From digital vision to strategic agility: The mediating roles of organizational learning and innovation and the contingent influence of leadership climate

PURPOSE: This study investigates how digital leadership influences strategic agility, emphasizing the mediating roles of organizational learning and innovation, and the moderating effect of leadership climate. By integrating dynamic capabilities theory and upper echelons theory, the research develops and empirically tests a comprehensive model of agility in volatile environments. METHODOLOGY: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 302 managerial and supervisory respondents across diverse industries, including services, manufacturing, and technology. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS to test hypothesized direct, mediating, and moderating relationships. FINDINGS: Results show that digital leadership directly enhances strategic agility and exerts a significant indirect effect through organizational learning, which emerged as the primary mediating mechanism. While digital leadership positively predicts innovation and innovation is directionally associated with strategic agility, the indirect mediation path through innovation did not reach statistical significance, suggesting that organizational learning is the dominant pathway linking digital leadership to strategic agility. Leadership climate positively moderated the relationship between organizational learning and strategic agility. The cross-sectional design limits causal inference, and reliance on self-reported data may introduce bias. Future longitudinal and mixed-methods research could capture temporal dynamics and deepen insights into leadership climates across contexts. IMPLICATIONS: Theoretically, this study advances strategic agility research by integrating Dynamic Capabilities and Upper Echelons perspectives to explain how digital orientation is converted into agility through organizational learning and innovation, while identifying organizational climate as a critical boundary condition. Practically, the findings demonstrate that digital initiatives alone are insufficient, highlighting the need for learning-oriented practices, innovation routines, and supportive climates to translate digital efforts into adaptive performance. ORIGINALITY & VALUE: This study advances the theorization of strategic agility by unifying leadership, learning, and innovation into an empirically tested framework. It extends Dynamic Capabilities and Upper Echelons perspectives by demonstrating how leadership climate conditions the transformation of organizational processes into agility, offering a more nuanced and integrated explanation of adaptive performance.