Transformational leadership and innovation in an R&D organization experiencing major change

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of how transformational leaders influence R&D team outcomes around being more innovative. In particular, the study aims to focus on the role of group identification in mediating innovative outcomes. Design/methodology/approach-In total, 104 participants in a large Australian R&D organization were surveyed twice during a 12 month period of major restructuring and change. These matched respondents came from 29 different teams. Findings-Results revealed that group identification and perceived support for creativity exerted equal independent effects in fully mediating the relationship between transformational leadership and team innovation. Research limitations/implications-The potential for leadership to influence innovation through identification raises interesting alternative possibilities. Future research may generate new insights by investigating alternative samples, leadership styles or using qualitative methods. Practical implications-Findings point to how a more transformational style of leadership influences team climate and identification, and in turn innovation in the context of scientific R&D teams. Such styles do produce better outcomes, both for the organization around more innovative products and processes, but also for team members who engage in more creative team environments. Originality/value-These findings add to the conceptual understanding of processes through which transformational styles of leadership promote innovation, and highlight the benefits gained by promoting more transformational styles of leadership to generate more innovative outcomes from teams and employees.

Impact of Transformational Leadership on Innovation Characteristic of Enforcement Employees in Malaysian Public Sector Agency. The Role of Trust as Mediator

“…Therefore, the findings of this study empirically support the government agenda especially pertaining the leadership and employees' innovation development. The findings were supported by previous researches [4,33] although they were conducted in different settings and contexts.…”

“…This could be succeeded through innovative employees who create and apply new meaningful idea in upgrading the systems, policies and procedures, and process of organization that make the efficient production and service delivery [1]. Thus, research in the area of innovation should be conducted actively based on individual context since previously, many studies have focused on general team and organizational context [2][3][4]. For this study, innovation refers to individual level of analysis.…”

Linking Knowledge Management, Business Excellence and Innovation Performance

“…With regard to strategy, knowledge is critical to developing and adapting innovation strategies under rapidly changing circumstances to foster growth and create value [30]. KM can support creative leadership, develop human and social capital to stimulate innovation within organizations [31], support change management and mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and team-based innovation [32]. When KM is effective, it can also facilitate collaboration and customer engagement to support open innovation [33] and a strong customer focus [34].…”

Modelling organisational innovation in UAE: investigating the love triangle involving leadership, organisational culture and innovation

“…A bulk of research in western contexts supports positive linkage between leadership and organisational innovation e.g., (Aarons and Sommerfeld, 2012) using data from the USA and Canada; Paulsen et al (2013) using Australian sample. In Europe, Matzler et al (2008) using a sample of 300 innovative SMEs from Austria; Elenkov and Manev (2005) using data from 12 European countries established that leadership factors had strong effects on the innovation influence of top-management.…”