The mediation between participative leadership and employee exploratory innovation: Examining intermediate knowledge mechanisms

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of intermediate knowledge mechanisms on the participative leadership–employee exploratory innovation relationship using a distal mediation model.

Design/methodology/approach

Deploying a time-lagged questionnaire method implemented over four business quarters, data are generated from 1,600 responses in R&D units of Taiwanese technology firms.

Findings

The structural equation modeling results reveal that participative leadership is positively related to employee exploratory innovation; coworker knowledge and absorptive capacity partially mediate the relationship between participative leadership and employee exploratory innovation independently; and coworker knowledge sharing in combination with absorptive capacity partially mediates this relationship.

Originality/value

The findings contribute new knowledge on the relationship between participative leadership and employee exploratory innovation by uncovering intermediate knowledge mechanisms that augment this relationship.

Citation

Chang, Y.-Y., Hodgkinson, I., Hughes, P. and Chang, C.-Y. (2019), "The mediation between participative leadership and employee exploratory innovation: Examining intermediate knowledge mechanisms", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 334-355. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-07-2018-0245