The Impact of Digital Leadership on Corporate Social Responsibility: A Study in Bursa
Abstract
In today’s business environment, digitalization has become a key driver of sustainable competitive advantage. Within this context, digital leadership plays a critical role in shaping organizational strategies and enhancing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. This study aims to examine the impact of digital leadership on CSR perceptions within an organizational setting. The research was conducted in Bursa, Turkiye, using a survey method. Data were collected from 332 participants through a structured questionnaire, including the Corporate Social Responsibility Scale (Türker, 2006) and the Digital Leadership Scale developed by Büyükbeşe et al. (2022). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0, employing descriptive statistics and simple linear regression analysis. The findings reveal a positive and statistically significant relationship between digital leadership and CSR perception (p < 0.05). The results indicate that higher levels of digital leadership are associated with stronger CSR awareness among employees. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from a developing country context and offers practical implications for integrating digital leadership into CSR strategies.
Downloads
PlumX Statistics
References
Avolio, B. J., Sosik, J. J., Kahai, S. S., & Baker, B. (2014). E-leadership: Re-examining transformations in leadership source and transmission. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 105–131.
Branco, M. C., & Rodrigues, L. L. (2006). Corporate social responsibility and resource-based perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics, 69(2), 111–132.
Büyükbeşe, T., Dikbaş, T., Klein, M., & Batuk Ünlü, S. (2022). Development of the digital leadership scale. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 19(2), 740–760.
Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business & Society, 38(3), 268–295.
Carroll, A. B., & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85–105.
Erkollar, A., & Oberer, K. (2019). Digital leadership and innovation management. International Journal of Management, 21(4), 220–240.
Evans, M. (2023). Digital leadership and CSR integration: Enhancing corporate sustainability. Journal of Corporate Responsibility, 29(1), 10–29.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
Gupta, P., Kamble, S. S., & Gunasekaran, A. (2019). Factors influencing digital leadership adoption in supply chains. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 32(6), 944–965.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson.
Kane, G. C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., Kiron, D., & Buckley, N. (2015). Strategy, not technology, drives digital transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review.
Karimi, J., & Walter, Z. (2016). Dynamic capabilities in digital disruption. Journal of Management Information Systems, 32(1), 39–81.
Lee, S., & Kim, Y. (2023). Digital leadership and CSR: New paradigms in corporate sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 178(3), 675–690.
Lee, Y., & Kotler, P. (2013). Corporate social responsibility in the digital era. Marketing Science Review, 22(4), 100–118.
Madueno, J. H., Jorge, M. L., Conesa, I. M., & Martínez, D. (2016). CSR and competitive performance in SMEs. Business Research Quarterly, 19, 55–72.
Mergel, I. (2019). Digital leadership in the public sector. Public Administration Review, 79(6), 906–916.
Moura-Leite, R. C., & Padgett, R. C. (2011). Historical background of CSR. Social Responsibility Journal, 7(4), 528–539.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.
Promsri, A. (2019). Six essential characteristics of effective digital leaders. Journal of Digital Leadership, 4(1), 22–30.
Schwartz, A., & Engelhardt, N. (2019). Technology-driven leadership competencies. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 40(5), 655–671.
Schwartz, M. S. (2011). Corporate social responsibility: An ethical approach. Broadview Press.
Sousa, M. J., & Rocha, Á. (2019). Digital leadership and innovative culture. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146, 658–667.
Sprinkle, G. B., & Maines, L. A. (2010). Benefits and costs of CSR. Business Horizons, 53(5), 445–453.
Türker, D. (2006). Measuring corporate social responsibility: A scale development study. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(3), 411–427.
Türker, D. (2009). CSR and employee satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(3), 377–390.
Williams, P., & Evans, M. (2021). Digital tools for CSR transparency. Corporate Communications, 26(1), 74–90.
Williams, P., & Evans, M. (2022). Digital leadership in sustainability reporting. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 13(4), 625–642.
Copyright (c) 2026 Veli Kustepe, Nilufer Ruzgar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
