Organizational Culture as a Mediator Between Leadership and Employee Digital Adaptation in SMEs: A Conceptual Review and Research Agenda

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are under growing pressure to adopt digital tools, yet technology adoption alone does not guarantee that employees change how they work. This review examines how leadership influences employee digital adaptation and why organizational culture is a plausible mediating mechanism in that relationship. Drawing on the leadership, organizational culture, technology acceptance and change literatures, the paper (1) clarifies the three core constructs, (2) synthesizes evidence on the leadership–adaptation, leadership–culture and culture–adaptation links, (3) explains why SMEs are a distinctive setting, and (4) proposes a mediation framework with four testable propositions. The review argues that leaders shape the shared values, norms and routines that employees draw on when they decide whether to learn and use digital tools, so that culture transmits much of the leader’s influence. The paper closes with a research agenda covering design, measurement and context, and with practical implications for SME owners and managers.