Transformational leadership and employee voice for product and process innovation in SMEs

Authors

  • School of Business and Economics, University of Management and Technology, Lahore
  • School of Business and Economics, University of Management and Technology, Lahore
  • Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany and Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, ILMA University, Karachi,

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1108/INMR-01-2020-0007

Keywords:

Pakistan, Transformational leadership, Employee voice, Process innovation, Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Product innovation

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the impact of transformational leadership on the innovation of
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through employee voice behaviors. Drawing from the upper echelon
theory, it is hypothesized that employee voice is the mediating mechanism through which transformational
leadership affects the process and product innovation in SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach – Data was collected from 169 SMEs of Pakistan through an online
self-administered questionnaire. The proposed hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural
equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings – Findings confirm that transformational leadership positively affects both process and product
innovation in SMEs and employee voice behavior mediates between these relationships.
Originality/value – This research contributes to both theoretical and practical domains by providing
evidence that encouraging employees to raise their voice positively impacts product and process innovation
and transformational leadership is a potential organizational factor to shape employee voice and process and
product innovation. To the best knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the mediating role of
employee voice between transformational leadership and process and product innovation in SMEs and
developing country’s context.

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Published

2021-06-11

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Artigos

License

Creative Commons License

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How to Cite

Transformational leadership and employee voice for product and process innovation in SMEs. (2021). INMR - Innovation & Management Review, 18(1), 69-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/INMR-01-2020-0007