The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Team Innovation on Team Performance: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

Abstract

Objective – Leadership and innovation are two related concepts which have gained a lot of interest among researchers focusing on management and entrepreneurship. Research on these topics are important for the development of the dynamic workforce and are useful to various organisations. However, in the real world, the effectiveness of employee performance is considered as unsatisfactory meaning there is room for improvement. Methodology/Technique – Previous literature had found that Transformational Leadership and Team Innovation are among the key factors which can be used to improve employee performance. This study will examine and test the relationship between Transformational Leadership and Team Performance to understand how Team Innovation mediates this relationship. A total of 197 samples are collected from employees in Multinational Companies (MNC). The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Findings – The findings indicate that Transformational Leadership has a significant positive impact on Team Performance. Further, Team Innovation mediates the relationship between Transformational Leadership and Team Performance. Novelty – The major implications of these findings are further explored. In particular, this paper contributes to leadership literature by recommending that team leaders aim to inspire and empower employees to achieve organizational goals. Type of Paper: Empirical. JEL Classification: M11, M15, M19. Keywords: Transformational Leadership; Innovation; Multinational Companies. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kee, D.M.H; Rahman, N.A; Tan, A.W. 2020. The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Team Innovation on Team Performance: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia, J. Mgt. Mkt. Review 5(2) 99 – 106 https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2020.5.2(2)