Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the effect of transformational leadership on followers’ inventiveness and organizational innovation. It studies transformational leadership and innovation at the organizational level and creativity at the individual level. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model was created, which entailed the development of variables and hypotheses. A survey instrument was used to obtain data, through a self-completion questionnaire. The final sample was made up of 503 individuals, recruited using a random sampling technique. Findings The results showed that transformational leadership has a significant positive relationship with both followers’ creativity and organizational innovation. Furthermore, a significant positive relationship was found between followers’ creativity and organizational innovation. In addition, the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ creativity, through the mediating role of employees’ psychological empowerment, support for innovation, workplace relationships and employee learning, was also found to be both positive and significant. However, the data showed that intrinsic motivation does not significantly affect the relationship between transformational leadership and creativity. Practical implications The study provides guidance to organizations that need to change their leadership style and approach, as well as their innovation and creativity mechanisms, at a strategic level. The resulting guidance provides organizations with insight into how they can improve the creativity of their employees through motivating, supporting and inspiring them. Originality/value This study is an attempt to illustrate the extent to which transformational leadership can affect organizational innovation in Saudi Arabia, specifically in the public sector, and to explore how employees’ creativity can be improved. This research is beneficial for academics, organizations and policy makers, especially in the Gulf countries.

No abstract

Although there has been an emerging field of research on Chinese family firms recently, the level at which Malaysia Chinese family firms were studied is surprisingly far below the observed realities surrounding this type of businesses including their scope of involvement and achievements. This paper, which is built on the existing literature on the topic of Chinese family firms in Malaysia, discusses the development of these firms and the role of Chinese culture and the family business philosophy in shaping the business identity and influencing much of the business outcomes. The combination of family, intra-ethnic and, most importantly, inter-ethnic networks and partnerships are crucial to the development of the business and account for a good deal of their entrepreneurial experiences. The adoption of western management principles and skills becomes much needed when the business grows larger because traditional Chinese management style that is based on family connections seems to be suitable for small and less complicated firms.

Performance of family firms is an interestingly growing topic of study. In Malaysia, many studies were conducted in an attempt to understand performance of family firms, however these studies have been biased towards operationalizing performance through financial indicators particularly Tobin's Q. Researchers also tended to test the effect of various factors relating to corporate governance and board of directors on performance. Ethnic wise, performance of family firms may be significantly impacted by culture. Success of Chinese firms seems to be attributed to the role of family participation and ethnic networks governing the entrepreneurial practice.

No abstract