Impact of Transformational Leadership on the Innovative Performance of Vietnamese SMEs—Moderating Role of Industry 4.0 Base Technology

This study investigates the relationship between transformational leadership (TL; idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration) and innovation performance (InPe), as well as whether Industry 4.0 base technologies (In40; IoT, big data, cloud computing, and machine learning) moderate the relationship between TL and the InPe of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Vietnam. A total of 126 managers and supervisors working for Vietnamese SMEs participated in the survey that was used to obtain this data. The research result shows that four aspects of TL positively affect the InPe of Vietnamese SMEs. In addition, the link between TL and InPe of Vietnamese SMEs was controlled by In40, and there were differences in how In40 was used by transaction and national organizations. The findings will help Vietnamese small and medium enterprise (SME) managers and supervisors to employ different leadership styles to improve their organization’s innovative performance in the era of Industry 4.0. In addition, our research findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for increasing SEs’ InPe through the digitization of service companies.