Abstract:

In recent years, the wave of digitalization has swept the world. Big data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, Internet of Things, blockchain and other new generation of information technologies are developing rapidly, and the innovation and integration of various technologies have brought profound changes in various organization forms. It transforms the way we work, communicate, and collaborate, leading to the creation of new forms of work and work arrangements. In this situation, it becomes possible for workers to collaborate and communicate across borders and time zones, leading to the emergence of new types of work, such as virtual teams, remote work, and global freelancing. To deal with the situation, many company begin to realize that qualified and capable leadership plays an important role. Digitalization has enabled new leadership practice contexts while also putting new expectations on the competencies that leaders must possess.

Nowadays, lots of leadership approaches or frameworks driven by digitalization has been created and developed by scholars worldwide, such as the digital leadership framework which includes networking leadership, open leadership, participative leadership, and agile leadership; the e-leadership framework; the virtual leadership framework; as well as the hybrid leadership framework. However, the definition of and boundaries among these leadership approaches or frameworks are still needed discussion. This paper will elucidate and distinguish the concepts and meanings of these emerging digital-driven leadership frameworks and investigates competences and skills that are most crucial for middle-level and lower-level managers in Chinese high-tech enterprises in times of digitalization.

To answer this question, the research of this paper is conducted with methods of literature reviews, interviews and a questionnaire survey. Firstly, Google Scholar, SLUB Dresden and CNKI were used to systematically search for the publications related to leadership and digitization. On the basis of literature research, 4 interviews with mid-level and lower-level managers in High-Technology companies has been conducted. The interviews are systematically and explicitly analyzed with the qualitative content analysis method (Mayring, 2014). Finally, based on the analysis, comparison and summary of existing leadership and competences frameworks driven by digitalization as well as the analysis of interviewees' views, a questionnaire survey is designed. The target group of the questionnaire are the middle- and lower-level managers in 14 Chinese high-tech enterprises. In total 70 questionnaires have been answered. The data collected by questionnaires is analyzed using SPSS.

Keywords:

Business Education, Entrepreneurship, Game Based Learning.