Achieving an agile organisation in an Indonesian telecommunications company: investigation on leadership impact and mediation variables

Purpose Agility is an important characteristic that every organisation requires in today’s competitive digital era. Telecommunications companies in Indonesia face various types of competition, both from the same industry and new models. This study aims to identify the agility level of telecommunications companies in Indonesia. It also examines the effect of leadership style directly and indirectly through the mediation of employee readiness, innovation culture, technology capability and organisational structure. Design/methodology/approach This study used a non-probability sampling technique. The macroprocess was used to identify and measure the direct and indirect effects. The results are based on survey data collected from a telecommunications company in Indonesia with a total of 1,073 employees. Findings The results of this study showed that an adaptive leadership style has a direct and significant positive effect on the organisational agility level. Employee readiness, innovation culture, technological capability and organisational structure function as mediators between adaptive leadership style and agility. Practical implications This study could contribute to the development of programs to ignite and boost organisational agility. Organisations are recommended to conduct periodic evaluations to measure agility levels and amend their programs accordingly. Originality/value Adaptive leadership style was used, which expresses the leader’s deep concern for employee needs and organisational achievement. This leader will most likely positively impact employees and favourably influence the organisation (technology, structure, innovation and agility).