Social Influences, Cognitive Competence, Problem-Solving Skills: A Case Study of Problem-Solving Skills in the Context of Digitalization Adoption

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationships between social
influences related to digital transformation adoption and cognitive competency in
forming problem-solving skills. A deduction approach associated with the
positivist philosophy was employed in order to build up the research model to
explain the process of shaping problem-solving skills. By sending questionnaires
randomly via Google Forms, a cross-sectional study with 337 respondents aged 17
years and older, including men and women with an education level of high school
or higher, was conducted in southern Vietnam. Prior to assessing the measurement
and structural models, the reliability and validity of measurement scales were
examined by Cronbach’s alpha using SPSS software. The SmartPLS software then
was utilized to analyze the measurement and structural models and test the
hypotheses using partial least squares structural equation modelling. According to
research findings, social influences associated with the implementation of digital
transformation had a direct positive impact on workers' cognitive competency as
well as their problem-solving skills. In addition, the research model also
demonstrated the effects of cognitive processes when receiving social impacts
through direct and indirect mechanisms on problem-solving skills, in which low
thinking ability was the foundation for high thinking and creative abilities. Based
on these findings, the research opened a novel approach to problem-solving skills
through the mechanism of the impacts of stimuli on organisms and organisms on
responses that were a premise for managers to provide and orient information to
improve employees' cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills.