Digital Leadership, Change Readiness, And Technology-Enabled Organizational Performance

The rapid advancement of digital technology necessitates organizational adaptation, yet digital leadership alone is insufficient to guarantee successful transformation. Internal factors, specifically change readiness, are crucial for effective technology adoption. This study investigates how digital leadership affects technology-enabled organizational performance, both directly and indirectly, through the mediating role of change readiness. Employing a quantitative cross-sectional survey approach, data were collected from 250 operational employees and middle managers across various sectors undergoing digital transformation. The conceptual model was evaluated using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS. The results indicate that digital leadership positively and significantly affects organizational change readiness and performance. Furthermore, change readiness significantly affects performance and serves as a complementary mediator between digital leadership and technology-enabled organizational performance. The structural model explains 55.4% of the variance in change readiness and 57.6% of the variance in organizational performance. Ultimately, this study concludes that effective digital leaders must proactively build collective organizational readiness to maximize the benefits of digital transformation initiatives.