Exploring the impact of perceived organizational generativity on employee digital performance: a study of enterprise social media

Purpose Under the trend of digital transformation, organizational generativity offers a new perspective for exploring the realization of employees’ digital performance. However, research on the impact of organizational generativity on employee-level outcomes remains limited. Based on the social cognitive theory, this study constructs a conceptual model in which perceived organizational generativity affects employees’ digital performance through digital self-efficacy, and deeply explores the moderating role of goal orientation in the influence mechanism of perceived organizational generativity, aiming to promote and enhance employees’ digital performance. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 310 Chinese employees across three stages. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test our hypotheses. Findings The four capabilities of perceived organizational generativity (digital spanning, relating, adapting and learning) have a positive impact on employees’ digital performance. Digital self-efficacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between perceived organizational generativity and employees’ digital performance. Employee performance-prove and performance-avoidance goal orientations negatively moderate the positive relationship between perceived organizational generativity and digital self-efficacy. Originality/value This study reveals the internal mechanism by which perceived organizational generativity affects employees’ digital performance and explores the key boundary conditions impacting the influence mechanism of perceived organizational generativity. The findings offer valuable insights for organizations that utilize enterprise social media (ESM) to foster generativity and provide novel technical perspectives for enhancing employees’ digital performance.