IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijimxx/v24y2019i04ns1363919620500401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Empowering Leadership In R&D — Moderating Effects Of The Strategic And Cultural Context

Author

Listed:
  • STEFFEN H. SCHROEDER

    (Institute for Entrepreneurship, University of Liechtenstein, Fürst-Franz-Josef Strasse 1, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein)

  • URS BALDEGGER

    (Institute for Entrepreneurship, University of Liechtenstein, Fürst-Franz-Josef Strasse 1, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein)

Abstract

Successful new product development is of crucial importance for the survival of enterprises and for creating and securing competitive positions. In R&D performance in new product development is generally affected by interpersonal leadership. Empowering leadership, specifically, is suitable for this context, as the need for autonomy and achievement, as well as the cooperation of the followers, are taken into account through the support of the leader. However, so far no moderating effects of the context have been examined. Therefore, the present study examined the influence of the contextual factors of strategic, structural, and cultural orientation on the relations between empowering leadership and new product development performance in R&D. Additionally, a wide range of leadership behaviors with transformational and transactional leadership is taken into account in this study. Empowering leadership is assumed to have the highest impact on the R&D context. The moderating effects of the context were investigated in a quantitative design with 116 leaders and 371 respective followers from 32 R&D departments of various branches of industrial enterprises. The results confirmed a main effect of empowering leadership on new product development performance. Additionally, moderation analyses showed moderating effects on strategic and cultural orientation, while structural orientation had no moderating effect. It can be concluded that empowering leadership has a positive effect on new product development performance; nevertheless, the context in which leadership is practiced has to be considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen H. Schroeder & Urs Baldegger, 2019. "Empowering Leadership In R&D — Moderating Effects Of The Strategic And Cultural Context," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(04), pages 1-29, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:24:y:2019:i:04:n:s1363919620500401
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919620500401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919620500401
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1363919620500401?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pilar Carbonell & Ana I. Rodriguez-Escudero, 2011. "The effects of managerial output control and team autonomy on the speed of new product development: the moderating effect of product newness," International Journal of Product Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 13(4), pages 298-315.
    2. Stock, Ruth & Zacharias, Nicolas & Schnellbächer, Armin, 2017. "How Do Strategy and Leadership Styles Jointly Affect Co-Development and Its Innovation Outcomes?," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 90703, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    3. Zhang, Xiaomeng & Zhou, Jing, 2014. "Empowering leadership, uncertainty avoidance, trust, and employee creativity: Interaction effects and a mediating mechanism," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 150-164.
    4. Sebastian Raisch & Julian Birkinshaw & Gilbert Probst & Michael L. Tushman, 2009. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Balancing Exploitation and Exploration for Sustained Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 685-695, August.
    5. Aravind Chandrasekaran & Kevin Linderman & Roger Schroeder, 2015. "The Role of Project and Organizational Context in Managing High-tech R&D Projects," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 24(4), pages 560-586, April.
    6. Jun Ishikawa, 2012. "Leadership and performance in Japanese R&D teams," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 241-258, April.
    7. Mavis Chen & Carol Lin & Hsing-Er Lin & Edward McDonough, 2012. "Does transformational leadership facilitate technological innovation? The moderating roles of innovative culture and incentive compensation," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 239-264, June.
    8. Gaylen N. Chandler & Douglas W. Lyon, 2001. "Issues of Research Design and Construct Measurement in Entrepreneurship Research: The past Decade," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(4), pages 101-113, July.
    9. Ryan, James C. & Tipu, Syed A.A., 2013. "Leadership effects on innovation propensity: A two-factor full range leadership model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2116-2129.
    10. Sims Jr., Henry P. & Faraj, Samer & Yun, Seokhwa, 2009. "When should a leader be directive or empowering? How to develop your own situational theory of leadership," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 149-158.
    11. Ignacio G. Vaccaro & Justin J. P. Jansen & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2012. "Management Innovation and Leadership: The Moderating Role of Organizational Size," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 28-51, January.
    12. Ciaran Heavey & Zeki Simsek & Frank Roche & Aidan Kelly, 2009. "Decision Comprehensiveness and Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Role of Managerial Uncertainty Preferences and Environmental Dynamism," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 1289-1314, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bjekić Radmila & Jelača Maja Strugar & Marić Slobodan, 2019. "The Importance of Active Leadership Style for Organizational Innovativeness," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 57(4), pages 481-495, December.
    2. Koryak, Oksana & Lockett, Andy & Hayton, James & Nicolaou, Nicos & Mole, Kevin, 2018. "Disentangling the antecedents of ambidexterity: Exploration and exploitation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 413-427.
    3. Steele, Logan M. & Watts, Logan L., 2022. "Managing technical innovation: A systematic review of 11 leader functions," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Busola Oluwafemi, Tolulope & Mitchelmore, Siwan & Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos, 2020. "Leading innovation: Empirical evidence for ambidextrous leadership from UK high-tech SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 195-208.
    5. J. Henri Burgers & Jeffrey G. Covin, 2016. "The contingent effects of differentiation and integration on corporate entrepreneurship," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 521-540, March.
    6. Bustinza, Oscar F. & Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran & Gomes, Emanuel, 2020. "Unpacking the effect of strategic ambidexterity on performance: A cross-country comparison of MMNEs developing product-service innovation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).
    7. Balboni, Bernardo & Bortoluzzi, Guido & Pugliese, Roberto & Tracogna, Andrea, 2019. "Business model evolution, contextual ambidexterity and the growth performance of high-tech start-ups," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 115-124.
    8. Takuma Kimura & Mizuki Nishikawa, 2018. "Ethical Leadership and Its Cultural and Institutional Context: An Empirical Study in Japan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 707-724, September.
    9. Carolina Rojas-Córdova & Amanda J. Williamson & Julio A. Pertuze & Gustavo Calvo, 2023. "Why one strategy does not fit all: a systematic review on exploration–exploitation in different organizational archetypes," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2251-2295, October.
    10. Erik G. Hansen & Stefan Schaltegger, 2018. "Sustainability Balanced Scorecards and their Architectures: Irrelevant or Misunderstood?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 937-952, July.
    11. Leung, Aegean & Zhang, Jing & Wong, Poh Kam & Foo, Maw Der, 2006. "The use of networks in human resource acquisition for entrepreneurial firms: Multiple "fit" considerations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 664-686, September.
    12. Kirsti Iivonen, 2018. "Defensive Responses to Strategic Sustainability Paradoxes: Have Your Coke and Drink It Too!," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 309-327, March.
    13. Jesse Shore & Ethan Bernstein & David Lazer, 2014. "Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-075, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2014.
    14. Gayoung Kim & Woo Jin Lee, 2021. "The Venture Firm’s Ambidexterity: Do Transformational Leaders Boost Organizational Learning for Venture Growth?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, July.
    15. M. M. Sulphey, 2019. "Could the Adoption of Organizational Ambidexterity Have Changed the History of Nokia?," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 8(2), pages 167-181, August.
    16. Jan Ossenbrink & Joern Hoppmann & Volker H. Hoffmann, 2019. "Hybrid Ambidexterity: How the Environment Shapes Incumbents’ Use of Structural and Contextual Approaches," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 1319-1348, November.
    17. Jimmi Normann Kristiansen & Frank Gertsen, 2015. "Is Radical Innovation Management Misunderstood? Problematising The Radical Innovation Discipline," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(06), pages 1-23, December.
    18. Schnellbaecher, Benedikt & Diefenbach, Ulf & Millemann, Jan, 2015. "Putting the Individual in Ambidexterity – Identifying Activities to Achieve Organisational Ambidexterity and Long-Term Survival," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2015), Kotor, Montengero, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Kotor, Montengero, 10-11 September 2015, pages 57-63, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    19. Giarratana, Marco S. & Cesaroni, Fabrizio, 2010. "US market entry by Spanish pharmaceutical firms," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb101103, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    20. Jiewei Zu & Jianan Wang & Jun Ma, 2022. "Ambidexterity in a Rapidly Changing Environment of China: Top Management Team Decision Making and Sustained Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:24:y:2019:i:04:n:s1363919620500401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijim/ijim.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.