scholarly journals Authentic Leadership and Employees’ Innovative Behaviour: A Multilevel Investigation in Three Countries

Author(s):  
Mariola Laguna ◽  
Karolina Walachowska ◽  
Marjan J. Gorgievski-Duijvesteijn ◽  
Juan A. Moriano

The innovativeness of individual employees is a vital source of competitive advantage of firms, contributing to societal development. Therefore, the aim of this multilevel study was to examine how entrepreneurial firm owners’ authentic leadership relates to their employees’ innovative behaviour. Our conceptual model postulates that the relationship between business owners’ authentic leadership (as perceived by their employees) and their employees’ innovative behaviour is mediated by employees’ personal initiative and their work engagement. Hypotheses derived from this model were tested on data collected from 711 employees working in 85 small firms from three European countries: the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. The results of the multilevel modelling confirmed our model, showing that when business owners are perceived as more authentic leaders, their employees show higher personal initiative and are more engaged at work and, in turn, identify more innovative solutions to be implemented in the organization. A cross-national difference was observed: employees from Spain (in comparison to Dutch and Polish employees) reported engaging less frequently in innovative behaviour. These research findings suggest that the innovative behaviour of employees can be boosted through leadership training, improving the quality of relationships between leaders and subordinates, and strengthening employees’ personal initiative and work engagement.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aboramadan ◽  
Main Naser Alolayyan ◽  
Mehmet Ali Turkmenoglu ◽  
Berat Cicek ◽  
Caterina Farao

Purpose This paper aims to propose a model of the effect of both authentic leadership and management capability on hospital performance. This model proposes work engagement as an intervening mechanism between the aforesaid links. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 380 medical staff working in Jordanian Public hospitals and were analysed using the structural equation modelling analysis technique. Findings The results suggest that both authentic leadership and management capability have a positive effect on hospital performance. Although positive, the direct effect of management capability on performance was not significant. Furthermore, work engagement demonstrated to play a full mediation effect between management capability and hospital performance and a partial mediation effect between authentic leadership and hospital performance. Practical implications This study may be of use for public medical services providers in general and other services sectors in terms of the role authentic leadership and management resources can play in contributing to positive work-related outcomes at the individual and organisational levels. Originality/value Considering the mainstream literature in health-care management, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to date to integrate the impact of both authentic leadership and management capabilities in the public health-care sector. Further, the research model has not previously been introduced when taking into account the role that work engagement can play between the examined variables.


IMP Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip McGowan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of effectuation logic on the buying intentions of small firm owner-managers. Design/methodology/approach Literature relating to organisational buying, marketing and personal selling and entrepreneurial decision making was synthesised. Findings This paper presents a conceptual model based on propositions relating to how effectuation logic may explain the predilection of small firm owner-managers to select trusted suppliers from within personal and business networks, and to engage on flexible terms. It suggests that supplier relationship decisions made using effectuation logic may enable wider choice of suppliers than the formal processes of large firms. Research limitations/implications The findings were developed from a narrative review of literature and are yet to be empirically tested. Originality/value By synthesising research findings on small firm buyer behaviour, the IMP interaction approach and effectuation, it has been possible to develop a predictive model representing buyer–seller relationships in the context of small firms which suggests that owner-managers select suppliers in line with the principles of effectuation means and effectuation affordable loss.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Amal Refaat Gab Allah ◽  
Rehab Abd Allah Nassar

Background and aim: Authentic leadership is relatively a new paradigm that emphasizes leaders' credibility. It can serve the healthcare organization to build an organizational culture that reinforces the healthcare worker in being committed and engaged in work. This study aimed to examine the effect of authentic leadership on staff nurses' affective organizational commitment and work engagement through examining the mediating role of behavioral integrity.Methods: Study design: A descriptive correlational design was used in conducting this study. Setting: The study was conducted at two different hospitals, namely Menoufia University Hospital, and National Liver Institution, Egypt. Sampling: A Convenience sampling of two groups were selected; 64 front-line nurse managers and 320 staff nurses. Tools: Four instruments were used for collecting data; authentic leadership questionnaire, behavioral integrity scale, affective organizational commitment questionnaire, and Utrecht work engagement scale. Spearman correlation (r) and binary logistic regression analysis were used to achieve the study aim.Results: Total behavioral integrity (BI) score was significantly correlated with total authentic leadership (AL) and two of its subscales (internalized moral perspective and balanced processing). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was revealed between the enactment of espoused values at one hand and total authentic leadership and its subscales except for self-awareness. Correlation analysis between BI and organizational commitment revealed a significant positive correlation between the two variables. A significant positive correlation was also found between the BI total and its subscales with work engagement total and its subscales.Conclusions: This study supported the proposition that the relationship between authentic leadership and positive nurses’ outcomes including affective commitment and work engagement is mediated by behavioral integrity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhirapat Kulophas ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Auyporn Ruengtrakul ◽  
Suwimon Wongwanich

Purpose In the context of Thailand’s progress towards education reform, scholars have identified a lack of effective school-level leadership as an impeding factor. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a theoretical model of authentic leadership effects on teacher academic optimism and work engagement. Authentic leadership was considered a suitable model of school leadership in light of Thailand’s explicit recognition of the importance of developing the moral capacity of students and emphasis on ethical leadership. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Survey data were obtained from 605 teachers in a nationally representative sample of 182 primary schools. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that the model of authentic leadership effects on teachers’ academic optimism and work engagement was validated. A moderate relationship was observed between authentic leadership and the dependent measures of teacher attitudes. Practical implications The study identified a potentially important lack of alignment between the espoused values and actions/decisions of school principals in Thailand. When combined with prior research conducted on leadership for educational reform in Thailand, our findings highlight the systemic nature of the problem faced in changing traditional patterns of behavior in Thai schools. More specifically, despite change in the nation’s educational goals, human resource management of the nation’s school leaders continues to produce administrators and managers rather than leaders, either instructional or moral. Originality/value The study extends prior studies of school leadership in the context of Thailand’s education reform that focused more specifically on principal instructional leadership in Thailand. In addition, this study of authentic school leadership is one of only a few conducted outside of Western societies.


Author(s):  
Cindy Millman

This paper discusses the next stage of Internet usage by micro-businesses in the tourism sector, namely e-Commerce. Motivations for e-Commerce adoptions are examined and the perceived barriers are investigated. Moreover, experiences of the adopters are explored to identify the benefits gained and problems encountered. A qualitative approach is used and a pilot study conducted. In-depth face-to-face interviews with semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with twenty case studies, with a mix of e-Commerce adopters and non-adopters. The Critical Incident technique was used to encourage business owners to identify their experiences with this new business method. Preliminary results show that there are a number of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that reinforce business owners’ decisions in adopting the e-Commerce method. The findings have implications for researchers and policymakers. The diversity of small firms has led to the need to tailor policy initiatives and training programmes. In addition, this study is replicable in other small business sectors that face the next step of development in Internet usage.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihye Oh ◽  
Daeyeon Cho ◽  
Doo Hun Lim

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating effect of practicing core values on the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement in a Korean corporate environment. Design/methodology/approach Self-report data on authentic leadership, practicing core values, and work engagement were obtained from 281 employees of three major corporations in South Korea. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze the data. Findings The results revealed a direct and significant influence of authentic leadership on both practicing core values and work engagement. In addition, practicing core values was found to have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement. Research limitations/implications This study revealed a three-factor model of authentic leadership compared to the four-factor model found in western cultural contexts. Similar findings are indicated for other Asian countries. A rigorous future study is warranted to validate the psychometric structure across different cultural settings. Harman’s single factor test was performed to address the common method variance issue. Practical implications Practicing core values functioned as a catalyst for developing authentic leaders. Therefore, it is necessary that organizational development practitioners perform developmental activities to purposefully facilitate practicing core values. Originality/value The study falls under the isolated or disregarded researched topic of the practicing core values in relation to authentic leadership and work engagement.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 926-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garazi Azanza ◽  
Marjan J. Gorgievski ◽  
Juan Antonio Moriano ◽  
Fernando Molero

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between sales managers’ authentic leadership style and salespeople’s positive development. Design/methodology/approach Multilevel regression analysis was used to examine the data from 40 work teams from several Spanish retail companies (190 salespeople and 40 sales managers). Findings In line with previous studies, the analyses indicated that sales managers’ authentic leadership style as perceived by employees significantly predicted salespeople’s work engagement and psychological capital (PsyCap). Contrary to the expectations, salespeople’s perceptions of sales managers’ authentic leadership did not relate to sales managers’ self-ratings of authentic leadership, but instead related to sales managers’ gender (women were perceived as more authentic) and higher perceived frequency of leader–follower interaction. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by testing if sales managers’ variables (gender and self-ratings of authentic leadership and perceived frequency of leader–follower interaction) predict salespeople’s perceptions of authentic leadership, which in turn, predict salespeople’s positive development (work engagement and PsyCap).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document