The Mediating Role of Strategic Management and Transformational Leadership in the Impact of Digital Transformation on Organizational Innovation

Digital transformation, strategic management, transformational leadership, and organizational innovation are critical elements for the success of organizations in the complex and rapidly changing business environment of the 21st century. Understanding the relationships between these concepts offers some opportunities for organizations to sustain their competitiveness and become pioneers in their markets. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of digital transformation on organizational innovation and to examine how this impact is realized through strategic management and transformative leadership. In this direction, data were obtained through questionnaires applied to white-collar employees and managers of companies operating in Istanbul and analyzed with structural equation modeling. Within the scope of the study, a positive and significant relationship is observed between digital transformation and strategic management, transformational leadership and organizational innovation. In addition, a positive and significant relationship was determined between strategic management and transformational leadership and organizational innovation scale. On the other hand, a similarly positive and significant relationship was found between transformational leadership scale and organizational innovation. The study determined that strategic management mediates between digital transformation and organizational innovation, and transformational leadership mediates between digital transformation and organizational innovation. However, the results revealed that the effect of digital transformation on organizational innovation is partially mediated by transformational leadership. These results show significant relationships between digital transformation, strategic management, transformational leadership, and organizational innovation