The effect of digital maturity via psychological entitlement on task performance: The case of senior executives of republic of Türkiye Ministry of Treasury and Finance

The effects of digital maturity on both the performance of public senior executives and the delivery of public services are among the interesting areas of discussion in the public sector. However, there is not yet sufficient research in the public sector on how psychological entitlement shapes the effects of digital maturity on individual work outcomes. Therefore, the study focuses on addressing the lack of findings in the literature on the outcomes of digital maturity. In this context, the aim of the study is to reveal the effects of digital maturity on task performance for senior public executives and to examine the mediating role of psychological entitlement in the relationship between digital maturity and task performance. The data is collected from 361 senior public executives employed in the Tax Inspection Board of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Treasury and Finance through a survey. The data is analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling for testing the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate positive influences of digital maturity on both task performance and psychological entitlement in the public sector. In addition, the findings also show a significant positive relationship between psychological entitlement and task performance. Furthermore, digital literacy, strategy, leadership, human, and technology dimensions of digital maturity have positive and significant effect on task performance. In contrast, the findings of the study revealed that the leadership, operations and culture dimensions of digital maturity have significant negative impact on task performance. However, the market and governance dimensions of digital maturity did not influence task performance. On the other hand, the results illustrate that psychological entitlement mediates the relationship between digital maturity and task performance. The results also show that psychological entitlement mediates the relationship between some dimensions (strategy, leadership, culture and technology) of digital maturity and task performance. Based on the findings of the study, theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.