Studying the Mediating Role of Intellectual Ethics in the Relationship of Digital Leadership and Smart Decision-making

The existence of intelligent decision-making in educational managers increases their recognition skills and they find the ability to identify the decision process, check possibilities, make correct judgments, and plan carefully. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of studying the mediating role of intellectual ethics in the relationship between digital leadership and smart decision-making among elementary school principals in Kermanshah province.

The research is a correlational research based on structural equation modeling of the correlation-covariance matrix. The statistical population includes all the elementary principals of Kermanshah province in the academic year 2021-2022 (N=1902). The sample size was estimated based on proportional stratified random sampling and Cochran's formula (n=320). The tools included intelligent leadership, intellectual ethics and smart decision-making questionnaires, whose content validity was confirmed by experts and professors, and their construct validity was confirmed by factor analysis. The reliability of the questionnaires was calculated through Cronbach's alpha as 0.85, 0.93 and 0.95 respectively. Pearson's correlation test and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis, and SPSS and LISREL software were used.

The relationship between digital leadership and intellectual ethics, digital leadership and intelligent decision-making, and the relationship between intellectual ethics and smart decision-making were significant. Finally, it was found that intellectual ethics can play a mediating role in the relationship between digital leadership and smart decision making.

The results of this study show that educational managers can make smart decisions through the digital leadership style and, of course, considering intellectual ethics, and in this way, take steps in the direction of advancing educational goals and missions.