Impact of Entrepreneurial Leadership on Innovative Work Behavior: Role of Openness to Experience as Moderator

Abstract

The present environmental complexity resulting from technology advancements has made it critical for firms to promote innovation in their work processes, products, and services. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) on employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB) with moderating role of openness to experience (OTE). To achieve these objectives a self-administered survey questionnaire was distributed among managers, owners, and employees of SMEs in Islamabad. The PLS-SEM model was applied for hypotheses testing. The results of SEM demonstrate that entrepreneurial leadership has a significant effect on employees IWB in SMEs. Similarly, OTE also shows a significant effect on the employees IWB. However, an insignificant effect for OTE as moderator between the association of entrepreneurial leadership and IWB is observed in the data analysis. Overall, the findings of the present study contribute to existing body of knowledge by conceptualizing a theoretical and practical model of entrepreneurship leadership predicting employees’ IWB in SMEs. This study has practical implications for the academicians and the managers as well.