Effect of employees’ entrepreneurial orientation on digital competence : moderating impact of middle managers’ technical competence | |
| Author | Perera, Kandane Arachchige Kiththi |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.DBA-SOM-24-01 |
| Subject(s) | Middle managers--Case studies--Sri Lanka Transformational leadership--Case studies--Sri Lanka Employees--Effect of technological innovations onOrganizational behavior Entrepreneurship |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Digital transformation has become a determining endeavor for organization seeking to thrive in ever revolving and disrupting digital landscape. It is now crucial for organizations to focus on workforce transformation, where the interplay between the technology and human perspectives is to be critically evaluated. Recent research underscores the pivotal role of middle managers in the digital transformation process. In this context, organizations shifted the responsibility for promoting entrepreneurial orientation fostering proactive, risk taking and innovative behaviors among employees. It is also important to equip employees with digital culture, mindset, and importantly digital competence. Amidst the uncertainty of digital technologies, dynamic market conditions and evolving customer behaviour, it is vital to investigate the relationship between individual-level entrepreneurial orientation and digital competence of employees. Furthermore, it is useful to investigate the moderating impact of technical competence of middle managers on this relationship given the vital role being played by middle managers for executing such digital initiatives. There is limited research focusing on these relationships. An empirical study was carried out at Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, the national Telco. A quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey was deployed involving 353 employees and 87 managers while controlling demographic variables: age, gender, experience, job tenure, and working domain. Detailed tests were performed for construct measurements including initial data screening, reliability, validity, and factor analysis. Structural Equation Modelling and statistical analysis using SPSS and AMOS software were deployed to examine hypothesized relationships. The results revealed that individual-level entrepreneurial orientation, encompassing proactiveness, risk taking, and innovativeness orientations has a significant direct and positive effect on employees’ digital competence. Notably, the moderating effect is stronger at low levels of technical competence on the relationship between innovativeness orientation and digital competence, whereas the same moderating effect is stronger at higher levels of technical competence on the relationships between proactiveness, risk taking orientations and digital competence. This study sheds light on the critical role of individual-level entrepreneurial orientation and the moderating impact of middle managers technical competence in shaping digital competence of employees in the context of Digital Transformation. |
| Year | 2024 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (Publication code = DBA-SM, SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Badir, Yuosre F. M.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ekbordin Winijkul;Zimmermann, Willi; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | AIT Scholarships; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2024 |