Digital Leadership Capability and Organizational Performance in a Platform Firm: Evidence from Grab Company

Abstract

This study investigates the role of digital leadership capability as a critical moderating mechanism that strengthens the relationship between digital technologies and organizational performance. Drawing on the dynamic capability’s perspective, this study argues that leaders’ ability to strategically sense, seize, and reconfigure digital resources determines the extent to which digital technologies generate performance gains. Survey data were collected from 150 managerial-level employees of Grab Company, a leading digital platform firm in Southeast Asia, and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that digital technologies have a significant positive effect on organizational performance. More importantly, digital leadership capability significantly moderates this relationship, amplifying the performance outcomes of digital initiatives. This study contributes to the digital transformation literature by highlighting digital leadership capability as a critical boundary condition in platform-based organizations.