The Mediating Role of Work Engagement in the Relationship Between Digital Leadership and Innovative Behavior and Organizational Agility

Abstract

In parallel with the developments in information and communication technologies, the concept of digital leadership has emerged with the impact of current approaches such as Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. Digital leadership is a phenomenal type of leadership that manifests itself in organizations in the dimensions of managing technological processes, innovation, and change. Technological processes make change and innovation inevitable for individuals and societies, which has encouraged innovative behavior, creativity, and agility. This study aims to determine the extent to which the mediating effect of work engagement on the dimension of digital leadership and innovative behavior will be reflected in organizational agility. In this context, questionnaire forms were prepared and sent to 494 people. The data obtained were analyzed and evaluated by using Structural Equation Modelling in IBM SPSS and IBM AMOS programs. As a result of the analysis, the partial mediation effect of work engagement on the effect of digital leadership on organizational agility was determined. The partial mediating effect of work engagement on the effect of innovative behavior on organizational agility was determined. In the modeling in which digital leadership and innovative behavior take place in the organization simultaneously, full mediation for digital leadership and partial mediation for innovative behavior were determined. The result obtained reveals the dominance of digital leadership. It is thought that this result can be explained in line with the Social Information Processing Theory and Role Theory.