Abstract
Managerial innovation as an internal change agent plays a central role in coping with the speed of today’s fast-paced customer demand and highly competitive market, yet previous studies paid less attention to the potential measures of strengthening managerial innovation behavior within organizations. Drawing from transformational leadership theory, the current study shed new light on this issue by examining the role of CEO transformational leadership (TFL), innovation culture (IC) and cross-functional integration (CFI) in advancing managerial innovation behavior in SMEs. A cross-sectional study with a sample of 434 respondents from 24 SMEs operating in Rwanda was conducted. To genuinely analyze the relationship between the variables hypothesized in this study, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapping technique using Amos 23 and SPSS 24. The overall findings revealed that the relationship proposed in the model were significantly supported. However, our new mechanism implying innovation culture and cross-functional integration in the relationship between CEO transformational leadership and managerial innovation behavior, provide a substantial contribution to management literature.
Highlights
To maintain its competitiveness and sustainability in today’s fast-paced changing and highly aggressive business condition, organizations need to settle new efforts into innovativeness (Khalili, 2016). Jaiswal & Dhar, (2015); Zuraik & Kelly, (2018) added that organizational managers need to address today’s conglomerate customer disputes with new and creative solutions to keep pace with changing market demands
The current study addresses this issue by advancing the theoretical explanation of the relationship between CEO transformational leadership (TFL), organizational innovation culture, cross-functional integration and managerial innovation behavior within an organizational setting
As indicated in figure I, the results show that cross-functional integration plays a pivotal role in the relationship between CEO TFL and managerial innovation behavior, such that the relationship between CEO TFL and managerial innovation is more positive with high than with low cross-functional integration within an organizational setting
Summary
Jaiswal & Dhar, (2015); Zuraik & Kelly, (2018) added that organizational managers need to address today’s conglomerate customer disputes with new and creative solutions to keep pace with changing market demands. In this view, Henk, Volberda, Van Den Bosch, & Heij, (2013), suggested managerial innovation as an organizational internal change agent. Henk, Volberda, Van Den Bosch, & Heij, (2013), suggested managerial innovation as an organizational internal change agent In this regard, we hope that managerial innovation behavior would drive innovativeness within the organizational setting. The role of top leadership in building managerial innovation behavior within their organizations is not widely understood
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