Digital Leadership, Employee Adaptation, and Work Culture in Society 5.0: A Structured Narrative Review Using Structuration Theory

Abstract

Transiting to Society 5.0 requires a balanced synergy between technology and people. Most studies on digital leadership, employee adaptation, and work culture are conducted and reported on separately. This study aims to report on the implementation of digital leadership, explain employee adaptation, and identify key features of work culture that enable organization transformation. The study employs qualitative approach, using a structured narrative review, and adopts a Structuration Theory-based analysis to explore agency-structure recursive interactions. The results of this research reveal that digital leadership generates meaning, utilizes resources and obtains legitimacy. In contrast, employees function as active agents who continuously change work culture through the practices that they perform on a daily basis. An adaptive, collaborative and learning-oriented work culture is therefore essential to the successful implementation of technology. This research indicates that in order to implement technology effectively, organizations must develop learning ecosystems which grant employees autonomy and a psychological safe environment. The results of this research therefore form a unique, dynamic, reciprocal and human-focused framework that incorporates digital leadership, employee adaptation and work culture.