Investigating the Role of Digital Organizational Culture in Enhancing Employee Resilience: The Mediating Role of the Work Environment

This study examined how digital organizational culture contributes to employee resilience in the Education Department of Alborz Province, emphasizing the mediating role of the work environment. The research used a quantitative, descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population comprised 25,000 employees, and 384 respondents were selected through random cluster sampling. Data were gathered using the Digital Organizational Culture Questionnaire, the Work Environment Scale, and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and were analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS.

Results indicated that all hypothesized relationships were supported at the 99% confidence level. The four dimensions of digital organizational culture—technology acceptance, continuous learning, digital collaboration, and digital innovation—showed positive and significant effects on improving the work environment. Among them, technology acceptance exerted the strongest effect (β=0.578β=0.578), followed by continuous learning (β=0.270β=0.270), digital collaboration (β=0.153β=0.153), and digital innovation (β=0.130β=0.130). Moreover, the work environment was the most powerful direct predictor of employee resilience (β=0.901β=0.901).
The mediation analysis demonstrated a full mediating effect, meaning that digital organizational culture enhanced resilience primarily through the work environment rather than via a direct pathway. The indirect effect of digital organizational culture on resilience through the work environment was significant (β=0.778β=0.778). Overall, the findings suggest that strengthening digital culture can increase employees’ capacity to cope with rapid digital-era changes by upgrading the work environment across physical, social, policy-related, and psychological dimensions. Accordingly, education managers should institutionalize digital culture initiatives to improve workplace quality and sustain human capital resilience.