Does entrepreneurial leadership encourage innovation work behavior? The mediating role of creative self-efficacy and support for innovation

Abstract

PurposeThe crucial importance of innovation leadership for high-technology small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) has been suggested in the literature. However, few studies empirically examined the impact of leadership style on innovation work behavior (IWB) of employees in the context of SMEs. Furthermore, the authors’ knowledge is limited about how leaders of high-technology SMEs influence the IWB of their employees. This study aims to explore the effect of entrepreneurial leadership on IWB of employees and introduces creativity self-efficacy and support for innovation as the mechanisms through which the leaders encourage their employees' IWB in information and computer technology (ICT) SMEs in Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe sample was selected from the high-technology ICT SMEs using the simple random sampling method. A sample of 175 CEOs and owner-managers of the businesses participated in this research. The authors used validated questionnaires to test the hypothesized relationships between entrepreneurial leadership, IWB, creativity self-efficacy and support for innovation.FindingsThe study findings show that entrepreneurial leadership has a significant and positive impact on IWB of employees in ICT SMEs. Furthermore, the findings reveal that creativity self-efficacy and support for innovation mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and IWB. The implications of the results and suggestions for developing IWB among the employees of high-technology SMEs are suggested.Originality/valueThe study makes important contributions to both entrepreneurial leadership and innovation behavior literature and theory development specifically in high-technology SMEs in the transitioning economy of Iran. The findings also contribute to the existing empirical studies on how entrepreneurial leadership affects IWB of employees by examining the mediating role of creativity self-efficacy and support for innovation and in the settings of ICT high-technology SMEs.

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Organization Innovation: Effect of Knowledge Management and Organizational Climate

“…Empirical evidence shows that entrepreneurial leadership has an effect on organizational innovation [1]- [3][18][33]. This shows that, when a leader has the courage to take risks, involve and guide employees, it will encourage subordinates to increasingly innovate in the organization, through the creation of new ideas and ideas to develop the organization.…”

“…Of course, small and medium enterprises that are unable to adapt to the environment through innovation, the survival of these organizations can be threatened. Several studies have explored related to organizational innovation [1][9] [16]. Organizational innovation is the process of creating ideas, new processes, and new products related to organizational sustainability.…”

“…Various empirical evidence shows that, entrepreneurial leadership has an effect on organizational innovation [1]- [3][18][27] [33]. However, different results indicate that entrepreneurial leadership has an effect on the innovation process but not on innovation performance [13].…”

“…There are several interesting reasons for researchers to study this research. First, the influence of entrepreneurial leadership on organizational innovation still produces controversial results [1][2][3] [13]. Second, research places knowledge management as a mediating variable and organizational climate as a moderating variable, because the organizational innovation process depends on the leader in the transformation process and it depends on the organizational climate.…”

The role of image expectations in linking organizational climate and innovative work behaviour

“…That implies the impracticality to rely on fixed procedures and the need for constant change and adjustment for dealing with unexpected situations and exploiting new opportunities (Anderson et al, 2014;Bagheri et al, 2020). For this reason, innovation is a key factor for the success and survival of any type of organization, as the introduction of new products or processes facilitates the adaptation and the proactive response to challenges, thus leading to competitive advantages (Battistelli et al, 2019;Akbari et al, 2020).…”