Authentic leadership and employee agility in the context of a digital transformation: the roles of employees’ fixed digital mindset and affective commitment to change

Abstract

There is growing attention to the importance employees have in supporting change initiatives. However, few models of commitment to change have focused on both antecedents and outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore whether authentic leadership, via affective commitment to change, may have an influence on employee agility when undergoing a digital transformation. Research has found that there is a relationship between authentic leadership and commitment to change. However, there is limited research on potential boundary conditions of this relationship, and we therefore included employees’ fixed digital mindset as a moderator. Through a cross-sectional design, we collected survey data from an organization in the maritime industry undergoing a digital transformation. In total, 225 employees participated. Regression analyses revealed that there were no direct, moderating, or mediating effects. However, results showed a positive relationship between affective commitment to change and employee agility. These findings will be discussed, together with limitations and directions for future research. Keywords: digital transformation, authentic leadership, commitment to change, agility, digital mindset