Savvy versus Sluggish Digital Leadership: A Case Study in IT Operating Model Renewal

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Presented at HICSS 2025 by

Muhammad Suleman

Tuomas Ahola

Jolita Ralyté

Samuli Pekkola

While digital leadership is central to digital transformation, its role in information technology operating model (ITOM) renewal has remained unexplained. This paper contributes to the information systems literature by opening the digital leadership black box and disentangling it into the nuances of savvy (SADL) as opposed to sluggish digital leadership (SLDL). It presents an exploratory longitudinal case study of two large companies from two different industries which reveals that SADL drives much more successful ITOM renewal by employing a SIT approach – Speed, Involvement of employees and Timing. The findings demonstrate that having a clear strategy to gain speed, continuous employee involvement and timely seizing of opportunities make a significant difference in ITOM renewal.