E-Leadership and Strategic innovation in Ethiopian BPO Firms: The Mediating Roles of Dynamic Capability andinter-Team Coordination, and the Moderating Role of Knowledge integration Capability
| dc.contributor.advisor | Zelalem Gebretsadik | |
| dc.contributor.author | Samrawit Minilik | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-10-16T07:34:26Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-10-16T07:34:26Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-06-03 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The rapid digitalization of business practices has fundamentally reshaped leadership and organizational innovation processesglobally,withparticularconsequences for the outsourcingsector in emerging economies. This study investigates the relationship between e-leadership andstrategic innovation in Ethiopian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms, with dynamiccapability and inter-team coordination proposed as parallel mediators and knowledge integrationcapability proposed as a moderator. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design wasemployed. Data were collected from 248 employees across selected BPO firms in Addis Ababausing structured questionnaires adapted from validated scales, yielding a response rate of 91.8%.PLS-SEM was used to assess measurement and structural models, including mediation and moderation effects via 5,000-resample bootstrapping. The results yield four statistically significant direct relationships. E-leadership positively andsignificantlypredictsstrategicinnovation,dynamiccapability,andinterteamcoordination.Dynamiccapabilitysignificantlypredicts strategic innovation. The direct path frominter-teamcoordination to strategic innovation was not statistically supported. Regarding the mediationhypotheses, dynamic capability significantly and partially mediates the e-leadership–strategicinnovation relationship, whereas inter-team coordination does not serve as asignificantmediator.The moderation analysis reveals that knowledge integration capability does not significantlymoderatetherelationshipbetweenleadershipandinterteamcoordination,indicatinganegligibleinteraction effect.These findings lead to two central conclusions. First, e-leadership is an empiricallysupportedpredictorofstrategicinnovationintheEthiopian BPOcontext;however,itsprimary pathway to innovation operates through dynamic capabilitspecifically the organizational capacity to senseemerging market shifts, seize new serviceopportunities,and reconfigure delivery modelsaccordingly. Second,interteamcoordination, while significantly shaped by e-leadership,functions primarily in service of operational efficiency within Ethiopian BPO firms rather than asan independent driver of strategic innovation. The nonsignificant moderating role of knowledgeintegration capability suggests that structured digital tools and boundary-spanning artifacts usedby e-leaders in this context may already perform the synthesis function that knowledgeintegration would otherwise provide.This study contributes to the dynamic capabilities and knowledgebased view literature byoffering an empirically grounded, multi-mechanism framework tested in an underrepresentedemerging economy. It provides actionable insights for BPO managers and policymakers onprioritizing digital leadership development and dynamic capability building as the central organizational levers for sustained strategic innovation in Ethiopia's outsourcing secto | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/9158 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.subject | E-leadership | |
| dc.subject | Strategic Innovation | |
| dc.subject | Dynamic Capability | |
| dc.title | E-Leadership and Strategic innovation in Ethiopian BPO Firms: The Mediating Roles of Dynamic Capability andinter-Team Coordination, and the Moderating Role of Knowledge integration Capability | |
| dc.type | Thesis |