Reuvers, Mark, van Engen, Marloes, Vinkenburg, Claartje and Wilson-Evered, Elisabeth (2008) Transformational Leadership and Innovative Work Behaviour: Exploring the Relevance of Gender Differences. Creativity and Innovation Management, 17 (3). pp. 227-244. ISSN 0963-1690

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.

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