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Digital agility has emerged as a competency that is currently being chased by organizations and leaders regardless of industrial or geographical boundaries. By targeting digital agility, leaders are converting their organizations into future-ready workplaces that can leverage the unlimited benefits of technology (Sia et al., 2021). But digital agility as a strategic endeavor must not be limited only to top management or leaders. For an organization to reap the benefits of digital transformation, equal and significant efforts are required at the subordinate, supervisor, and organization levels (Zhao et al., 2023). Establishing a digital culture that encourages and promotes digital responsiveness is also regarded as important for digital agility (Grover, 2022). Such an integrated investment of efforts and resources toward digitization is hailed as the need of the hour for businesses in order to remain competitive during turbulent times. Additionally, digital agility helps organizations respond to difficult situations by enhancing the firm’s innovation capabilities (Peng & Tao, 2022).
Real-life business organizations provide tangible examples of the significance of digital agility. For instance, one exemplary company that has embraced digital agility is Apple Inc., a Fortune 500 company renowned for its innovative products and digital ecosystem. Apple's commitment to digital transformation, led by visionary leaders such as Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, has allowed the company to consistently adapt to technological advancements and changing market demands. Through continuous innovation and investment in digital capabilities, Apple has established itself as a global leader in the technology industry. Another notable example is Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company that has revolutionized the retail landscape with its digital agility. By leveraging advanced technologies and data analytics, Amazon has transformed the way people shop and has disrupted traditional brick-and-mortar retail models. Its ability to swiftly adapt to customer preferences, optimize logistics, and personalize the shopping experience has propelled Amazon to become a global e-commerce giant.
In this study, we examine how digital leadership capability (DLC), an essential component of digital agility (Mishra et al., 2023; Benitez et al., 2022), interacts with knowledge-integration capability (KIC) (Del Giudice et al., 2021; Sjödin et al., 2020) and inter-team coordination (ITC) (Xie et al., 2022) to impact information-technology innovation (IIN) at the organization level. This intricate interplay among these elements holds immense importance for both management research and practice, as recent studies (Xie et al., 2022) have highlighted the need for further investigation into the relationship between digital agility and innovation.
Digital leadership and digital-leadership capability may be misconstrued as similar constructs; however, they are different from each other. Digital leadership is a mix of digital, strategic, business, and market leadership skills (Kane et al., 2019). These digital leaders (synonymous with managers) are key decision-making professionals who possess the combined skill sets of business and information technology (IT) (Weill & Ross, 2009). These leaders may come from a management or IT background; nonetheless, they fully acknowledge the importance of synergy between business and technology (Sia et al., 2016). Digital leaders motivate both digitally abled and digitally challenged workforces to be a part of digital transformation. Hence, digital leadership is usually an individual’s leadership skill. On the other hand, digital-leadership capability is a firm-level ability to utilize and capitalize the unique skills of digital leaders in order to achieve digital agility and transformation (Hüsing et al., 2015). Hence, digital-leadership capability is an organization-level dynamic capability.