Abstract
In the rapidly evolving digital economy, digital transformation has emerged as a crucial pathway for enterprises to achieve high-quality growth and maintain a competitive advantage. Enhancing digital innovation performance during the transformation process has become a pressing issue in both theoretical research and managerial practice. Grounded in Resource based View, this study examines the organizational transformation logic of “leader–strategy–performance” and develops a theoretical model that includes digital strategy as a mediating variable and digital transformation openness as a moderating variable. Based on data collected from 348 employees in China’s manufacturing sector, the study employed structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses. The results reveal that (1) digital transformational leadership significantly enhances employees’ digital innovation performance; (2) digital strategy partially mediates this relationship; (3) digital transformation openness positively moderates the link between digital strategy and digital innovation performance; and (4) it also amplifies the moderated mediation effect of digital transformational leadership on digital innovation performance via digital strategy.
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Chen, Z., Wang, Y. & Park, J. Research on the impact of digital transformational leadership on digital innovation performance. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34966-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34966-5
