Abstract
Purpose: This paper seeks to address the moderating effect of leader-member exchange on the link between employee empowerment and innovative work behavior. Design/Methodology: The study draws on the causal-comparative research design, and employs paper-based self-administered questionnaires to gather data from a sample of 470 employees drawn from manufacturing firms in Kenya. This sample is part of a population of 9915 employees and has been narrowed down using Yamane’s formula. The study employs stratified and simple random sampling techniques to constitute the required sample of employees. Findings: The results indicate that employee empowerment and Leader-Member Exchange positively and significantly affect innovative work behavior. The results further reveal that Leader-member exchange significantly moderates the link between employee empowerment and innovative work behavior. Practical Implication: The findings of this study provide an avenue through which managers of manufacturing firms can identify constructs that best explain innovative work behavior, especially during challenging times such as this time of Covid 19 pandemic. The results of this study provides managers with opportunities to come up with techniques, policies and strategies to improve relationship between employees and their supervisors for purposes of improved productivity, employee loyalty and reduced conflicts. Originality/Value: The study makes a novel attempt to show the moderating influence of leader–member exchange in the context of employee empowerment and innovative work behavior in manufacturing firms in Kenya. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of leader-member exchange in employees’ innovative behavior, which is vital knowledge in tough times like the current uncertainty caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The manufacturing sector stands out as an essential pillar to the growth of Kenya’s economy
In examining how employee empowerment directly affects innovative work behavior (IWB), and how leader-member exchange (LMX) moderates this direct effect, the current study fits in the cause-effect study category
The findings reveal that all variables had scale reliability above 0.8, with Employee empowerment having the highest Cronbach's Alpha of .887, followed by Innovative work behavior with .864, whereas LMX had the lowest score of
Summary
The manufacturing sector stands out as an essential pillar to the growth of Kenya’s economy. As a result, it is recognized as one of the most critical sectors in the Big Four Agenda outlined by his Excellency, the president of the Republic of Kenya Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta (Ngugi, 2019). Uhuru Kenyatta (Ngugi, 2019) This is a four-point plan targeting food security, manufacturing (mainly focusing on job creation), affordable universal health care, and affordable housing which, the president believes that if leveraged, would improve the living standards of Kenyans, grow the economy and leave a lasting legacy. A study carried out by SYSPRO (vendor specializing in the provision of ERP and other advanced business software to mid-size producers and distributors), a global technology firm in partnership with Strathmore Business School points out several challenges that are holding back the Kenyan manufacturing sector and cites inability to run optimally as the bane of performance of most companies in the sector (Wangui, 2019)
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