Digital Leadership and Employee Digital Performance: The Mediating Roles of High Involvement Human Resource Practices and Dynamic Capability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33506/sl.v15i3.5712Keywords:
Digital Leadership, High-Involvement HRM Practices, Employee Dynamic Capability, Employee Digital PerformanceAbstract
Digital transformation has become a strategic priority for higher education institutions seeking to improve organizational effectiveness and employee performance. However, previous studies have largely examined digital leadership, HRM practices, and employee capability separately, providing limited understanding of how digital leadership improves employee digital performance. Therefore, this study investigates the indirect effect of digital leadership on employee digital performance through High-Involvement Human Resource Management Practices (HI-HRMP) and employee dynamic capability. This study draws on the Resource Based View Theory (RBV), and Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT) to suggest that digital leadership has a positive effect on the adaptive capabilities of employees, organizational HR practices, and outcomes of digital work. The data were obtained from 205 academic and administrative staff in one private university in Indonesia through questionnaires (online and paper), and further analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings reveal that digital leadership does not directly influence employee digital performance. Instead, its effect occurs indirectly through HI-HRMP and employee dynamic capability. This study contributes to the digital leadership literature by explaining the organizational and individual mechanisms linking leadership and digital performance in higher education institutions.
References
Abdullah, M. A., Hamid, R. S., & Duriani. (2025). The role of digital leadership and digital capabilities on dynamic capabilities and digital performance of MSME employees. Al-Kharaj: Journal of Islamic Economic and Business, 7(1), 492–508. https://doi.org/10.24256/kharaj.v7i1.6570.
Al-kharabsheh, S. A., Attiany, M. S., Alshawabkeh, R. O. K., Hamadneh, S., & Alshurideh, M. T. (2023). The impact of digital HRM on employee performance through employee motivation. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 7(1), 275–282. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ijdns.2022.10.006.
Andik, M., & Ratnasari, S. D. (2023). Professional competency and employee performance in the digitalization era mediated by employee engagement. International Journal of Business Marketing and Management, 8(1), 41–51 https://www.academia.edu/download/104209514/8340436418.pdf.
Asyari, R. R., Sumardi, & Hamid, N. (2023). Moderation effect of work motivation: The effect of digital competency on bank employee performance. Accounting Profession Journal (APAJI), 5(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.35593/apaji.v5i1.176.
Cahyadi, A., Marwa, T., Poór, J., Maulana, A., & Szabó, K. (2024). High-Involvement Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Resilience: The Mediating Role of Employee Technology Adaptation—A Case Study of South Sumatra. Administrative Sciences, 14(11), 292. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14110292.
Cahyadi, A., Marwa, T., Hágen, I., Siraj, M. N., Santati, P., Poór, J., & Szabó, K. (2022). Leadership styles, high-involvement human resource management practices, and individual employee performance in small and medium enterprises in the digital era. Economies, 10(7), 162. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10070162.
Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., Vrontis, D., & Giovando, G. (2023). Digital workplace and organization performance: Moderating role of digital leadership capability. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 8(1), Article 100334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2023.100334.
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Martin, J. A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: What are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21(10–11), 1105–1121. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0266(200010/11)21:10/11<1105::AID-SMJ133>3.0.CO;2-E .
Foss, N. J., Schmidt, J., & Teece, D. J. (2023). Ecosystem leadership as a dynamic capability. Long Range Planning, 56(1), 102270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2022.102270.
Gede D. Wardana, D. G. W., Agustin, N. L. P. I. B., Negara, I. G. N. M. K., & Yusniawati, Y. N. P. (2023). Digitalization of leadership communication, work motivation, and nurse performance: A literature review. Nurse and Health: Jurnal Keperawatan, 12(2), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.36720/nhjk.v12i2.539.
Gu, M., Zhang, Y., Li, D., & Huo, B. (2023). The effect of high-involvement human resource management practices on supply chain resilience and operational performance. Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 8(2), 176–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmse.2022.12.001.
Guha, S., Rabby, S. K. M. A. H., Chowdhury, S. R., & Julee, S. A. (2025). Enhancing employee innovation capabilities through high-involvement HRM: Mediating role of knowledge sharing and transformational leadership. Future Business Journal, 11, Article 59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-025-00482-1.
Haedar, H., Apriyanti, A., & Kasran, M. (2021). The effect of motivation on employee performance with organizational culture as a moderating variable. Kontigensi: Jurnal Ilmiah Manajemen, 9(2), 653–659. https://doi.org/10.56457/jimk.v9i2.226.
Hasan, I. A., Basalamah, S., Amang, B., & Bijang, J. (2023). The influence of leadership, work environment, competence, and character development on organizational commitment and employee performance in banking in Sinjai Regency. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 8(5), e02176. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i5.217.
Hossain, S., Fernando, M., & Akter, S. (2025). Digital leadership: Towards a dynamic managerial capability perspective of artificial intelligence-driven leader capabilities. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 32(2), 189–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/15480518251319624.
Jameson, J., Rumyantseva, N., Cai, M., Markowski, M., Essex, R., & McNay, I. (2022). A systematic review and framework for digital leadership research maturity in higher education. Computers and Education Open, 3, Article 100115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2022.100115.
Jia, J., Liu, Z., Liu, W., & Hu, J. (2023). Promotion mechanism of high-involvement human resource management practices to employees’ bootlegging: A moderated mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1051420. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1051420.
Legate, A. E., Hair, J. F., Jr., Chretien, J. L., & Risher, J. J. (2023). PLS-SEM: Prediction-oriented solutions for HRD researchers. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 34(1), 91–109. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21466.
Mazurchenko, A., & Zelenka, M. (2022). Employees' digital competency development in the construction and automotive industrial sectors. Central European Business Review, 11(1), 41–63. https://doi.org/10.18267/j.cebr.284.
Nilasari, B. M., Nisfiannoor, M., & Pongoh, A. S. (2024). Transforming leadership style: Enhancing organizational culture, innovative behavior and employees performance. Jurnal Manajemen Bisnis, 15(2), 275–296. https://doi.org/10.18196/mb.v15i2.21151.
Norouzi, H., Nosrat Panah, R., & Barani, S. (2022). The influence of digital leadership on firm performance in dynamic environments: The role of dynamic capabilities, business model innovation, and sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Business Management, 14(3), 445–474. https://doi.org/10.22059/JIBM.2022.333405.4290.
Okunlola, J. O. (2025). Digital leadership and employee performance: A meta-analysis. Social Sciences and Education Research Review, 12(1), 226–236. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15804548.
Phan, X. T., Ngo, H. N., Nguyen, T. L., Pham, D. T., Truong, N. C., Pham, N. A., & Do, T. K. T. (2022). The effects of dynamic employee capabilities, fintech and innovative work behavior on employee and supply chain performance: Evidence from Vietnamese financial industry. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 10(4), 1305–1314. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.uscm.2022.7.009.
Qiao, G., Li, Y., & Hong, A. (2024). The strategic role of digital transformation: Leveraging digital leadership to enhance employee performance and organizational commitment in the digital era. Systems, 12(11), Article 457. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12110457.
Rubel, M. R. B., Kee, D. M. H., & Rimi, N. N. (2023). Promoting technology innovation performance through high involvement HRM, technology adaptation and innovativeness. Business Process Management Journal, 29(5), 1277–1302. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-10-2022-0526.
Razak, A., Apridar, Ayyub, Muslem, A., & Hankinson, E. (2022). The influence of leadership style and organizational structure on employee performance with work motivation as an intervening variable. International Journal of Educational Organization and Leadership, 29(1), 103–117. https://doi.org/10.18848/2329-1656/CGP/v29i01/103-117.
Renkema, M., de Leede, J., & Van Zyl, L. E. (2021). High-involvement HRM and innovative behaviour: The mediating roles of nursing staff's autonomy and affective commitment. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(8), 2499–2514. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13390.
Retnowati, C. N., & Santosa, B. (2023). Digital leadership, culture & employee capabilities: Sustainable organizational performance in education—A case study. Enrichment: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 1(6), 257–265. https://doi.org/10.55324/enrichment.v1i5.36.
Riski, A., & Rino, R. (2024). The effect of digital leadership style, motivation, and work ability on employee performance after the COVID-19 pandemic. Edunesia: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan, 5(1), 424–441. https://doi.org/10.51276/edu.v5i1.647.
Rumapea, E. O., Aprinawati, A., Siboro, I. P., Manurung, K., Khairunnisa, K., Silitonga, T. P., & Ovianti, W. (2024). Digital leadership in improving organizational employee performance. Holistic Science, 4(3), 454–460. https://doi.org/10.56495/hs.v4i3.768
Senadjki, A., Au Yong, H. N., Ganapathy, T., & Ogbeibu, S. (2024). Unlocking the potential: The impact of digital leadership on firms' performance through digital transformation. Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development, 4(2), 161–177. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-06-2023-0050.
Siraj, N., Hágen, I., Cahyadi, A., Tangl, A., & Desalegn, G. (2022). Linking leadership to employees performance: The mediating role of human resource management. Economies, 10(5), Article 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10050111.
Subramaniam, S. N., Dorasamy, M., & Malarvizhi, C. A. N. (2025). Personality trait and employee performance in digital transformation: The mediating effect of employee dynamic capability. Cogent Business & Management, 12(1), Article 2448774. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2448774.
Thang, X., Nam, H., Linh, T., Tai, D., Chan, N., & Anh, N. (2022). Uncertain Supply Chain Management The effects of dynamic employee capabilities , fintech and innovative work behavior on employee and supply chain performance : Evidence from Vietnamese financial industry. 10, 1305–1314. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.uscm.2022.7.009.
Tworek, K., Bieńkowska, A., Hawrysz, L., & Maj, J. (2023). The model of organizational performance based on employees' dynamic capabilities: Verification during crisis caused by Black Swan event. IEEE Access, 11, 45039–45055. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3273608.
Wang, G., Mansor, Z. D., Choy Chong, Y., Niu, X., & Lee, C. K. C. (2024). Linking digital leadership and employee digital performance in SMEs in China: The chain-mediating role of high-involvement human resource management practice and employee dynamic capability. Heliyon, 10(16), Article e36026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36026.
Wang, G., Dato Mansor, Z., & Choy Leong, Y. (2024). Unlocking digital performance: Exploring the mediating role of employee competitive attitudes, behaviors, and dynamic capabilities in Chinese SMEs under high-involvement human resource management practice. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 13(1), Article 37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-024-00395-3.
Wang, G., Niu, Y., Dato Mansor, Z., Choy Leong, Y., & Yan, Z. (2024). Unlocking digital potential: Exploring the drivers of employee dynamic capability on employee digital performance in Chinese SMEs—Moderation effect of competitive climate. Heliyon, 10(4), Article e25583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25583.
Wang, J., Zhang, J., & Zhao, Y. (2025). Strategic HRM and SME innovation: A chain mechanism of learning-resilience pathway and nonlinear environmental dynamism. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1584489. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1584489.
Widodo, S. D., Rubiyanti, N., Widodo, A., & Silvianita, A. (2024). The role of digital transformation in improving employee performance. Journal of International Conference Proceedings, 7(1), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.32535/jicp.v7i1.3181.
Wilarman, N., & Tiarapuspa. (2024). Pengaruh digital leadership, HI-HRMP, dan employee dynamic capabilities terhadap employee digital performance di sektor teknologi informasi. Jurnal Ekonomi, Manajemen, Akuntansi dan Keuangan, 6(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.53697/emak.v6i1.2072.
Wu, X., Tang, Y., Fang, X., Xu, Y., & Qiao, S. (2025). The effects of servitization, digitalization, and digital learning orientation on sustainable performance: A hybrid PLS-SEM-ANN model. IEEE Access, 13, 30570–30585. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3538635.
Zam, E. Z., Amin, S., Johannes, J., & Rosita, S. (2025). Digital leadership and employee performance in the public sector organizations: An investigation of organizational learning, dynamic capability and digital capability as mediation. Multidisciplinary Science Journal, 7(9), 2025448. https://doi.org/10.31893/multiscience.2025448.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 SENTRALISASI
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Please find the rights and licenses in Sentralisasi. By submitting the article/manuscript of the article, the author(s) agree with this policy. No specific document sign-off is required.
1. License
The non-commercial use of the article will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license as currently displayed on Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
2. Author(s)' Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by the stated author(s), has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author, and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
3. User/Public Rights
Sentralisasi's spirit is to disseminate articles published are as free as possible. Under the Creative Commons license, Sentralisasi permits users to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work for non-commercial purposes only. Users will also need to attribute authors and Sentralisasi on distributing works in the journal and other media of publications. Unless otherwise stated, the authors are public entities as soon as their articles got published.
4. Rights of Authors
Authors retain all their rights to the published works, such as (but not limited to) the following rights;
- Copyright and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
- The right to use the substance of the article in own future works, including lectures and books,
- The right to reproduce the article for own purposes,
- The right to self-archive the article (please read our deposit policy),
- The right to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the article's published version (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal (Sentralisasi).
5. Co-Authorship
If the article was jointly prepared by more than one author, any authors submitting the manuscript warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to be agreed on this copyright and license notice (agreement) on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this policy. Sentralisasi will not be held liable for anything that may arise due to the author(s) internal dispute. Sentralisasi will only communicate with the corresponding author.
6. Royalties
Being an open accessed journal and disseminating articles for free under the Creative Commons license term mentioned, author(s) aware that Sentralisasi entitles the author(s) to no royalties or other fees.
7. Miscellaneous
Sentralisasi will publish the article (or have it published) in the journal if the article editorial process is successfully completed. Sentralisasi's editors may modify the article to a style of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, referencing, and usage that deems appropriate. The author acknowledges that the article may be published so that it will be publicly accessible and such access will be free of charge for the readers as mentioned in point 3.
