The Entrepreneurial Leadership, Innovative Behaviour, and Competitive Advantage Relationship in Manufacturing Companies: A Key to Manufactural Development and Sustainable Business

Abstract

The ability of management to influence employee attitudes and behaviours towards organizational goals is pivotal for an organization’s competitiveness, development, and survival. The study’s objective was to investigate the link between entrepreneurial leadership, competitive advantage, and manufacturing development, mediated by employees’ innovative behaviour, via the lens of resource-based view theory. Convenience sampling was used to collect quantitative data from the 378 manufacturing sector employees through the use of a cross-sectional design. There is a lack of research on the underlying mechanisms by which leaders influence organizational processes, such as innovation stimulation. This study explores the psychological mechanisms influencing entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behaviour, revealing that entrepreneurial leadership reduces work uncertainty, encourages innovation, and significantly impacts a firm’s competitive advantage in the market. The findings of the study revealed that entrepreneurial leadership fosters an encouraging and supportive environment in the workplace, which in turn leads to a sustainable competitive advantage. Additionally, the findings showed that innovative behaviour significantly mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and competitive advantage. By expanding the applicability of resource-based view theory, the results of this research also contribute to the comprehension of the interplay between innovative attitudes, manufactural development, competitive advantage, and leadership, specifically in the context of manufacturing sector organizations.