When Do Digital Leadership, Analytics Capabilities, And Entrepreneurial Orientation Foster Exploratory Innovation? The Mediating Role of AI Readiness and The Moderating Effect of Digital Organizational Culture

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Advanced Research in Management, Business and Finance

Year: 2026

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When Do Digital Leadership, Analytics Capabilities, And Entrepreneurial Orientation Foster Exploratory Innovation? The Mediating Role of AI Readiness and The Moderating Effect of Digital Organizational Culture

Jullien Ramirez, Danuta Diskienė, Virginijus Tamaševičius, Michail Christofi

ABSTRACT:

As organizations accelerate digital transformation, understanding how digital capabilities translate into sustained exploratory innovation remains a central challenge (Brown et al., 2010; Hervé et al., 2020). While prior research highlights the importance of digital leadership, big data analytics capabilities (BDAC), and digital entrepreneurial orientation (DEO) in shaping innovation outcomes (Akter et al., 2016; Wales et al., 2021; Türk, 2023), less is known about the relational mechanisms through which these capabilities influence exploratory innovation under conditions of technological and cultural complexity. Addressing this gap, this study examines the direct and indirect effects of digital leadership, BDAC, and DEO on exploratory innovation, with a focus on the mediating role of AI readiness and the moderating effect of digital organizational culture. Drawing on a quantitative research design, the study proposes a dual-stage moderated mediation framework grounded in Hayes’ Process Model 58 (Hayes, 2013; 2018; 2022). Data are collected through a 41-item survey administered across organizations operating in digitally intensive environments, and structural relationships are analyzed using SmartPLS to assess direct, indirect, and conditional effects. AI readiness is conceptualized as a central mechanism through which digital capabilities are converted into innovation outcomes, reflecting organizational preparedness for advanced digital integration (Holmström, 2022; Mosteanu, 2020), while digital organizational culture conditions the strength of these relationships by shaping openness to experimentation and learning (Martínez-Caro et al., 2020; Serpa et al., 2022). Expected findings suggest that digital leadership, BDAC, and DEO positively influence exploratory innovation, with AI readiness mediating these relationships and digital organizational culture amplifying their effects (Mikalef et al., 2019; Kraus et al., 2023; Berraies et al., 2021). The study contributes to the digital transformation literature by integrating technological, strategic, and cultural dimensions within a single moderated mediation framework.

Keywords: Big Data Analytics Capabilities; Digital Entrepreneurship Orientation; Exploratory Innovation; Moderated Mediation; Organizational Culture