The dynamics of leader technical competence, subordinate learning, and innovative work behaviors in high-tech, knowledge-based industry

This study tests a conceptual model for understanding the relationship between subordinates’ ‘learning work behaviour’ and ‘innovative work behaviour’, with the moderating role of their leaders’ self-reported as well as subordinates’ rated ‘leader technical competence’. The study was conducted in the context of a high-tech, knowledge-based telecommunications industry. Based on the evaluation of job description, leaders/managers with responsibilities of not only managing internal and external stakeholders but also capable to lead engineers to resolve any technical issue multiple-source data were collected from the identified leaders and their respective subordinates working with telecommunication operator (n = 179). This study proposed a three-way interaction moderation model between the independent variable (subordinate learning work behaviour) and the moderator variables (that is, the self-assessed leaders’ ‘technical competence’ and subordinates’ rated ‘leader’ technical competence’) to predict the subordinates’ ‘innovative work behaviour’. Our results demonstrate that that subordinate learning work behaviour had the strongest positive relationship with subordinate innovative work behaviour when both the leader self-assessment of technical competence and the subordinates rated leader’s technical competence were high. This study fills an important gap in leadership literature by focussing on the technical competence of leaders which has received little attention from leadership research in knowledge-based industries.