Leadership Style and Attitude toward a Mandated System: Mediation of Pre-Adoption Beliefs and Moderation of Technological Self-Efficacy

This study examined the deployment of the core tax administration system (CTAS) developed by the Directorate General of Taxes in Indonesia. Extending the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study investigated the mediating roles of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) in the relationship between leadership style—transactional, transformational, and their interaction—and attitudes toward CTAS. Additionally, the study examined the moderating role of technological self-efficacy (TSE) in the relationship between leadership styles and both PU and PEOU. Data were gathered via an online survey distributed to tax office staff across Indonesia using Qualtrics XM. The results reveal that transformational leadership positively influences both PU and PEOU, whereas transactional leadership negatively impacts PEOU, and the interaction of leadership styles adversely affects PU. Causal mediation analysis indicates that the effects of PEOU on PU and PU on attitude are consistent across leadership styles. However, the effects of PEOU on attitude are robust for transactional and transformational leadership but not for their interaction. These findings suggest that transformational leadership influences attitude through individual mediating effects of PU and PEOU, and through the serial mediation of PEOU and PU. This study advances the understanding of technology acceptance in mandated environments, underscoring the critical role of transformational leadership in facilitating the adoption of new technologies.