Unveiling Research Trends in Transformational Leadership and Competency: A Bibliometric Reflection (1986–2025)

Authors

  • Naznin Akther Islamic University of Technology
  • Zabeda Abdul Hamid International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). 
  • Nurita Binti Juhdi International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52805/

Abstract

This review paper presents a bibliometric analysis of transformational leadership and competency literature from the year of 1986 to June 2025, analyzing 869 articles from the Scopus indexed databases to identify publication trends, influential authors, countries, contributors, and research themes. Using VOS viewer software, this study examines article titles, co-occurrence keyword analysis, trendy topics, and co-authorship citation networks. The United States, Concordia University, and Sustainability (Switzerland) emerged as leading countries, institutions, and journals, respectively. Keyword analysis revealed themes including digital leadership, digital competence, knowledge sharing, innovation, and sustainability, while highlighting emerging topics such as transformational leadership's impact on teacher knowledge sharing and organizational resilience. Co-authorship analysis revealed the strong international collaboration with the United States, China, and Malaysia as key network nodes. The study emphasizes the dynamic nature of transformational leadership competencies and suggests future research directions in innovative leadership practices, knowledge management integration, and leadership's role in employee innovation and sustainability. These findings provide insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers and offer guidance for future research endeavours.

Author Biographies

  • Naznin Akther, Islamic University of Technology

    Naznin Akther is as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business and Technology Management (BTM) of Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Bangladesh. She has submitted her Ph.D. thesis to the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and is awaiting viva. Before that, Naznin completed her BBA and MBA degrees at the Department of Management Information Systems (MIS), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has nearly 12 years of teaching experience at two renowned universities in Bangladesh. She has published and presented a few papers at international conferences on technology and psychology issues.

  • Zabeda Abdul Hamid, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). 

    Dr. Zabeda Abdul Hamid is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Administration, Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).    

  • Nurita Binti Juhdi , International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

    Dr. Nurita Binti Juhdi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration, Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Science, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

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Published

2026-02-15

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Original Articles