Digital leadership orientation and organizational resilience: strategic foresight, agility, and flexibility

Purpose With the rapid movements toward digital transformation, the study of organizational resilience has become crucial, particularly in the SME sector. Grounded in Dynamic Capability View (DCV), this paper aims to examine the direct impact of digital leadership orientation on organizational resilience and indirect effect through dynamic capabilities of the organization (strategic foresight, agility, and flexibility). Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from 317 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Oman who have initiated digitalization by using a structured questionnaire and analyzed with PLS-SEM. Findings The outcomes reveal that digital leadership orientation positively influences dynamic capabilities of the organization and organizational resilience. The findings also demonstrate that dynamic capabilities mediate the relationship between digital leadership orientation and organizational resilience. Practical implications The findings of this study have practical implications toward policy makers, owners as well as managers of SMEs. The government can take more initiatives to increase the digital orientation in the leadership of SME through training. The owners and managers of SMEs could benefit from focusing on building dynamic capabilities to tackle the unforeseeable events in their organizations. Moreover, from an institutional standpoint, universities, business incubators, and SME support centers can play a crucial role in building digital leadership capability. Originality/value Grounded on the DCV, this study advances the resilience literature by confirming that digital leadership orientation plays a vital role in shaping organizational capabilities and resilience.