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The Impact of CEOs’ Transformational Leadership on Sustainable Organizational Innovation in SMEs: A Three-Wave Mediating Role of Organizational Learning and Psychological Empowerment

Author

Listed:
  • Saira Begum

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Beijing 100081, China
    These authors contributed equally.)

  • Enjun Xia

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Beijing 100081, China)

  • Khalid Mehmood

    (School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
    These authors contributed equally.)

  • Yaser Iftikhar

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Sahiwal, Sahiwal 57000, Pakistan)

  • Yan Li

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Beijing 100081, China)

Abstract

The sustainable organizational innovation is of paramount importance for enhancing productivity in firms and provides organizations with the strategic direction needed to allow them to perform at an international level. The leadership styles play a key role in their firms’ potential to consistently innovate. Using data from a time-lagged design with three waves, CEOs of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participated in the study. The findings reveal that psychological empowerment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and sustainable organizational innovation. Organizational learning was found to indirectly effect the relationship between transformational leadership and sustainable organizational innovation. It also demonstrated that psychological empowerment had a positive impact on organizational learning. The findings indicate the strategic significance of transformational leadership and its influence on sustainable organizational innovation for SMEs. Theoretical contributions and practical implications were also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Saira Begum & Enjun Xia & Khalid Mehmood & Yaser Iftikhar & Yan Li, 2020. "The Impact of CEOs’ Transformational Leadership on Sustainable Organizational Innovation in SMEs: A Three-Wave Mediating Role of Organizational Learning and Psychological Empowerment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:20:p:8620-:d:430670
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