by Tetty Nurintan Marpaung, Lidwina Lindsay, Yohana F. Cahya Palupi Meilani*
ABSTRACT
Rapid economic, technological, and generational transformations are reshaping Human Resource Management (HRM) practices across Asia. In particular, organizations face growing challenges in managing younger employees amid digital transformation while moving beyond culture-centric explanations as the dominant lens for understanding HRM phenomena. This study examines how digital leadership influences employee performance through learning agility and organizational commitment among Generation Z employees in Indonesian higher education institutions, with digital transformation serving as a contextual moderator. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 251 Gen Z employees across public and private higher education institutions in Indonesia and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings uncover that digital leadership is positively associated with employee performance, both directly and indirectly through learning agility and organizational commitment. Moreover, digital transformation strengthens the linkage between learning agility and employee performance, underscoring the importance of adaptive HRM capabilities in technology-intensive environments. By embedding HRM within Asia’s institutional, technological, and generational transformations, this study contributes to contextualized HRM scholarship by moving beyond culture-centric explanations that have dominated prior Asian HRM research. Practically, the findings offer insights for HR leaders and university administrators on designing digitally enabled HRM strategies that foster adaptability, commitment, and longterm performance among Gen Z employees in higher education institutions undergoing rapid digital change
