BOOK REVIEW
Book Title: Agile leadership for industry 4.0: An indispensable approach for the digital era
Authors: Chakraborty, T., Awan, T., Ashok, N. Kamran, M.
Publisher: Apple Academic Press / CRC Press
List Price: $169.95
Format: Hardcover,
Publication Date: 2023
ISBN: 9781774911877
Reviewer: Dr. RonAmber Deloney, PMP
Review Date: June 2024
Introduction
In the book “Agile leadership for industry 4.0: An indispensable approach for the digital era”, editors Chakraborty et al. (2023) have assembled experts and scholars to discuss an array of best practices and agile leadership characteristics for Industry 4.0 professionals. Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution, describes the current era of rapidly evolving tech driven innovations and capabilities. A key position of the book is that as technology has advanced over time, new economic realities that force organization leaders to adapt to new ways of thinking and working to thrive have been created.
The book’s main argument is that in this current era of rapid digitization, to be truly agile, leaders will need to understand the value in the interconnectedness of AI powered technologies and establish business processes and mindsets for integrating new technological skills and awareness into an organization’s culture. This agile mindset will equip leaders to continually propel and improve the business forward. Business leaders who can strategically integrate new technologies through processes and programs that align human resources and business infrastructure are considered agile and will be most prepared to help their organizations compete as various markets for valuable goods and services continue to expand in response to the introduction of progressively capable technologies.
Overview of Book’s Structure
The book includes 19 chapters, each featuring a scholarly article where authors discuss issues and concerns in agile leadership that have emerged since the presence of the pandemic and Industry 4.0. Across the 19 articles, three main themes are highlighted: how the COVID-19 pandemic shifted theories of agile leadership; the importance of virtual leadership in the work-from-home era; and the role of human resources in agile leadership. Each chapter contextualizes its research focus through a recap of important features of previous industrial revolutions to remind the reader that advancements in technology have been the driving force of business practices since the 19th century. With each new industrial era, leadership frameworks evolve, and the challenges leaders face across many areas of organizational, technological, and human resource development call for improved leadership skillsets.
Highlights
Topics like the power of empathy for leadership agility address the need for emotionally intelligent leaders who approach management through a cognitive lens and understand the impacts of new global workforce challenges on emotional well-being. Other topics such as the role of big data in agile business management argue in support of leaders with informed leadership practices driven by data analytics.
More…
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How to cite this work: Deloney, R. (2024). Agile leadership for industry 4.0: An indispensable approach for the digital era, book review, PM World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue VII, July. Available online at: https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/pmwj143-Jul2024-Deloney-Agile-Leadership-for-Industry-4.0-book-review.pdf
About the Reviewer
RonAmber Deloney, EdD
Texas, USA
Dr. RonAmber Deloney is a native of Dallas, Texas. She is a PMP certified proejct manager in the enterprise learning and development and non-profit and community programs fields. She is fluent in German, a Fulbright alumna to Berlin, Germany, and currently on the Fulbright Specialist roster. Her research areas are tech literacy development for underserved communities, global leadership development through cross-cultural training and study abroad, social justice education through the arts, and international human resource management. She has BAs in English and German from Austin College, an MA in Arts Politics from NYU, an MSEd in Adolescent Education from St. John’s University, and an EdD in Global Training and Development from Northcentral University.
Email address: rtd@ronamberdeloney.com
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