The Leader Support for Innovation Questionnaire (LSIQ): Development and validation of a measure for assessing leader support for innovation

Abstract

Purpose

In this study, the authors integrate the concept of leader support with a process model of innovation including the generation, promotion and implementation of innovative ideas to obtain an in-depth understanding of how leaders may support employees’ innovative efforts. The purpose of this paper is to develop an organizing framework and validate a measure for assessing leader support for innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors validated the Leader Support for Innovation Questionnaire (LSIQ) in German and English using samples from Germany (n=1,049) and South Africa (n=129).

Findings

Although confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor model of the 12-item LSIQ (leader support for idea generation, promotion and implementation), strong intercorrelations between the factors provide only weak evidence for the three-factor structure. Positive correlations with individual and organizational innovation demonstrate adequate construct validity. The LSIQ explains additional variance in innovation beyond that explained by measures of transformational leadership and leader–member exchange.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that linking leader support and innovation more directly to one another matches the complexity of innovation processes. The LSIQ is a theory based and valid tool that enables more rigorous research on the role of leadership in facilitating innovation.

Originality/value

Previous studies using well-established leadership approaches have produced a considerable heterogeneity of findings on the relationship between leadership and innovation. Therefore, the authors introduce an integrative framework for defining and organizing leadership behaviors specifically supporting employees’ innovative efforts and validate a measure of leader support for innovation that may guide both theoretical developments and empirical research on the relationship between leadership and innovation in organizations.

Citation

Vincent-Höper, S. and Stein, M. (2019), "The Leader Support for Innovation Questionnaire (LSIQ): Development and validation of a measure for assessing leader support for innovation", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 40 No. 8, pp. 898-915. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-03-2019-0137