Strategic Leadership, Digital Transformation, and Employee Engagement toward Service Innovation; A conceptual framework
Keywords:
Strategic Leadership, Digital Transformation, Employee Engagement, Service InnovationAbstract
This conceptual paper explores the integrated influence of strategic leadership, digital transformation, and employee engagement on service innovation within the telecommunications sector, emphasizing their collective role in achieving sustainable organizational growth. Guided by transformational leadership and dynamic capabilities theories, the framework proposes that strategic leadership shapes vision and culture, digital transformation provides the technological foundation for agility and efficiency, and employee engagement serves as the mediating force that translates leadership intent and digital initiatives into innovative service outcomes. Together, these elements form a dynamic system in which leadership inspires, technology enables, and engagement drives continuous innovation and competitiveness. The paper highlights that successful service innovation requires not only investment in digital tools but also the empowerment and motivation of employees to co-create value in a rapidly evolving environment. The proposed model contributes theoretically by integrating leadership, technology, and human engagement perspectives, and practically by offering actionable insights for telecom executives, policymakers, and HR managers to align strategic leadership and digital transformation with engagement-driven innovation in alignment with Vision 2030’s objectives for digital excellence and sustainable development.
References
Alakaş, E. Ö. (2024). Digital transformational leadership and organizational agility in digital transformation: Structural equation modelling of the moderating effects of digital culture and digital strategy. The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 35(2), 100517.
Alayed, S. (2023). Technology and Digital Transformation in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s Business Transformation: Strategies for Success in a Changing Economy; Services for Science and Education Stockport: Cheshire, UK, 106.
Aldabbas, H., Pinnington, A., & Lahrech, A. (2023). The influence of perceived organizational support on employee creativity: The mediating role of work engagement. Current psychology, 42(8), 6501-6515.
Almazrouei, S. A., & Hilmi, M. F. (2024). Leading the innovation: role of employee engagement as a mediator relating supervisor’s practices and employee’s innovative behaviour. International Journal of Innovation Science.
Alsakarneh, G., Ali, A. J., & Ali, S. (2024). The Effect of e-HRM on Workforce Agility in the Jordanian Cement Industry: The Mediating Role of Employee Engagement and the Moderating Role of Digital Innovation. International Journal of Academic Research Ii Business and Social Sciences, 14(11), 1060-1078.
Awuku, E., Agyei, P. M., & Gonu, E. (2023). Service innovation practices and customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry. Plos one, 18(3), e0282588.
Bendary, M. G., & Rajadurai, J. (2024). Emerging Technologies and Public Innovation in the Saudi Public Sector: an analysis of Adoption and challenges amidst Vision 2030. The Innovation Journal, 29(1), 1-42.
Bhatti, A., Malik, H., Kamal, A. Z., Aamir, A., Alaali, L. A., & Ullah, Z. (2021). Much-needed business digital transformation through big data, internet of things and blockchain capabilities: implications for strategic performance in telecommunication sector. Business Process Management Journal, 27(6), 1854-1873.
Blaique, L., Abu Salim, T., & Mir, F. A. (2024). Does human capital mediate the relationship between digital competence and service innovation capability? Evidence from the UAE during covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Innovation Science, 16(4), 709-730.
Cahyadi, A., & Magda, R. (2021). Digital leadership in the economies of the G20 countries: A secondary research. Economies, 9(1), 32.
CHUANXI, F. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT.
Cortes, A. F., & Herrmann, P. (2021). Strategic leadership of innovation: a framework for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 23(2), 224-243.
El Desoky, E., El Said, N., & El-Shaer, A. (2021). Organizational culture, individual innovation and their relation to nursing staff’s work engagement. Mansoura Nursing Journal, 8(3), 39-59.
Fan, X., Wang, Y., & Lu, X. (2022). Digital transformation drives sustainable innovation capability improvement in manufacturing enterprises: Based on FsQCA and NCA Approaches. Sustainability, 15(1), 542.
Gül, G. (2025). The effects of digital engagement in the workplace on employee performance. Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 13(1), 199-213.
Hammami, S. M. (2024). Digital leadership capabilities moderating effect in improving the organisational performance of telecom companies through the organisational knowledge capabilities pillars. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(13), 6220.
Hamraaia, M. Y. (2024). Transforming HR Practices: Integrating Employee Engagement and Analytics for Organizational Success. Educ. Adm. Theory Pract, 30, 1717-1725.
Hernik, J., Sagan, A., Jarecki, W., & Grinberga-Zalite, G. (2025). Digital transformation in business process management: The role of employee engagement. Human Technology, 21(1), 203-221.
Hizam, S. M., Akter, H., Sentosa, I., Ahmed, W., Masrek, M. N., & Ali, J. (2023). Predicting workforce engagement towards digital transformation through a multi-analytical approach. Sustainability, 15(8), 6835.
Hong, S., Kim, S. H., & Kwon, M. (2022). Determinants of digital innovation in the public sector. Government Information Quarterly, 39(4), 101723.
Kablashova, I. V., Logunova, I. V., & Rodionova, V. N. (2023). Methodology for ensuring employee engagement in the context of enterprise digital transformation. Вестник университета, 41.
Lv, M., Jiang, S. M., Chen, H., & Zhang, S. X. (2022). Authentic leadership and innovation behaviour among nurses in China: a mediation model of work engagement. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(7), 2670-2680.
Marampa, A. M., Pongtuluran, A. K., & Pariyanti, E. (2025). From sharing to success: enhancing innovative work behavior through psychological empowerment and kinship employee engagement. Industrial and Commercial Training, 57(1), 99-117.
Moccia, S., Zhao, S., & Flanagan, P. (2020). Innovation, dynamic capabilities, leadership, and action plan. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 14(1), 113-127.
Montasser, D., Prijadi, R., & Balqiah, T. E. (2023). The mediating effect of IT-enabled dynamic capabilities and organizational readiness on the relationship between transformational leadership and digital business model innovation: Evidence from Indonesia incumbent firms. Sage Open, 13(2), 21582440231181588.
Niță, V., & Guțu, I. (2023). The role of leadership and digital transformation in higher education students’ work engagement. International journal of environmental research and public health, 20(6), 5124.
Pai, P., Tsai, H. T., & Zhong, J. Y. (2022). Enhancing IT industry employees’ service innovation performance: Antecedents and outcomes of service innovation engagement. European Journal of Marketing, 56(8), 2455-2483.
Pasaribu, F., Bulan, T. R. N., Muzakir, & Pratama, K. (2021). Impact Of Strategic Leadership and Organizational Innovation on The Strategic Management: Mediational Role of It Capability. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 24(2), 354-369.
Rai, A., & Maheshwari, S. (2021). Exploring the mediating role of work engagement between the linkages of job characteristics with organizational engagement and job satisfaction. Management Research Review, 44(1), 133-157.
Sandhu, M. A., & Al Naqbi, A. (2023). Leadership behavior and innovation performance in the UAE's telecom and ICT industries. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 30(5), 1695-1712.
Shehadeh, M., Almohtaseb, A., Aldehayyat, J., & Abu-AlSondos, I. A. (2023). Digital transformation and competitive advantage in the service sector: a moderated-mediation model. Sustainability, 15(3), 2077.
Soto Setzke, D., Riasanow, T., Böhm, M., & Krcmar, H. (2023). Pathways to digital service innovation: The role of digital transformation strategies in established organizations. Information Systems Frontiers, 25(3), 1017-1037.
Tian, G., & Zhang, Z. (2020). Linking empowering leadership to employee innovation: The mediating role of work engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 48(10), 1-8.
Ting, I. W. K., Sui, H. J., Kweh, Q. L., & Nawanir, G. (2021). Knowledge management and firm innovative performance with the moderating role of transformational leadership. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(8), 2115-2140.
Tuyen, B. Q., Mai, N. P., & Long, T. Q. (2023). Does corporate engagement in social responsibility affect firm innovation? The mediating role of digital transformation. International Review of Economics & Finance, 84, 292-303.
Wan, X., He, R., Zhang, G., & Zhou, J. (2022). Employee engagement and open service innovation: The roles of creative self-efficacy and employee innovative behaviour. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 921687.
Weber, E., Krehl, E. H., & Büttgen, M. (2022). The digital transformation leadership framework: Conceptual and empirical insights into leadership roles in technology‐driven business environments. Journal of Leadership Studies, 16(1), 6-22.
Ye, P., Liu, L., & Tan, J. (2022). Creative leadership, innovation climate and innovation behaviour: the moderating role of knowledge sharing in management. European Journal of Innovation Management, 25(4), 1092-1114.
Ziadlou, D. (2021). Strategies during digital transformation to make progress in achievement of sustainable development by 2030. Leadership in Health Services, 34(4), 375-391.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Reproducible Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright of the article belongs to Journal of Reproducible Research (JRR) once the paper is ACCEPTED for publication. Author(s) agrees to this terms, during submission.
