The role of the entrepreneurial mindset in enhancing digital transformation: An exploratory study of the opinions of a sample of administrative leaders at the University of Kirkuk

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential mediation of the entrepreneurial mindset in the impact of digital transformation, and its dimensions (digital infrastructure and digital leadership), in the university of Kirkuk on administrative leaders. The descriptive-analytical research method was used and the data was gathered by means of a questionnaire that was given to a number of university administrators. Data analysis was conducted by SPSS software and the findings indicated that all factors of the entrepreneurial mindset correlate positively with digital transformation. But there were two aspects of this transformation that were most strongly and consistently enhanced by both risk taking propensity and ambiguity tolerance. By comparison, despite the nonsignificant relationship, opportunity recognition exerted no significant direct impact on overall digital transformation, suggesting that having readiness for execution and acceptance of ambiguity are more important than the degree of perceptions of opportunity. In addition, the results demonstrated digital leadership as the aspect of transformation achieving the best ratings, suggesting a certain degree of managerial understanding on the relevance of the technology. The researchers also suggested the creation of training courses to promote entrepreneurial mindset and digital skills on leaders.