Digital business strategizing: the role of leadership and organizational learning

This paper develops 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.

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.

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, that includes; strategic alignment, IT competence, institutional trust, and organizational change readiness.

Two major limitations of this paper that warrant further research are; 1) 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 2) the need for empirical examination of the model to evaluate and validate it.

It 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.

It is the first study to explore the extendibility of leadership and organizational learning to digital business strategizing and proposes how digital business strategies emerge.