Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
3. Uluslararası WRITETEC Yapay Zeka Çağında Sosyal Bilimler ve Sağlık Bilimleri Kongresi, Isparta, Türkiye, 16 - 18 Mayıs 2025, ss.22, (Özet Bildiri)
New Institutional Theory (NIT) aims to achieve organizational transformation by integrating organizational arrangements supported by digital technologies into businesses operating in various sectors. In the transformation process, the success of digital transformation (DT) depends on the extent to which the organization perceives this transformation as legitimate and compatible. NIT positions leadership as an element integrated with organizational values and beliefs. In this context, New Institutional Theory argues that as organizational structures transform, leadership must also evolve and strategically adapt to this transformation. Digital transformation has become an element that directly affects not only the restructuring of operational processes and the construction of a digital organizational culture but also the shaping of investment decisions. Digital transformational leadership creates areas of action within the organization, mobilizes stakeholders, and effectively guides digital transformation processes. As a result, this type of leadership contributes to the development of digitalization-based rationality in investment decision-making. Thus, digital transformation emerges not only as a technological adaptation but also as a fundamental determinant of strategic investment decisions. Within this theoretical framework, the aim of the study is to examine the relationship between digital transformational leadership and investment decisions and to test whether digital transformation has a mediating role in the relationship between digital transformational leadership and investment decisions. The research model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the SmartPLS software package. The bias-corrected bootstrapping (resampling) method was applied to a sample of 90 top executives working in firms operating in the service and manufacturing sectors in Istanbul, Türkiye. The findings of the study indicate that digital transformational leadership is positively associated with both digital transformation perception (β = 0.617, p = 0.000) and investment decisions (β = 0.538, p = 0.000). Moreover, the findings revealed that digital transformation perception is positively associated with investment decisions (β = 0.267, p < 0.01), and plays partial mediating role in the relationship between digital transformational leadership and investment decisions (β = 0.164, p < 0.01). In this context, the results reveal that it is not only crucial for businesses to invest in technology, but also to adopt transformational leadership approaches in order to enhance the influence of digitalization on decision-making processes.