Entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behavior: an examination through multiple theoretical lenses
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 6 November 2020
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behavior and examine mediating role of affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Using cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 343 employees of information technology (IT) service firms in Pakistan. Partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was applied to test the proposed research model.
Findings
The findings reveal that entrepreneurial leadership is strongly and positively related to employee innovative behavior. Moreover, affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety simultaneously mediate this relationship.
Practical implications
This study uncovers the important role of entrepreneurial leadership in driving employee innovative behavior in high-tech services industry. Findings of this study suggest that by practicing entrepreneurial behaviors, managers can enhance employees' affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety, which invoke employees to demonstrate innovative behavior leading toward improved innovation performance at organizational level.
Originality/value
This research makes novel contribution to entrepreneurial leadership theory by using competing theoretical perspectives and subsequently providing more nuanced picture of the contrasting mechanisms that transmit the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on employee innovative behavior.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Iqbal, A., Nazir, T. and Ahmad, M.S. (2022), "Entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behavior: an examination through multiple theoretical lenses", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 173-190. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-06-2020-0212
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited