Driving Organisational Citizenship Behaviour in Vietnamese SMEs: The Interplay of Digital Leadership, Corporate Sustainability, and Work Engagement

Abstract

Background: The convergence of digital transformation and sustainability has become a defining feature of the modern business landscape. While Digital Leadership (DL) and Corporate Sustainability (CS) are recognised as decisive factors for competitiveness, there is a lack of integrated research examining their combined effects on employees' Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB), particularly within Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Objective: This study investigates the direct, indirect, and moderated relationships between DL, CS, Innovation Capability (IC), Work Engagement (WE), Perceived Organisational Support (POS), and OCB within SMEs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Methodology: The study employed a mixed-methods approach. Following an initial qualitative phase of expert consultations to adapt measurement scales, quantitative data were collected via structured questionnaire copies from 394 SME managers. Hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).

Results: Findings reveal that both DL and CS exert significant positive effects on IC, WE, and OCB. Notably, WE emerged as a more potent mediating pathway than IC. Furthermore, POS was found to play a significant moderating role, systematically amplifying the positive impact of leadership and sustainability on employee behaviour.

Unique Contribution: This study advances organisational theory by empirically demonstrating the primacy of the affective-motivational pathway (Work Engagement) over the cognitive-capability pathway (Innovation Capability) in converting strategic resources into discretionary behaviours within resource-constrained SMEs. It further reframes POS as a foundational contextual factor that amplifies the entire strategic resource-to-behaviour chain.

Conclusion: Strategic orientations in leadership and sustainability are transformed into voluntary, extra-role employee behaviours primarily through the mediating mechanisms of WE and IC. The effectiveness of these strategic drivers is significantly enhanced when employees perceive high levels of organisational support.

Key Recommendation: SME managers should prioritise fostering Work Engagement and perceived support systems as these are the most effective conduits for translating digital and sustainable strategies into tangible employee contributions.