IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i5p1506-d145517.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Does Transformational Leadership Promote Innovation in Construction? The Mediating Role of Innovation Climate and the Multilevel Moderation Role of Project Requirements

Author

Listed:
  • Yanchun Zhang

    (School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410004, China)

  • Junwei Zheng

    (Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China)

  • Amos Darko

    (Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

Innovation plays a critical role in the sustainable development of the construction industry. This research aims at examining transformational leadership’s role in shaping employees’ innovative behavior by analyzing the mediating effect of innovation climate and the cross-level moderating effect of innovativeness as a project requirement. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 300 construction industry professionals in China and 251 valid replies were received. Data collected by the questionnaire were analyzed using the method of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results showed that transformational leaders could nurture a mutual climate for innovation to motivate employees’ innovative behaviors. In addition, innovativeness as a project requirement at the project level strengthens the indirect link amongst transformational leadership and innovative behavior via the innovation climate. Therefore, in the presence of higher innovativeness as a project requirement, transformational leadership is more prone to exert a positive influence upon an individual’s innovative behavior via the perceived innovation climate. The research findings improve understanding of the roles of leadership and innovation climate in affecting individual behavioral outcomes, and could help project managers and leaders encourage innovative ideas within project organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanchun Zhang & Junwei Zheng & Amos Darko, 2018. "How Does Transformational Leadership Promote Innovation in Construction? The Mediating Role of Innovation Climate and the Multilevel Moderation Role of Project Requirements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1506-:d:145517
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1506/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1506/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Franco Malerba, 2006. "Innovation and the evolution of industries," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 3-23, April.
    2. C. H. Nam & C. B. Tatum, 1997. "Leaders and champions for construction innovation," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 259-270.
    3. Gumusluoglu, Lale & Ilsev, Arzu, 2009. "Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 461-473, April.
    4. Rajagopal, 2014. "Organizations and Innovation," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Architecting Enterprise, chapter 3, pages 58-86, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. Li, Guiquan & Shang, Yufan & Liu, Haixin & Xi, Youmin, 2014. "Differentiated transformational leadership and knowledge sharing: A cross-level investigation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 554-563.
    6. Huang, Lei & Krasikova, Dina V. & Liu, Dong, 2016. "I can do it, so can you: The role of leader creative self-efficacy in facilitating follower creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 49-62.
    7. Bossink, Bart A.G., 2004. "Managing drivers of innovation in construction networks," Serie Research Memoranda 0015, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    8. Jae Hyeung Kang & George T. Solomon & David Y. Choi, 2015. "CEOs' Leadership Styles and Managers' Innovative Behaviour: Investigation of Intervening Effects in an Entrepreneurial Context," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 531-554, June.
    9. John Gambatese & Matthew Hallowell, 2011. "Enabling and measuring innovation in the construction industry," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(6), pages 553-567.
    10. Bai, Yuntao & Lin, Li & Li, Peter Ping, 2016. "How to enable employee creativity in a team context: A cross-level mediating process of transformational leadership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3240-3250.
    11. Yang, Yefei & Lee, Peter K.C. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2016. "Continuous improvement competence, employee creativity, and new service development performance: A frontline employee perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P2), pages 275-288.
    12. Ping-Jen Kao & Peiyu Pai & Tingling Lin & Jun-Yu Zhong, 2015. "How transformational leadership fuels employees' service innovation behavior," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(7-8), pages 448-466, May.
    13. Junwei Zheng & Guangdong Wu & Hongtao Xie, 2017. "Impacts of Leadership on Project-Based Organizational Innovation Performance: The Mediator of Knowledge Sharing and Moderator of Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, October.
    14. Li, Chaoping & Zhao, Hao & Begley, Thomas M., 2015. "Transformational leadership dimensions and employee creativity in China: A cross-level analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1149-1156.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qing’e Wang & Luwei Zhao & Alice Chang-Richards & Yuanyuan Zhang & Hujun Li, 2021. "Understanding the Impact of Social Capital on the Innovation Performance of Construction Enterprises: Based on the Mediating Effect of Knowledge Transfer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Xiangcheng Meng & Alan H. S. Chan, 2022. "Improving the Safety Performance of Construction Workers through Individual Perception and Organizational Collectivity: A Contrastive Research between Mainland China and Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Byung-Jik Kim & Tae-Hyun Kim & Se-Youn Jung, 2018. "How to Enhance Sustainability through Transformational Leadership: The Important Role of Employees’ Forgiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-13, July.
    4. M. R. Ibrahim, 2023. "The Missing Link: Exploring the Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Change in team members in Construction," Papers 2305.13121, arXiv.org.
    5. Fatima Afzal & Roksana Jahan Tumpa, 2024. "Exploring Leadership Styles to Foster Sustainability in Construction Projects: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-32, January.
    6. Jaewan Yang & Joon Yeol Lew, 2020. "Implementing Sustainable Human Resources Practices: Leadership Style Matters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Yingmiao Qian & Mengjun Wang & Yang Zou & Ruoyu Jin & Ruijia Yuan & Qinge Wang, 2019. "Understanding the Double-Level Influence of Guanxi on Construction Innovation in China: The Mediating Role of Interpersonal Knowledge Sharing and the Cross-Level Moderating Role of Inter-Organizationa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, March.
    8. Li Yi & Md. Aftab Uddin & Anupam Kumar Das & Monowar Mahmood & Shanewaz Mahmood Sohel, 2019. "Do Transformational Leaders Engage Employees in Sustainable Innovative Work Behaviour? Perspective from a Developing Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Shunyi Zhou & Dapeng Zhang & Chan Lyu & Hongfeng Zhang, 2018. "Does Seeing “Mind Acts Upon Mind” Affect Green Psychological Climate and Green Product Development Performance? The Role of Matching Between Green Transformational Leadership and Individual Green Valu," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    10. Fuqiang Zhao & Manita Kusi & Yun Chen & Wei Hu & Fawad Ahmed & Dinesh Sukamani, 2021. "Influencing Mechanism of Green Human Resource Management and Corporate Social Responsibility on Organizational Sustainable Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Wayu Eko Yudiatmaja & Roy Valiant Salomo & Eko Prasojo, 2023. "Fostering Innovative Behavior of Millennial Public Employee Through Leadership Styles and Organizational Trust," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    12. Hao Lu & Pardis Pishdad-Bozorgi & Guangbin Wang & Yingxia Xue & Dan Tan, 2019. "ICT Implementation of Small- and Medium-Sized Construction Enterprises: Organizational Characteristics, Driving Forces, and Value Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, June.
    13. Dae Geon Kim & Sang Ok Choi, 2018. "Impact of Construction IT Technology Convergence Innovation on Business Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-16, October.
    14. Orsolya Nagy & Ilona Papp & Roland Zsolt Szabó, 2021. "Construction 4.0 Organisational Level Challenges and Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Francisco Rodríguez-Cifuentes & Jesús Farfán & Gabriela Topa, 2018. "Older Worker Identity and Job Performance: The Moderator Role of Subjective Age and Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Hitmi Khalifa Alhitmi & Syed Haider Ali Shah & Rabia Kishwer & Nida Aman & Mochammad Fahlevi & Mohammed Aljuaid & Petra Heidler, 2023. "Marketing from Leadership to Innovation: A Mediated Moderation Model Investigating How Transformational Leadership Impacts Employees’ Innovative Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-22, November.

    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. Li Yi & Md. Aftab Uddin & Anupam Kumar Das & Monowar Mahmood & Shanewaz Mahmood Sohel, 2019. "Do Transformational Leaders Engage Employees in Sustainable Innovative Work Behaviour? Perspective from a Developing Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Marija Mosurović Ružičić & Mirjana Miletić & Marina Dobrota, 2021. "Does a National Innovation System Encourage Sustainability? Lessons from the Construction Industry in Serbia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Breidenthal, Amy P. & Liu, Dong & Bai, Yuntao & Mao, Yina, 2020. "The dark side of creativity: Coworker envy and ostracism as a response to employee creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 242-254.
    4. Haroon ur Rashid Khan & Murad Ali & Hossein G. T. Olya & Muhamamd Zulqarnain & Zubair Rashid Khan, 2018. "Transformational leadership, corporate social responsibility, organizational innovation, and organizational performance: Symmetrical and asymmetrical analytical approaches," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1270-1283, November.
    5. Guo, Liang & Decoster, Stijn & Babalola, Mayowa T. & De Schutter, Leander & Garba, Omale A. & Riisla, Katrin, 2018. "Authoritarian leadership and employee creativity: The moderating role of psychological capital and the mediating role of fear and defensive silence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 219-230.
    6. Bossink, Bart A.G., 2004. "Effectiveness of Innovation Leadership Styles: A Manager’s Influence on Ecological Innovation in Construction Projects," Serie Research Memoranda 0027, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    7. Yogesh Upadhyay & Dharmendra Kumar, 2020. "Leader–Member Exchange, Psychological Capital and Employees’ Creativity," Vision, , vol. 24(4), pages 406-418, December.
    8. Millissa F. Y. Cheung & Iris D. Zhang, 2021. "The triggering effect of office design on employee creative performance: an exploratory investigation based on Duffy’s conceptualization," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 1283-1304, December.
    9. Irene Stella Agyenim-Boateng & Kyeame Ghansah, 2019. "The Effect of Transformational Leadership on Company Innovation Culture: Perspectives from the Service Sector of an Emerging Economy," International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(3), pages 273-297, December.
    10. Yingmiao Qian & Mengjun Wang & Yang Zou & Ruoyu Jin & Ruijia Yuan & Qinge Wang, 2019. "Understanding the Double-Level Influence of Guanxi on Construction Innovation in China: The Mediating Role of Interpersonal Knowledge Sharing and the Cross-Level Moderating Role of Inter-Organizationa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, March.
    11. Agarwal Ruchi & Gupta Babeet, 2021. "Innovation and Leadership: A Study of Organizations Based in the United Arab Emirates," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 73-84, January.
    12. Gu, Huimin & Duverger, Philippe & Yu, Larry, 2017. "Can innovative behavior be led by management? A study from the lodging business," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 144-157.
    13. Sheehan, Maura & Garavan, Thomas N. & Morley, Michael J., 2020. "Transformational leadership and work unit innovation: A dyadic two-wave investigation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 399-412.
    14. Imran Shafique & Masood Nawaz Kalyar, 2018. "Linking Transformational Leadership, Absorptive Capacity, and Corporate Entrepreneurship," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, March.
    15. Gao, Yang & Zhao, Xin & Xu, Xiaobo & Ma, Fei, 2021. "A study on the cross level transformation from individual creativity to organizational creativity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Mihaela TĂNASE, 2020. "Influence Of Transformational Leadership On Innovation In Organizations," Network Intelligence Studies, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 15, pages 81-89, June.
    17. Jianfeng Jia & Huanxin Liu & Tachia Chin & Dongqing Hu, 2018. "The Continuous Mediating Effects of GHRM on Employees’ Green Passion via Transformational Leadership and Green Creativity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, September.
    18. Elizabeth Long Lingo, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Leadership as Creative Brokering: The Process and Practice of Co‐creating and Advancing Opportunity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 962-1001, July.
    19. Carmen Dolores Blázquez Puerta & Guillermo Bermúdez-González & Ismael P. Soler García, 2022. "Human Systematic Innovation Helix: Knowledge Management, Emotional Intelligence and Entrepreneurial Competency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, April.
    20. Ogbeibu, Samuel & Pereira, Vijay & Emelifeonwu, Jude & Gaskin, James, 2021. "Bolstering creativity willingness through digital task interdependence, disruptive and smart HRM technologies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 422-436.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1506-:d:145517. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.