The Impact of Organizational Culture on Digital Transformation Success: Analyzing the Role of Flexibility, Leadership, and Resistance to Change
Subject Areas :Shabnam Fouladvand 1 * , Ahmad Ali Oumouei Milan 2
1 - Faculty of Management and Accounting, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Alborz, Iran
2 - Department of Industrial Management, Qazvin Islamic Azad University, Iran
Keywords: Digital transformation, organizational culture, transformational leadership, organizational flexibility, resistance to change, employee characteristics,
Abstract :
Digital transformation has become one of the strategic and vital challenges facing today’s organizations. Despite significant investments in emerging technologies, many organizations have failed to achieve their intended goals in the realm of digital transformation. Recent studies suggest that success in implementing these transformations depends more on internal organizational factors—especially organizational culture—than on technological capabilities. This study aims to analyze the impact of organizational culture components on the success of digital transformation processes and also examines the mediating roles of transformational leadership, organizational flexibility, and resistance to change. From a research purpose perspective, this study is applied, and in terms of data collection method, it is descriptive-survey in nature. The statistical population includes managers and employees from various organizational levels, and data were collected using structured questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of 36 items and was distributed among 211 participants from the target population. The research instrument was used after assessing its validity and reliability (via Cronbach’s alpha and construct validity indices). Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings indicate that the average level of organizational culture was evaluated as moderate and higher among managers, while resistance to change was more evident in lower organizational levels. Moreover, the results show that longer work experience is associated with greater resistance to change, and men exhibit more resistance to change compared to women. The findings align with previous research and highlight the importance of aligning organizational culture with the requirements of digital transformation.
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