Digital Leadership dan Inovasi Produk sebagai Penentu Kinerja Pendapatan UMKM dalam Ekosistem Transformasi Digital

Abstract

Background: Digital transformation has fundamentally reshaped the global economic landscape, including the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) segment, which contributes more than 60% of Indonesia's GDP and absorbs approximately 97% of the national workforce. However, the low digital capability of MSME actors, particularly in semi-urban areas, hinders the optimization of this potential, making digital leadership and product innovation critical variables warranting investigation. Objective: This study aims to examine the effect of digital leadership on MSME revenue performance, both directly and indirectly through product innovation as a mediating variable, within the digital transformation ecosystem of semi-urban Riau Province. Methods: The study employs a quantitative approach with an associative-explanatory design involving 200 active MSME respondents selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). A common method bias test was conducted using Harman's Single Factor Test. Results: PLS-SEM testing shows that digital leadership has a positive and significant direct effect on MSME revenue performance (β = 0.412; t = 7.231; p < 0.001), as well as a significant indirect effect through the mediation of product innovation (β = 0.271; t = 6.412; p < 0.001). All constructs meet the criteria for convergent validity (AVE > 0.50), discriminant validity (Fornell-Larcker criterion), and composite reliability (> 0.80). Conclusions: Digital leadership is confirmed as a determinant of MSME revenue performance, both directly and through product innovation, reinforcing the transformational leadership framework in a digital context and the dynamic capability perspective for the development of strategic management and digital entrepreneurship literature.