"Underground innovation" in the digital age: how digital leadership promotes employee bootlegging through psychological empowerment.

BACKGROUND

Under the trend of digitalization, the employees' "informal" innovative behaviors are of great significance for enterprises to adapt to highly uncertain market environments.

METHODS

Based on Self-Determination Theory, this study builds a moderated mediation model to examine how digital leadership promotes employee bootlegging through psychological empowerment, and also considers the moderating role of organizational formalization in this path.

RESULTS

Through an empirical analysis of 387 valid survey questionnaires from employees in multi-regional enterprises, and on the basis of the above research results: (1) Digital leadership is positively associated with the psychological empowerment of employees; (2) Psychological empowerment mediates the impact of digital leadership on employees' bootlegging behavior; (3) Organizational formalization strengthens the path from psychological empowerment to bootlegging, meaning that a more complex procedural system at the company increases the risk of such behavior among employees with high psychological empowerment; (4) Organizational formalization further positively moderates the indirect path of "digital leadership-psychological empowerment-employee bootlegging."

CONCLUSION

This study reveals the micro-psychological mechanisms of employees under the conflict between digital empowerment and bureaucratic systems, providing important theoretical perspectives and managerial insights for organizations to optimize innovation management and reshape institutional environments in the digital era.