Psychological safety as a key moderator: exploring digital leadership, flow and improvisational ability through a dual PLS-SEM and fsQCA approach

This study examines how digital leadership influences employees' cognitive and affective competencies, emphasizing the mediating role of flow at work and the moderating effect of psychological safety. Drawing on flow theory, it investigates how digital leadership enhances improvisational ability (cognitive dimension) and emotional commitment (affective dimension) in knowledge-based industries undergoing digital transformation. Adopting a mixed-method analytical approach, the study employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test hypotheses. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) used to uncover multiple pathways leading to high improvisational ability and emotional commitment. Data were collected through three-wave survey with each wave administered one month apart. Total sample comprised of 405 respondents from knowledge intensive sectors. The PLS-SEM results reveal that digital leadership positively affects flow at work, which in turn significantly enhances both improvisational ability and emotional commitment. Flow at work significantly mediates the relationship between digital leadership and employees' improvisational ability and emotional commitment. Moreover, psychological safety strengthens the link between flow at work and employee outcomes. The fsQCA findings identify flow at work and psychological safety as core conditions for achieving high improvisational ability and emotional commitment. This study advances theoretical understanding of digital leadership by identifying flow at work as a critical mechanism and psychological safety as a boundary condition in fostering employee competencies, offering practical insights for organizations navigating digital transformation.