Navigating AI Adoption: The Role of Organizational Culture Under Disruption Severity

This study proposes a novel framework to manage organizational agility in uncertain environments while exploring the interplay between organizational culture, disruption severity, and AI readiness and responsiveness to emerging types of disruption. The research draws its insights from the perspective of dynamic capabilities and asserts that organizational culture has the ability to guide AI integration at junctions when disruptions occur. It was based on a survey methodology of 383 respondents across 4 sectors – manufacturing, retail, IT services and healthcare. To validate hypothesized relationships, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used. The results confirmed that organizational culture has a significant positive impact on AI readiness and responsiveness. Additionally, the results indicate that disruption severity is a key moderator, enhancing the effect of organizational culture in these particularly disrupted contexts. This shows two roles of organizational culture in ensuring technological capability as proactive and reactive. In this study, organizational culture and disruption management was unified within a framework to deliver unique insights into the strategic alignment of cultural and technological resources. To extend existing literature, and address gaps in the existing literature, the research considers the moderating role of disruption severity in dynamic environments. This is actionable guidance for organizations to better develop their technological adaptability, especially in a crisis. Future research on cultural dimensions as well as longitudinal impacts could enrich understanding as much as possible. The novel contributions of the study make it valuable to both academic and practitioner audiences interested in understanding organizational behavior and technology management.