Investigating the Mediating Role of Strategic Agility in the Relationship between Digital Transformational Leadership and Electronic Human Resource Management with Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Football Federation of Iran

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under (CC BY-NC 4.0) license

Authors

1 Department of Sports Management, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

2 Department of Sports Management, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of strategic agility in the relationship between digital transformational leadership and electronic human resource management with sustainable competitive advantage in the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive‑survey of correlational type in terms of execution method. The statistical population consisted of managers, experts, and key stakeholders of the Football Federation of Iran, from which 195 individuals were selected as the sample using random sampling. The data collection instrument was a standard questionnaire comprising four sections to measure the variables of strategic agility (Claus et al., 2021), digital transformational leadership (Lee, 2024), electronic human resource management (Nayati & Kekwaletswe, 2022), and sustainable competitive advantage (Salim & Azou, 2025). The validity and reliability of the instrument were confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and composite reliability. Partial least squares (PLS) approach and Smart PLS 3 software were used to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that digital transformational leadership has a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive advantage and on strategic agility. Furthermore, electronic human resource management had a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive advantage and on strategic agility. Strategic agility also demonstrated a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive advantage. The bootstrap test confirmed the mediating role of strategic agility in the relationship between digital transformational leadership and sustainable competitive advantage, as well as in the relationship between electronic human resource management and sustainable competitive advantage.

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History

  • Receive Date: 18 September 2026
  • Revise Date: 27 September 2026
  • Accept Date: 16 October 2026

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