How Digital Leadership Becomes Organizational Capability: A Systematic Review of Transformation Mechanisms and Performance Outcomes
Abstract
This systematic literature review examines how digital leadership is translated from leader-level attributes into organization-level capabilities and subsequent organizational outcomes. Using Scopus as the sole database, 442 records were identified through a predefined Boolean search and screened following PRISMA 2020. After document-type, language, publication-stage, title–abstract, and full-text eligibility screening, 34 empirical journal articles were included in the qualitative thematic synthesis. The findings identify six recurring dimensions of digital leadership: digital vision and strategic orientation, technology sensemaking and digital mindset, change orchestration, empowerment and collaboration, innovation-oriented behavior, and talent or capability development. These leadership inputs are converted into organizational capabilities through five principal mechanisms: strategic alignment and digital orientation, organizational learning and knowledge sharing, digital culture and human-resource practices, employee empowerment and adaptive behavior, and technology integration and innovation processes. The resulting capabilities include digital dynamic capabilities, organizational agility, innovation capability, digitalization capability, technological capability, organizational learning capability, and transformation capability. Their effects extend to digital transformation, innovation, organizational performance, resilience, sustainability, and ESG-related outcomes, while contextual factors shape the strength and direction of these relationships. The review proposes an integrative A-T-C-O capability-conversion framework that conceptualizes digital leadership primarily as a micro-foundation whose organizational value emerges through collective and repeatable capability-building processes.
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