Employee Empowerment and Innovative Work Behavior

Abstract

Purpose: This paper seeks to address the moderating effect of leader-member exchange on the link between employee empowerment and innovative work behavior. Design/Methodology: The study draws on the causal-comparative research design, and employs paper-based self-administered questionnaires to gather data from a sample of 470 employees drawn from manufacturing firms in Kenya. This sample is part of a population of 9915 employees and has been narrowed down using Yamane’s formula. The study employs stratified and simple random sampling techniques to constitute the required sample of employees. Findings: The results indicate that employee empowerment and Leader-Member Exchange positively and significantly affect innovative work behavior. The results further reveal that Leader-member exchange significantly moderates the link between employee empowerment and innovative work behavior. Practical Implication: The findings of this study provide an avenue through which managers of manufacturing firms can identify constructs that best explain innovative work behavior, especially during challenging times such as this time of Covid 19 pandemic. The results of this study provides managers with opportunities to come up with techniques, policies and strategies to improve relationship between employees and their supervisors for purposes of improved productivity, employee loyalty and reduced conflicts. Originality/Value: The study makes a novel attempt to show the moderating influence of leader–member exchange in the context of employee empowerment and innovative work behavior in manufacturing firms in Kenya. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of leader-member exchange in employees’ innovative behavior, which is vital knowledge in tough times like the current uncertainty caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

Fostering Innovation: Exploring Key Factors and Their Relationship on Organizational Performance Towards Innovation Management Culture

“…By empowering employees, leaders enhance employees' sense of belonging and honor to the organization, making them psychologically grateful to the organization and giving back to the organization through performance. This is an effective strategy in which employees can make their own decisions and spark innovation (Kanake & Kemboi, 2020)…”

The Mediating Effect of Psychological Empowerment on the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Staff Retention in Microfinance Institutions in Kenya

“…Such a relationship results to a form of exchange between the leader and subordinates such that the subordinates respect and follow the leader willingly when they perceive a high-quality dyad (Adero & Odiyo, 2020;Kariuki, 2020;Northouse, 2016). The key proponents of this theory were Graen and Cashman in 1975, and Dansereau, Graen, and Haga in 1975. Kanake and Kemboi (2020 utilized this theory in their investigation of the relationship between employee empowerment and innovative work behaviour.…”

An Empirical Survey of the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Staff Retention in the Context of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya

“…On the other hand, employees who possessed a low LMX with their supervisors felt less valued and were more inclined to quit the organization. Kanake and Kemboi (2020) used the theory to carry out a study investigating the relationship between employee empowerment and innovative work behaviour. The study revealed that the kind of exchange between the leaders and staff is positively moderated by the nature of the relationship between them.…”