Examining Relation among Entrepreneurial Leadership, Innovative Work Behavior, & Innovation Support

Due to the increased competition in today’s business world and industrial revolution 4.0, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) undergo swift and vigorous changes. For this reason, SMEs were expected to pay their attention to innovative work behaviors (IWB) to ensure survival in the competitive world. This research evaluates the effect of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) dimensions (including communicative, motivational, strategic, and personal) on innovative work behavior (IWB) of people employed in SMEs of Oman. Moreover, mediating role of innovation support (IS) is examined on the relationship of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) and innovative work behavior (IWB). Data were collected through personally administered survey questionnaires from the population of SME sector employees and managers in Oman. A total of 211 usable responses were collected and then further analyzed through SmartPLS 3.3.3 (PLS-SEM) software while a two-stage reflective-formative analysis of higher-order and lower-order constructs was conducted. The results exhibit that entrepreneurial leadership and innovation support have a significant positive impact on innovative work behavior (IWB). Additionally, a mediating role of innovation support was also confirmed on the relationship between EL and IWB. All four dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) were reported with a substantial direct and indicted effect on innovative work behavior (IWB) of people employed in SME sector in Oman. This is a pioneer study in Oman that examined the influence of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) dimensions on innovative work behavior (IWB) and mediating role of innovation support using a reflective-formative higher order analysis. Finally, practical and theoretical implications along with future research directions were suggested at the end of this research.