Abstract
Today, the fast changes in the business environment are rising because of the global challenges facing the banking sector (Jyoti and Dev, 2015). The banking sector is being forced by these changes to be more innovative to achieve goals and survive (Cheung and Wong, 2011; Pieterse et al., 2010). Moreover, the crucial concern for managers these days is how they can increase the innovative behaviour among their employees, as innovation has become vital for the organisation to survive and the main key to achieving competitive advantage (Han et al., 2016). In academia, scholars were concerned with recognising the aspects that motivate and sustain innovation (Damanpour and Schneider, 2006). Leadership style has been found to be one of the fundamental aspects that impact innovation positively or negatively (Bojica and Fuentes, 2012; Mittal and Dhar, 2015).This study aims to investigate the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on employees' innovation (I) by integrating knowledge sharing (KS) and interpersonal trust (IT) as mediator factors within the Jordanian banking sector. Many studies have distinguished the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on this topic in developing countries like Jordan. Jordanian Banks are deemed relatively weak in innovation (Salaymeh, 2013). Moreover, Hui et al. (2018) stated that there is a lack of empirical research between interpersonal trust and specific aspects of innovation, such as product and process innovation.A quantitative approach was taken; a total of 627 questionnaires were distributed, of which 588 were filled out and returned, making the response rate 93.77%. However, data screening confirmed the validity of 418 responses to examine the casual relationship among transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, interpersonal trust, and innovation. This study employed structural equation modelling (SEM) with Amos v. (23) to test the proposed hypothesis. According to the study's findings, transformational leadership and product or process innovation are significantly related. In addition, transformational leadership and knowledge sharing have a significant association. Also, the relationship between transformational leadership and interpersonal trust is positively correlated. However, interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing failed to significantly influence product and process innovation. Therefore, the mediation role was not supported for both mediators.
This research develops and implements many literary contributions. The findings of this study also provide a greater understanding of the relationships between the different variables in this study in the banking sector within a developing country. More precisely, the Jordanian banking sector. These relationships (transformational leadership and product and process innovation) have not been studied or tested in the banking sector previously, particularly in developing countries like Jordan, except for a handful of studies from Lebanon and Iraq. The current study takes this argument further to redress this research gap.
| Date of Award | 20 Apr 2023 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Frances McGregor (Main Supervisor), Tribi Budhathoki (Co-Supervisor) & Muhibul Haq (Co-Supervisor) |