THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL LEADERSHIP ON SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATION ROLE OF DIGITAL OF DIGITAL CULTURE AND EMPLOYEES' DIGITAL CAPABILITIES

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of digital leadership on the sustainable organizational performance of financial institutions in the Nuwara Eli.v.'.a district, Sri Lanka. The study also examines the mediating roles of digital culture and employees' digital capabilities. The study collected prirnary data from the respondents and secondary data from the annual reports. Primary data were collected using a qr,restionnaire distributed through ph,vsical copies and by post to 228 employees of fifteen financial institutions. Lrtilizing a proportionate simple random sampling techniqLre. The qr-restionnaire comprised 3l questions. rated on a five-point Likert scale rangin-q from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The study population consisted of fifteen financial institutions, with secondary data covering recent annual reports from2022 t" 2021:,l_tal-u-,sis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 26.0), employing descriptive statistics to measure demographic variables and correlation. and mediation through regression analy'ses to research variables. : Results revealed a strong and positive relationship between digital leadership and sustainable organizational performance. Mediation analysis demonstrated that digital culture and employees' digital capabilities partially mediate this relationship. with proportions of 35.61Yo and 5 I .85o% respectively. Keywords: Digitctal leadership, Digital culture, Enrplov-ees' digital capabilities, Sustainable organizational perforntctnce, Digital sustainabiliQ, Financittl institutions.