How and when spiritual leadership enhances employee innovative behavior
ISSN: 0048-3486
Article publication date: 25 July 2020
Issue publication date: 4 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee innovative behavior by testing the mediating role of autonomous motivation and the moderating role of employee power distance orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
The author predicted an indirect relationship between spiritual leadership and employee innovative behavior via autonomous motivation. Also, the author predicted the positive effect of spiritual leadership on employee innovative behavior will be stronger when employee power distance orientation is high. Hypotheses are tested with data gathered from 174 participants.
Findings
Results showed that spiritual leadership was positively related to employee innovative behavior via autonomous motivation. And, the positive relationship between spiritual leadership and autonomous motivation was stronger when employee power distance orientation was high. Furthermore, the indirect effect of autonomous motivation was stronger when employee power distance orientation was high.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides a new theoretical perspective – self-determination theory – to test how and when spiritual leadership enhances employee innovative behavior by suggesting autonomous motivation as a mediator and employee power distance orientation as a boundary condition.
Practical implications
The results of this research provide suggestions for leaders to adopt spiritual leadership as well as enhance interactions between them and employees to increase employee innovative behavior.
Originality/value
This study highlights the moderating role of employee power distance orientation and uses self-determination theory to examine how and when spiritual leadership plays a positive role.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant/Award Number: 71502141) and the Research Planning Foundation Project of Humanities and Social Sciences of Ministry of Education in China (Grant/Award Number: 20YJA630077) awarded to Fu Yang.
Citation
Zhang, Y. and Yang, F. (2021), "How and when spiritual leadership enhances employee innovative behavior", Personnel Review, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 596-609. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-07-2019-0346
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited