The rapid acceleration of digital transformation has emerged as a critical determinant of survival and competitiveness for public organizations in the 21st century. Particularly, public enterprises, which must balance public interest and entrepreneuri...
The rapid acceleration of digital transformation has emerged as a critical determinant of survival and competitiveness for public organizations in the 21st century. Particularly, public enterprises, which must balance public interest and entrepreneurial efficiency, require the demonstration of innovative leadership capable of agile responses to a dynamic environment. This study aims to empirically analyze the impact of middle managers' digital leadership on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in public enterprises and to systematically investigate the mediating mechanism of grit, a key psychological resource representing sustained effort and perseverance.
A survey was conducted among 742 middle managers from public enterprises in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapped mediation analysis. The results confirmed that digital leadership exerted a significant positive direct effect on OCB and, importantly, that digital leadership also strengthened grit, which in turn significantly promoted OCB through an indirect effect.
Among the components of digital leadership, digital vision sharing, digital HR skill development, and change management played critical roles in enhancing consistency of interest and perseverance of effort. Perseverance of effort, in particular, showed a stronger predictive effect on OCB, demonstrating that behavioral persistence is a decisive psychological mechanism for sustainable organizational performance in the era of digital transition.
This study offers a differentiated academic contribution by redefining digital leadership not merely as a technical or structural competence but as a comprehensive influence mechanism that deepens employees' psychological resources and drives behavioral transformation. By empirically validating the integrated pathway linking digital leadership, grit, and organizational citizenship behavior, it expands the theoretical boundaries of public sector leadership studies in the digital age.
In terms of policy implications, public organizations should not only reinforce middle managers' digital leadership capabilities but also systematically support the development of employees' psychological resilience and long-term perseverance. Furthermore, it is necessary to institutionalize the evaluation of organizational citizenship behavior as a formal component of performance management systems, thereby promoting voluntary commitment and innovation behaviors.
This dissertation provides critical practical and theoretical insights for constructing an integrated leadership and human resource development strategy in public enterprises facing digital transformation, and calls for future research to incorporate broader organizational contexts, cultural variables, and multi-layered psychological pathways.