Exploring a Pathway to Sustainable Organizational Performance of South Korea in the Digital Age: The Effect of Digital Leadership on IT Capabilities and Organizational Learning

In the age of Industry 4.0, the emergence of new technologies is compelling organizations to search for new methods for sustainability. In particular, IT capabilities and organizational learning competencies with digital leadership play crucial roles in managing environmental dynamism, which are profoundly related to sustainable organizational performance in the digital age. This study explored sustainable organizational performance from the perspective of digital leadership (DL) and the role of IT capabilities (IT infrastructure, IT business spanning, IT-proactive stance), as well as organizational learning in sustainable organizational performance. For this research, data from 173 employees from South Korean organizations were collected using an online survey on digital leadership, IT capabilities, organizational learning, and sustainable organizational performance (SOP). Here, an SPSS- and AMOS-based structural equation modeling technique was used to examine the outcomes for analysis. The results confirmed that digital leadership significantly directly affected SOP. Moreover, there was no mediating effect of IT infrastructure and IT business spanning; however, an IT-proactive stance and organizational learning fully mediated the relationship between DL and SOP. This research will aid leadership behavior alongside other knowledge-based studies that empirically tested the role of digital leadership, IT capabilities, organizational learning, and SOP. As digital leadership competencies demand is surging for managing digital challenges alongside the verification of digital leadership behavior and knowledge-based theory, the important role of DL regarding IT capabilities and organizational learning in SOP needs to be prudently considered in the South Korean context.