUDI-DN scholarship program.

Kamaludin Kamaludin, Universitas Negeri Jakarta

He is a lecturer in the Master’s Program in Educational Management, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Jakarta. He serves as an assessor for the National Accreditation Board (West Java Province), Pre-Service Teacher Professional Education, the Teacher Activist Program, and lecturer workload evaluation, and also works as an educational consultant. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic Religious Education (2011), a Master’s degree in Economic Education (2014), and a Doctoral degree in Educational Management (2022). He previously worked as a shopping center finance head, a Pertamina gas station manager, and a lecturer at several universities.

References

Abdullahi, M. S., Raman, K., Solarin, S. A., & Adeiza, A. (2023). Employee Engagement as a Mediating Variable on the Relationship Between Employee Relation Practice and Employee Performance in a Developing Economy. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 15(1), 83–97. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-06-2021-0222

Aleidi, A. I. (2025). Organizational Support Mechanisms and Digital Transformation Success: Investigating Employee Performance Drivers in Educational Institutions. Journal of Logistics, Informatics and Service Science, 12(1), 307–324. https://doi.org/10.33168/JLISS.2025.0116

Alghfeli, H. S. M. B. D., Sohaimi, N. S. B., & Chik, N. B. A. (2024). The Effect of Digital Leadership Styles on Sustainable Performance: A Systematic Literature Review. Engineering, Technology and Applied Science Research, 14(6), 17781–17785. https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.8761

Alkhoori, A. A., Al-Shami, S. A., & Sedik, S. (2021). The Relationship Between Leadership Factors and Successful Technopreneur Through the Mediator Role of Digital Enabler. Webology, 18(Special Issue 2), 344–356. https://doi.org/10.14704/WEB/V18SI02/WEB18100

Al-Wedyan, A., Alzoubi, M., & Ababneh, A. (2025). Mechanisms of Digital Transformation Practices and Their Impact on Improving the Strategic Performance of Employees at Yarmouk University and the University of Jordan. International Journal of Management and Sustainability, 14(2), 711–724. https://doi.org/10.18488/11.v14i2.4331

Alyami, A., Sammon, D., Neville, K., & Mahony, C. (2024). Critical Success Factors for Security Education, Training and Awareness (SETA) Programme Effectiveness: An Empirical Comparison of Practitioner Perspectives. Information & Computer Security, 32(1), 53–73.

Amalina, N. N., Armanu, & Susilowati, C. (2022). The Effect of Transformational Leadership and Organizational Justice Toward Employee Performance Mediated by Job Satisfaction: A Study of Blitar, Indonesia Police. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 11(4), 95–105.

Astuti, S. D., Shodikin, A., & Uddin, M. (2020). Islamic Leadership, Islamic Work Culture, and Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(11), 1059–1068. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no11.1059

Chong, Y. K., & Zainal, S. R. M. (2024). Employee Agility's Moderating Role on the Link between Employee Vitality, Digital Literacy, and Transformational Leadership with Job Performance: An Empirical Study. Cogent Business and Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2337447

Çini, M. A., Erdirençelebi, M., & Akman, A. Z. (2023). The Effect of Organization Employees' Perspective on Digital Transformation on Their Technostress Levels and Performance: A Public Institution Example. Central European Business Review, 12(4), 33–57. https://doi.org/10.18267/j.cebr.331

Dewi, N. N., & Wibowo, R. (2020). The Effect of Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, and Motivation on Employee Performance. Management Science Letters, 10(9), 2037–2044. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2020.2.008

Diana, I. N., Supriyanto, A. S., Ekowati, V. M., & Ertanto, A. H. (2021). Factors Influencing Employee Performance: The Role of Organizational Culture. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(2), 545–553. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no2.0545

Grzesiak, L., & Ulrych, W. (2024). How Management Support and Diversity Factors Affect Employee Performance within the Digital Workplace. Central European Management Journal, 33(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.1108/CEMJ-06-2023-0238

Guterresa, L. F. D. C., Armanu, & Rofiaty. (2020). The Role of Work Motivation as a Mediator on the Influence of Education-Training and Leadership Style on Employee Performance. Management Science Letters, 10(7), 1497–1504.

Kane, G. C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., Kiron, D., & Buckley, N. (2019). Accelerating Digital Innovation Inside and Out: Agile Teams, Ecosystems, and Ethics. MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte Insights, 60471, 1–31. Retrieved from https://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/accelerating-digital-innovation-inside-and-out/

Kaser, D. (2020). Digital Transformations. Computers in Libraries, 40(3), 2.

Khan, I. U., Gan, G. G. G., Khan, M. T. I., & Saif, N. (2023). Role of Organizational Justice in Linking Leadership Styles and Academics’ Performance in Higher Education Institutions. Administrative Sciences, 13(4), 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci13040101

Khan, M. A., Ismail, F. B., Hussain, A., & Alghazali, B. (2020). The Interplay of Leadership Styles, Innovative Work Behavior, Organizational Culture, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. SAGE Open, 10(1), 1–16.

Khristian, Sulistiowati, & Fauzan. (2025). Transformational Leadership and Digital Adoption in MSMEs: The Role of Organizational Culture and Structure. Manajemen Business Innovation Conference (MBIC), 8, 174–184.

Lewaherilla, N. C., Rahayu, M., & Limpo, L. (2024). Exploration of Transformational Leadership Style in Improving Employee Performance in the Creative Industries. Journal of Management, 3(2), 281–295.

Lin, Q. (2025). Digital Leadership: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda. European Journal of Innovation Management, 28(6), 2469–2488. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-07-2023-0522

Madrid, C., Chimborazo, L., Morales-García, W. C., Quispe-Sanca, D., Huancahuire-Vega, S., Sánchez-Garcés, J., & Saintila, J. (2024). Digital Competencies and Transformational Leadership as Predictors of Job Performance in University Teachers. Journal of Educators Online, 21(3). https://doi.org/10.9743/JEO.2024.21.3.18

Masaeed, M. J. N., Shehada, S. A. J., & Mersal, M. A. S. (2025). The Effect of Digital Transformation on Teacher Performance Evaluation: Principals' Perspectives in Palestinian Public Schools. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1440731.

Mita, M., Hamid, R. S., & Goso, G. (2024). Behavior and Employee Performance with Digital Literacy as a Moderation Variable. In International Conference of Business, Education, Health, and Science-Tech, 1(1), 1468–1479.

Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., Stewart, L. A., Estarli, M., Barrera, E. S. A., Martínez-Rodríguez, R., Baladia, E., Agüero, S. D., Camacho, S., Buhring, K., Herrero-López, A., Gil-González, D. M., Altman, D. G., Booth, A., Chan, A.-W., Chang, S., Clifford, T., Dickersin, K., Egger, M., Gøtzsche, P. C., Grimshaw, J. M., Groves, T., Helfand, M., Higgins, J., Lasserson, T., Lau, J., Lohr, K., McGowan, J., Mulrow, C., Norton, M., Page, M., Sampson, M., Schünemann, H., Simera, I., Summerskill, W., Tetzlaff, J., Trikalinos, T. A., Tovey, D., Turner, L., Whitlock, E. (2016). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 Statement. Revista Española de Nutrición Humana y Dietética, 20(2), 148–160. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1

Omol, E. J. (2024). Organizational Digital Transformation: From Evolution to Future Trends. Digital Transformation and Society, 3(3), 240–256. https://doi.org/10.1108/DTS-08-2023-0061

Öngel, V., Günsel, A., Gençer Çelik, G., Altındağ, E., & Tatlı, H. S. (2024). Digital Leadership's Influence on Individual Creativity and Employee Performance: A View through the Generational Lens. Behavioral Sciences, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14010003

Orkamo, M., Ukko, J., Rantala, T., & Saunila, M. (2025). Leadership Behaviours to Promote Organisational Performance in Private Sector Digital Transformation – A Systematic Literature Review. Digital Business, 5(2), 100155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.digbus.2025.100155

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 Statement: An Updated Guideline for Reporting Systematic Reviews. BMJ, 372. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71

Prasad, K. D. V., & De, T. (2024). Generative AI as a Catalyst for HRM Practices: Mediating Effects of Trust. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03842-4

Rahmadanita, A., & Hidayat, E. (2023). Tren Penelitian Literasi Digital (Digital Literacy) Tahun 2012-2022: Sebuah Pendekatan Bibliometrik. Jurnal Teknologi dan Komunikasi Pemerintahan, 5(2), 188–207. https://doi.org/10.33701/jtkp.v5i2.3850

Rawashdeh, A. M., Elayan, M., Shamout, M. D., & Saleh, M. H. (2020). Job Satisfaction as a Mediator between Transformational Leadership and Employee Performance: Evidence from a Developing Country. Management Science Letters, 10(16), 3855–3864. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2020.7.026

Razak, H. B. M., & McKenzie, S. (2024). Transformational Leadership and Digital Openness: A Study on Innovation in School Management. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 56(2), 123–138.

Rojak, J. A. (2025). Digital Technology as a Driver of Innovative Culture and Creative Engagement of Higher Education Human Resources. International Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Technology (IJSSMET), 7(3), 11–17.

Salju, S., Junaidi, J., & Goso, G. (2023). The Effect of Digitalization, Work-family Conflict, and Organizational Factors on Employee Performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 21(1), 107–119. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(1).2023.10

Sarwar, U., Aamir, M., Bichao, Y., & Chen, Z. (2023). Authentic Leadership, Perceived Organizational Support, and Psychological Capital: Implications for Job Performance in the Education Sector. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1084963.

Shin, J., Mollah, M. A., & Choi, J. (2023). Sustainability and Organizational Performance in South Korea: The Effect of Digital Leadership on Digital Culture and Employees' Digital Capabilities. Sustainability, 15(3), 2027.

Tiodora, T., Bangun, W., Achmadi, H., & Meilani, Y. C. P. (2025). Transformational leadership dan literasi AI sebagai strategi peningkatan job performance karyawan start-up di era digital. Milestone: Journal of Strategic Management, 5(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.19166/ms.v5i1.9613

UNESCO. (2018). Digital Literacy and Beyond. UNESCO Education Sector. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2017). Citation-based Clustering of Publications Using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer. Scientometrics, 111(2), 1053–1070. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2300-7

Xu, Y., & Zhang, M. (2022). The Study of the Impact of Empowering Leadership on Adaptive Performance of Faculties Based on Chain Mediating. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 938951.

Yapa, T. D., Wickramasinghe, V., & Bandara, W. (2025). Transforming Employee Performance Through Business Process Management: A Real-World Teaching Case. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 57, 365–383.