Advancing Sustainable Innovation: The Role of Transformational Leadership and Organizational Innovation Climate in Shaping the Innovative Behavior of Knowledge-Based Employees in High-Tech Enterprises in China

This research investigates how transformational leadership affects the innovative behavior of knowledge-based employees in Chinese high-tech enterprises, highlighting the mediating role of organizational innovation climate. It aims to reveal how leadership shapes innovation-supportive climates to stimulate employee innovative behavior and strengthen organizational sustainable innovation. Using a questionnaire survey of 441 knowledge workers from 10 high-tech firms across four Chinese provinces, this study applies structural equation modeling (SEM) to test both the direct effect of transformational leadership on employee innovative behavior and its indirect effect via organizational innovation climate. The transmission effect of employee innovative behavior on sustainable innovation was also analyzed. Results indicate that transformational leadership significantly promotes employee innovative behavior directly and indirectly through organizational innovation climate. By fostering a supportive climate, leadership enhances employee enthusiasm for innovation, which in turn drives sustainable innovation. These findings provide contextual evidence of leadership’s role in shaping innovative behavior and long-term organizational outcomes in emerging economies. This study builds a cross-level framework of “transformational leadership—organizational innovation climate—employee innovative behavior—organizational sustainable innovation,” integrating four theories. It extends theoretical links between employee behavior and sustainable innovation, emphasizes the overlooked mediating role of organizational climate, and offers practical guidance for knowledge-intensive enterprises seeking to enhance sustainable innovation.