Underscoring the Mediating Role of Innovative Work Behavior for Cultivating Digital Readiness in the Pre-Digital Organization

Pre-digital organizations are traditional organizations that have not fully adopted digital technology in their management practices and business governance. Digital readiness assessment plays a strategic role as the first step to ensure the success of digital transformation. This article elaborates on the influence of innovative work behavior as well as the work engagement of digital natives as employees on the digital readiness of pre-digital organizations. A survey involving 469 employees working in private and public companies in Jakarta applying the PLS-SEM approach and employing the SmartPLS version 4.1.0.2 application was employed to test the research model developed. The analysis results underscore the mediating or intervening roles of innovative work behavior in the influence of work engagement of digital natives as employees on the organization's digital readiness in facing digital transformation. For cultivating the digital readiness of predigital organizations, work engagement should be directed to strengthen innovative work behaviors.