Introduction
In the rapidly evolving digital era, organizations face complex and highly competitive environments where innovation serves as a critical strategic tool for achieving competitive advantage and ensuring organizational survival and growth. Digital transformation, driven by disruptive technologies, has reshaped industries, compelling organizations to integrate digital technologies across their operations to enhance efficiency, foster innovation, and create value. Central to this transformation is digital leadership, which combines strategic vision, technological proficiency, and change management skills to guide organizations through digitalization. Digital leaders play a pivotal role in aligning organizational strategies with digital advancements, fostering a culture of innovation, and leveraging digital platforms to enhance operational and innovative performance. The concept of platform digitalization capability, encompassing data integration and process integration, is vital in enabling organizations to adapt to dynamic digital environments, streamline operations, and drive innovation. This study investigates the impact of digital leadership on innovation performance, with a specific focus on the mediating role of platform digitalization capability, particularly through data and process integration, in the context of Zamzam Iran Company. The research addresses the critical question of how digital leadership influences innovation performance and whether platform digitalization capabilities mediate this relationship, offering insights into the mechanisms that enhance organizational innovation in a digital context.
Methodology
This study adopts a quantitative, applied research approach grounded in a post-positivist paradigm, aiming to provide practical solutions based on empirical data analysis. The research design is descriptive and cross-sectional, focusing on understanding the relationships between digital leadership, platform digitalization capability (data and process integration), and innovation performance. The study population consists of employees at Zamzam Iran Company, with a sample size of 302 respondents selected through simple random sampling, determined using G*Power software with a 5% error level and 85% test power. Data were collected using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire adapted from prior studies by Benitez et al. (2022) and Egbert & Ulbricht (2024), ensuring relevance to the variables under investigation. The research process involved five key steps: (1) developing a conceptual model to define variable relationships, (2) designing and refining the questionnaire with expert input, (3) collecting and entering data into Excel for transfer to software, (4) conducting descriptive analysis using tables and charts, and (5) performing inferential analysis through structural equation modeling (SEM) with to test hypotheses. The analysis assessed the reliability (composite reliability, Spearman’s rho-A, and communality) and validity (convergent and discriminant) of the measurement model, followed by structural model testing to evaluate the significance, strength, and direction of hypothesized relationships. Hypotheses tested include the direct effects of digital leadership on innovation performance, data integration, and process integration, as well as the mediating roles of data and process integration in the relationship between digital leadership and innovation performance.
Results and Discussion
The study’s findings confirm several key relationships while highlighting nuances in the role of platform digitalization capability. Demographic analysis revealed a predominantly male sample (81.5% male, 18.5% female), with the majority holding master’s degrees (53.4%) and 11–15 years of service (45.7%). Data normality tests indicated that all variables adhered to acceptable skewness and kurtosis ranges, enabling parametric statistical analysis. Reliability tests demonstrated satisfactory composite reliability (0.804–1.000), Spearman’s rho-A (0.739–1.000), and communality (0.579–1.000), confirming the robustness of the measurement model. Convergent validity was established with average variance extracted (AVE) values

exceeding 0.5 and composite reliability (CR) greater than AVE, while discriminant validity was confirmed through the Fornell-Larcker criterion, ensuring distinct constructs.
Hypothesis testing revealed that digital leadership has a significant positive impact on innovation performance (β = 0.225, p < 0.001, T = 3.681), supporting H1 and aligning with prior studies (e.g., Wang et al., 2022; Benitez et al., 2022) that emphasize digital leadership’s role in fostering innovation through strategic vision and technology integration. Digital leadership also significantly influences data integration (β = 0.228, p < 0.001, T = 3.533), supporting H2, consistent with Ly (2024), who highlights the need for advanced IT infrastructure and data management to achieve integration. However, the direct effect of digital leadership on process integration was not significant (β = 0.191, p = 0.068, T = 1.827), rejecting H3, suggesting that this relationship may be mediated by factors such as organizational culture or employee commitment, as noted by Mollah et al. (2024). Data integration positively impacts innovation performance (β = 0.194, p = 0.009, T = 2.636), supporting H4, and process integration also significantly enhances innovation performance (β = 0.321, p < 0.001, T = 4.011), supporting H5, aligning with Benitez et al. (2022) and Awad & Martín-Rojas (2024), who underscore the role of integrated data and processes in enabling innovation.
The mediating analysis confirmed that data integration mediates the relationship between digital leadership and innovation performance (indirect effect = 0.044), supporting H4a, indicating that digital leadership enhances innovation through effective data management. However, process integration did not mediate this relationship, rejecting H5a, suggesting that process integration’s impact on innovation may operate independently of digital leadership. The R² values indicate moderate predictive accuracy for innovation performance (R² = 0.231) and weak predictive power for data integration (R² = 0.052) and process integration (R² = 0.036), highlighting areas for further exploration.
Conclusion
This study underscores the critical role of digital leadership in driving innovation performance, particularly through the mediating effect of data integration, while highlighting the limitations of process integration as a mediator. Digital leadership fosters innovation by aligning organizational strategies with digital advancements and leveraging data integration to provide actionable insights. However, achieving data integration requires robust IT infrastructure and digital skills development, as direct leadership influence alone is insufficient. The lack of a significant direct effect on process integration suggests the need for complementary factors, such as cultural alignment or advanced technological systems, to enhance process-related outcomes. Practical recommendations include investing in digital leadership training, prioritizing data management frameworks, and adopting agile process strategies to support innovation. Theoretical implications call for further exploration of specific digital leadership competencies and contextual factors influencing process integration. Limitations include the study’s focus on a single organization (Zamzam Iran Company), which may limit generalizability, and the potential oversight of diverse organizational perspectives. Future research should explore these relationships across industries and incorporate additional mediators, such as data-driven decision-making or organizational agility, to deepen the understanding of digital leadership’s role in innovation.