Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational innovation

This study proposes a model of the impact of transformational leadership both on followers' creativity at the individual level and on innovation at the organizational level. The model is tested on 163 R&D personnel and managers at 43 micro- and small-sized Turkish software development companies. The results suggest that transformational leadership has important effects on creativity at both the individual and organizational levels. At the individual level, the results of hierarchical linear modeling show that there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employees' creativity. In addition, transformational leadership influences employees' creativity through psychological empowerment. At the organizational level, the results of regression analysis reveal that transformational leadership positively associates with organizational innovation, which is measured with a market-oriented criterion developed specifically for developing countries and newly developing industries. The implications of the findings along with some potential practical applications are discussed.     

Value quantification capabilities in industrial markets

This study explores the origins and benefits of value quantification capabilities in industrial markets. After polling 131 US industrial sales and account managers, this study finds that value quantification capabilities improve firm—but not individual sales manager—performance. Second, in stable markets, the effect of value quantification capabilities on firm performance is stronger than in dynamic markets. Third, the study finds that the following psychological traits are positively related to the individual value quantification capability: risk taking and creativity, sales manager questioning style, customer-oriented selling, and cross-functional collaboration. This study suggests that value quantification capabilities benefit firm performance especially in stable markets, it explores attitudinal and behavioural traits underlying value quantification capabilities, and it highlights the need for further studies exploring the circumstances under which value quantification capabilities improve individual sales manager performance.     

Does organizational creativity always drive market performance?

This study develops and tests arguments that the relationship between organizational creativity and market performance is channeled through new product development (NPD) capability, and that the indirect effect of creativity on performance, via NPD capability, is conditional upon levels of environment dynamism and market responsiveness. The proposed relationships are tested on a sample of 221 small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in a major sub‐Saharan African market. Findings from the study indicate that process and product NPD capabilities partially mediate the effect of novelty and usefulness elements of organizational creativity on market performance. The study further finds that while environment dynamism weakens the indirect effects of novelty and usefulness of organizational creativity, via process and product NPD capabilities, on market performance, the effects are strengthened under conditions of greater responsiveness to target market needs. A theoretical contribution from this study is the finding that how organizational creativity dimensions drive market performance is more complex than previously thought: it depends on whether or not organizational creativity components are first used to develop an organization's process and product innovation capabilities, and whether target market environment conditions are dynamic and an organization has ability to respond to target market demands.     

The Influence of Corporate Environmental Ethics on Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Role of Green Innovation

This study utilizes structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the positive effect of corporate environmental ethics on competitive advantage in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry via the mediator: green innovation performance. This study divides green innovation into green product innovation and green process innovation. The empirical results show that corporate environmental ethics positively affects green product innovation and green process innovation. In addition, this study verifies that green product innovation mediates the positive relationship between corporate environmental ethics and competitive advantage, but green process innovation does not. Therefore, corporate environmental ethics can not only affect competitive advantage directly, but also influence it indirectly via green product innovation in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing companies can increase their corporate environmental ethics and green product innovation to enhance their competitive advantages.     

The Nature,Measurement and Nomological Network of Environmentally Specific Transformational Leadership

Previous research reveals that when leaders enact environmentally specific transformational leadership, they positively affect corporate environmental responsibility. While this research provides important insights into how leaders create and shape corporate environmental responsibility, confidence in the validity of these findings is limited because the psychometric properties of the measurement of environmentally specific transformational leadership has not yet been assessed. The goal of the current research was to develop and validate a measure of environmentally specific transformational leadership. To this end, four studies were conducted, which together produced a reliable and valid scale from which future research can stem. Theoretical and practical limitations are discussed.     

The Driver of Green Innovation and Green Image – Green Core Competence

This study proposed a novel construct – green core competence – to explore its positive effects on green innovation and green images of firms. The results showed that green core competences of firms were positively correlated to their green innovation performance and green images. In addition, this research also verified two types of green innovation performance had partial mediation effects between green core competences and green images of firms. Therefore, investment in the development of green core competence was helpful to businesses for the enhancement of their green innovation and green images. Furthermore, this study found that green core competence, two types of green innovation performance, and green images of medium & small enterprises (SMEs) were all significantly less than those of large enterprises in the information and electronics industry in Taiwan. Therefore, there was the advantage of firm size for the green core competence in this industry, and it was imperative for SMEs to develop and create their green core competences to strengthen their green innovation performance, and green images.     

For the Good or the Bad? Interactive Effects of Transformational Leadership with Moral and Authoritarian Leadership Behaviors

Although the ethical aspects of transformational leadership have attracted considerable attention, very little is known about followers’ reactions to the moral and immoral conduct of transformational leaders. Against this background, this study examined whether and how transformational leadership interacts with moral and authoritarian leadership behaviors in predicting followers’ in-role and extra-role efforts. Building on attribution theory, we hypothesized that the positive and negative effects of these leadership behaviors would be particularly pronounced for highly transformational leaders given that this leadership style elicits strong attention and sense-making efforts among followers. We tested our model in a sample of 228 individuals comprising 114 leader–follower dyads from a wide range of organizations and industries. In line with our hypotheses, results revealed that for highly transformational leaders, moral leadership behaviors related positively to employees’ in-role and extra-role efforts whereas authoritarian leadership behaviors related negatively to employees’ in-role and extra-role efforts. In contrast, moral and authoritarian leadership behaviors did not significantly affect followers’ reactions to leaders low in transformational leadership. Taken together, these findings suggest that transformational leadership, contrary to its largely positive perception in the literature, can be a rather mixed blessing. Implications for theory, future research, and managerial practice are discussed.     

Volunteer High Performance Work Systems and Service Performance: An Empirical Study of Beijing Olympic Volunteers

This study examines the key human resources factors that affect volunteers’ service performance from the perspectives of volunteers and managers in the Beijing Summer Olympic Games of 2008. Survey data were collected from 1,727 volunteers and 243 managers at the Beijing Olympics test events held at 10 venues between November 2007 and April 2008. Regression analyses and a moderation test were combined to test the hypotheses. A set of high performance work systems (HPWS) for volunteers in the Beijing Summer Olympic Games were developed which include performance management, training, recognition, teamwork and volunteer participation. Volunteer HPWS were positively related to psychological empowerment, which was in turn positively related to service recovery performance. Moreover, transformational leadership moderates the relationship between volunteer HPWS and psychological empowerment in such a way that the relationship is stronger when transformational leadership is at a higher level than when it is at a lower level. Implications and limitations were also discussed.     

Bonding Ties,Bridging Ties,and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Dynamic Capabilities in Networks

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Building on the dynamic capabilities view and the configuration of network ties, this study investigates how dynamic capabilities moderate the relationships between bonding and bridging ties and firm performance, thus an area with potential to explain the divergent empirical results contained in the existing literature on the relationship between intra/extraorganizational ties and performance.

Methodology: This study employed a mail survey to senior executives. A total of 169 firms operating in an industrial district were collected. Regression analysis was employed to test the proposed model.

Findings: This study found that the combination of dynamic capabilities and bonding/bridging ties helps improve firm performance. Furthermore, this study found a positive relationship between bonding ties and firm performance, but no equivalent relationship for bridging ties.

Research Implications: Research results indicate that firm performance is significantly enhanced by bonding ties, which provide opportunities for sharing information and exchanging resources. Moreover, the empirical results reaffirm the proposition that dynamic capabilities are important transformational mechanisms for managing resources.

Practical Implications: The findings reveal that managers can improve firm performance by simultaneously building social ties and developing and implementing dynamic capabilities.

Originality/Value: This study demonstrates that the components of dynamic capabilities (i.e., sensemaking and reconfiguration) are transformational mechanisms and can moderate the positive relationship between bonding and bridging ties and firm performance, empirically supporting recent perspectives from the literature on dynamic capabilities and social networks.     

Leaders’ Personal Wisdom and Leader–Member Exchange Quality: The Role of Individualized Consideration

Business scholars have recently proposed that the virtue of personal wisdom may predict leadership behaviors and the quality of leader–follower relationships. This study investigated relationships among leaders’ personal wisdom—defined as the integration of advanced cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics (Ardelt, Hum Dev 47:257–285, 2004)—transformational leadership behaviors, and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. It was hypothesized that leaders’ personal wisdom positively predicts LMX quality and that intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, two dimensions of transformational leadership, mediate this relationship. Data came from 75 religious leaders and 1–3 employees of each leader (N = 158). Results showed that leaders’ personal wisdom had a positive indirect effect on follower ratings of LMX quality through individualized consideration, even after controlling for Big Five personality traits, emotional intelligence, and narcissism. In contrast, intellectual stimulation and the other two dimensions of transformational leadership (idealized influence and inspirational motivation) did not mediate the positive relationship between leaders’ personal wisdom and LMX quality. Implications for future research on personal wisdom and leadership are discussed, and some tentative suggestions for leadership development are outlined.     

监督机制、企业家创业能力与绩效关系研究

基于制度理论和动态能力观点,建立了一个分析监督机制、企业家创业能力与绩效关系的理论框架,并提出了3条假设。基于195家企业样本的实证分析表明：董事长与总经理两职分离与企业家创业能力发挥正相关,股权集中度与企业家创业能力发挥负相关;企业家创业能力发挥有助于提升企业绩效。     

Transformational Leadership and Leaders’ Mode of Care Reasoning

Previous research on the moral foundations of transformational leadership has focused primarily on stage of justice reasoning; this study focuses on developmental mode of care reasoning. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted on data coded from interviews with a sample of Canadian public sector managers (N?=?58) and survey responses from their subordinates (N?=?119). Results indicated that managers?? developmental mode of care reasoning significantly and positively predicted subordinates?? reports of transformational (but not transactional) leadership, with significant differences in follower reports of transformational leadership between those using more versus less advanced modes of care reasoning. Conceptual implications for understanding transformational leadership and the ethics of leadership, directions for future research, and suggestions for leadership interventions are discussed.     

Greenwash and Green Trust: The Mediation Effects of Green Consumer Confusion and Green Perceived Risk

The paper explores the influence of greenwash on green trust and discusses the mediation roles of green consumer confusion and green perceived risk. The research object of this study focuses on Taiwanese consumers who have the purchase experience of information and electronics products in Taiwan. This research employs an empirical study by means of the structural equation modeling. The results show that greenwash is negatively related to green trust. Therefore, this study suggests that companies must reduce their greenwash behaviors to enhance their consumers’ green trust. In addition, this study finds out that green consumer confusion and green perceived risk mediate the negative relationship between greenwash and green trust. The results also demonstrate that greenwash is positively associated with green consumer confusion and green perceived risk which would negatively affect green trust. It means that greenwash does not only negatively affect green trust directly but also negatively influence it via green consumer confusion and green perceived risk indirectly. Hence, if companies would like to reduce the negative relationship between greenwash and green trust, they need to decrease their consumers’ green consumer confusion and green perceived risk.     

Green Innovation and Performance: The View of Organizational Capability and Social Reciprocity

Synthesizing insights from a dynamic capability perspective and social network theory, this study identifies the factors influencing green innovation and examines the relationships between influencing factors, green innovation, and performance. This study uses structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses. The results indicate that dynamic capability, coordination capability, and social reciprocity are significant drivers of green innovation, including green product innovation and green process innovation. Green product and process innovation have positive effects on environmental performance and organizational performance. These findings are relevant to firms in quest of green management and innovation.     

变革型领导如何影响员工亲组织非伦理行为?——一个被调节的中介作用模型

本文从社会认同理论的视角,对变革型领导与亲组织非伦理行为之间的关系进行考察,并且构建一个被调节的中介模型.研究选取浙江省3家企业的300名员工作为研究对象,探讨了在组织领导化身调节下,变革型领导与亲组织非伦理行为的关系,以及组织认同的中介作用.研究结果表明:变革型领导对亲组织非伦理行为具有积极的预测效应;组织认同在变革型领导与亲组织非伦理行为之间起部分中介作用;领导组织化身在变革型领导和组织认同之间起调节作用.     

Is transformational leadership always good for employee task performance? Examining curvilinear and moderated relationships

Transformational leadership, generally considered as a desirable leadership style, has positive effects on various performance outcomes of employees; however, its productivity has been called into question because of a relative neglect of its negative aspects. Addressing this gap, an attempt at rethinking the relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance is important. The paradoxical perspective indicates that conflicting positive and negative effects of transformational leadership can coexist, which provides possibility and rationality for thorough consideration of employees’ task performance influenced by transformational leaders. Integrating the principle of diminishing marginal utility and the “Too-Much-ofa-Good-Thing (TMGT)” effect, this research explores an inverted U-shaped relationship between transformational leadership and employee task performance. Furthermore, applying social cognitive theory, we assume an employee’s proactive personality moderates the curvilinear influence of transformational leadership on employees’ task performance. As expected, results from a study of data from 209 supervisorsubordinate relationships from China showed that the inverted U-shaped relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ task performance was moderated by employees’ proactive personality. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Is transformational leadership always good for employee task performance? Examining curvilinear and moderated relationships

Transformational leadership, generally considered as a desirable leadership style, has positive effects on various performance outcomes of employees; however, its productivity has been called into question because of a relative neglect of its negative aspects. Addressing this gap, an attempt at rethinking the relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance is important. The paradoxical perspective indicates that conflicting positive and negative effects of transformational leadership can coexist, which provides possibility and rationality for thorough consideration of employees’ task performance influenced by transformational leaders. Integrating the principle of diminishing marginal utility and the “Too-Much-of-a-Good-Thing (TMGT)” effect, this research explores an inverted U-shaped relationship between transformational leadership and employee task performance. Furthermore, applying social cognitive theory, we assume an employee’s proactive personality moderates the curvilinear influence of transformational leadership on employees’ task performance. As expected, results from a study of data from 209 supervisor-subordinate relationships from China showed that the inverted U-shaped relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ task performance was moderated by employees’ proactive personality. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Impact of Transformational and Servant Leadership on Organizational Performance: A Comparative Analysis

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of two comparative leadership styles on organizational performance outcomes. The leadership styles undertaken is transformational and servant leadership. A sample of 155 participants is taken from profit-oriented service sector of Pakistan. Data through survey gathered on a five point likert scale from organizations. AMOS and SPSS are used for statistical analysis. The result shows that, transformational leadership has more impact on organizational learning than servant leadership. Furthermore organizational learning enhances organizational performance. Managers and leaders of corporate sector can get benefited from this study. Their main objective is to maximize the profitability of organization thus, they can choose leadership style which polishes their abilities and helps them to achieve profit maximization.     

Chinese employees’ leadership preferences and the relationship with power distance orientation and core self-evaluation

Informed by implicit leadership theories, this study investigates contemporary Chinese employees’ preferences for paternalistic leadership (including three components: moral leadership, benevolent leadership and authoritarian leadership) and transformational leadership. It further examines the relationship between power distance orientation, core self-evaluation (CSE) and leadership preferences. The study finds that contemporary Chinese employees most prefer moral leadership, but are also highly receptive to transformational leadership. They prefer authoritarian leadership least. Moreover, preferences for authoritarian leadership are predicated on followers’ power distance orientation. However, the opposite is true for moral leadership. CSE is positively related to followers’ preference for authoritarian leadership, benevolent leadership and transformational leadership, but not except for moral leadership. A positive interaction effect is found between power distance orientation and CSE with regard to authoritarian leadership preference. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

An Empirical Study of Leader Ethical Values,Transformational and Transactional Leadership,and Follower Attitudes Toward Corporate Social Responsibility

Several leadership and ethics scholars suggest that the transformational leadership process is predicated on a divergent set of ethical values compared to transactional leadership. Theoretical accounts declare that deontological ethics should be associated with transformational leadership while transactional leadership is likely related to teleological ethics. However, very little empirical research supports these claims. Furthermore, despite calls for increasing attention as to how leaders influence their followers’ perceptions of the importance of ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) for organizational effectiveness, no empirical study to date has assessed the comparative impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles on follower CSR attitudes. Data from 122 organizational leaders and 458 of their followers indicated that leader deontological ethical values (altruism, universal rights, Kantian principles, etc.) were strongly associated with follower ratings of transformational leadership, while leader teleological ethical values (utilitarianism) were related to follower ratings of transactional leadership. As predicted, only transformational leadership was associated with follower beliefs in the stakeholder view of CSR. Implications for the study and practice of ethical leadership, future research directions, and management education are discussed.