Transformational Leadership and Innovative Work Behaviour: Exploring the Relevance of Gender Differences

Abstract

The importance of innovation within organizations has been demonstrated on numerous occasions, which has subsequently led to the identification of effective leadership as a potential catalyst. Accordingly, empirical findings have repeatedly demonstrated a positive relationship between transformational leadership and work unit effectiveness measures. This study explores the relationship between transformational leadership and employee innovative work behaviour, additionally examining the moderating effect of gender of the manager and gender of the employee. Data were gathered within four Australian hospitals, generating a dataset of 335 respondents. The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between transformational leadership and innovative work behaviour. Furthermore, gender of the manager moderated the latter relationship, indicating that employees report more innovative behaviour when the transformational leadership is displayed by male in comparison with female managers, confirming our gender bias hypothesis. No significant effect was found for the threeway interaction of transformational leadership, gender of the manager, and gender of the employee. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The communality-bonus effect for male transformational leaders – leadership style, gender, and promotability

“…This evidence of a communality-bonus effect for male transformational leaders is in line with initial research indicating that men are evaluated particularly positively when showing certain communal behaviours (Heilman & Chen, 2005;Mohr & Wolfram, 2008;Shaughnessy et al, 2015). Other research shows that transformational leadership can even translate into better follower outcomes if shown by men (e.g., Reuvers, Van Engen, Vinkenburg, & Wilson-Evered, 2008;Wolfram & Mohr, 2010).…”

Género del gerente e innovación: Caso empírico en Pymes de Cali

“…En términos generales, Awamleh (1994), y Reuvers et al (2008), indican que la relación entre innovación y género es débil. Los estudios de este autor señalan que los hombres poseen más capacidad innovadora y por lo tanto realizan más actividades en función de ello.…”

“…Estos resultados dan fuerza a la investigación realizada por Awamleh (1994), y Reuvers et al (2008), quienes indican que la relación entre innovación y género es débil. Adicionalmente, estos resultados no concuerdan con Idris (2009), Azagra-Caro, Archontakis, Gutiérrez-Gracia y Fernández-de Lucio (2006), Bozeman y Gaughan (2007), y Reuvers et al (2008), quienes señalan que la capacidad innovadora se centra más en los hombres que en las mujeres, resultados que no se evidencian en la Tabla 3, la cual muestra que entre las empresas gestionadas por hombres y mujeres no existen diferencias significativas en la forma de ejercer innovación. Por otro lado, estos resultados tampoco concuerdan con Buttner (2001), Khan (2015), y Pons et al (2016), quienes señalan que las condiciones de la mujer y sus rasgos característicos pueden permitir que gestionen la innovación en las organizaciones de manera más eficaz.…”

Transformational leadership as a prerequisite for organizational innovations during turbulent socio-economic circumstances

“…Ovo lidersko ponašanje služi da motiviše, inspiriše i podrži zaposlene u vremenu neizvesnosti, poput onog u kome organizacija pokušava da poveća učestvovanje u kreativnom ponašanju (Jung, Wu, & Chow, 2008;Reuvers et al, 2008). Taktike transformacionog liderstva mogu biti korisne u direktnoj promeni organizacione kulture, poput usvajanja klime koja podržava inovacije.…”

“…Na osnovu pregleda relevantne literature, zaključujemo da najnovije teme u vezi s liderstvom i kreativnošću sugerišu kako transformaciono liderstvo može biti izuzetno uspešan mehanizam za povećavanje kreativnosti i inovacije u organizacijama (Elenkov, & Manev, 2009;Jansen, Vera, & Crossan, 2009;Reuvers, et al, 2008). Pretpostavka o efektima transformacionog liderstva na inovacije na organizacionom nivou tek nedavno je postala tema empirijskih istraživanja.…”