Digital business strategizing: the role of leadership and organizational learning

Purpose This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework to understand the role of leadership and organizational learning in intra-organizational digital business strategizing, to contribute to our understanding of how digital business strategies emerge. Design/methodology/approach Based on a theoretical analysis of relevant literature to connect leadership and organizational learning to intra-organizational digital business strategizing, a co-creation model was developed. Findings The model demonstrates that digital business strategy emerge through the mediating role of leadership and organizational learning processes, facilitated by the moderating effect of contextual factors, which includes; strategic alignment, information technology competence, institutional trust and organizational change readiness. Research limitations/implications Two major limitations of this paper that warrant further research are as follows: the paper’s focus on intra-organizational digital business strategizing which excludes collaborative inter-organizational digital business strategizing among network organizations in Industry 4.0; and the need for empirical examination of the model to evaluate and validate it. Practical implications This paper offers a framework that will ensure that digital business strategizing maintains a fit between organizational strategy, structure, knowledge, culture, systems and processes that must align together to achieve the desired strategy. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the extendibility of leadership and organizational learning to digital business strategizing and to propose how digital business strategies emerge.