{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T06:51:43Z","timestamp":1772434303676,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,3]],"date-time":"2023-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1693699200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Axioms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In today\u2019s digital age, the financial industry, a cornerstone of the global economy, is undergoing monumental shifts. While business performance hinges on proficient leadership, the seismic wave of digital transformation poses new challenges and magnifies the need for specific leadership competencies. The urgency is clear: adapt or become obsolete. However, there is a lack of clarity regarding which competencies are essential during such transformations. To address this gap, the purpose of this study is to identify the leadership competencies that leaders in the financial industry should possess during the digital transformation process and to determine the influential relationships among these competencies and which ones are highly influential. This paper extensively investigates the criteria for evaluating leadership competencies and integrates expert judgments to construct an evaluation framework for leadership competencies during digital transformation. The Z-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (Z-DEMATEL) technique was applied to identify the influential relationships among the criteria and generate influence weights for each criterion. In addition, based on the results of Z-DEMATEL, an Influence Classification Map (ICM) was plotted that categorized the criteria into four groups: core, driving, independent, and impact. Management implications and improvement suggestions are provided accordingly. Z-DEMATEL enhances the general form of fuzzy DEMATEL. By integrating the Z-fuzzy theory, Z-DEMATEL not only accounts for the uncertainty of the evaluation environment but also measures the confidence level of experts. Taking Taiwan\u2019s financial industry as a case study, this study revealed that \u201cvision and imagination,\u201d \u201ccritical analysis,\u201d and \u201cstrategic perspective\u201d were the top three criteria with higher weights, while \u201ccritical analysis\u201d and \u201cinterpersonal sensitivity\u201d were the core criteria. Business managers can use the results to design leadership training programs that meet the requirements of digital transformation and ultimately improve the performance of organizations during the transformation. Moreover, the concepts and methods presented in this study can be applied to other industries that are embarking on their digital transformation journeys.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/axioms12090855","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,4]],"date-time":"2023-09-04T02:59:55Z","timestamp":1693796395000},"page":"855","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Leadership Competencies in the Financial Industry during Digital Transformation: An Evaluation Framework Using the Z-DEMATEL Technique"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Min-Hsu","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chien-Cheng","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kai-Ying","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8281-8740","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Huai-Wei","family":"Lo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 64002, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"566","DOI":"10.1108\/EJTD-04-2020-0078","article-title":"Leadership competencies for the 21st century: A review from the Western world literature","volume":"45","author":"Fotso","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur. 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