The Link between Ambidextrous Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior in a Military Organization: The Moderating Role of Climate for Innovation

Gökhan Akıncı (), Lutfihak Alpkan, Bora Yıldız and Gaye Karacay
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Gökhan Akıncı: Graduate School, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul 34469, Turkey
Lutfihak Alpkan: Department of Management Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Beşiktaş, Istanbul 34367, Turkey
Bora Yıldız: Department of Business Administration, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul 34452, Turkey
Gaye Karacay: Department of Industrial Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Beşiktaş, Istanbul 34367, Turkey

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-19

Abstract: Innovative work behavior is a vital necessity that enables sustainable public sector organizations, particularly the highly centralized military ones, to successfully adapt to complex and rising challenges. This empirical study, drawing on the social exchange theory, investigates the separate and combined effects of ambidextrous leadership dimensions (i.e., opening and closing leader behaviors) on innovative work behavior and the moderating role of climate for innovation on these relationships. The data were collected from 425 participants working at Allied Command Transformation (ACT), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Warfare Development Command, and analyzed using AMOS and SPSS Process Macro. We found that while opening leader behavior of ambidextrous leadership was positively related to innovative work behavior, closing leader behavior had no significant effect on it. Findings also confirmed that the interaction of both (i.e., the combined effect of ambidextrous leadership) was positively related to innovative work behavior, and climate for innovation moderated the relations of both closing leader behavior and ambidextrous leadership to innovative work behavior. Based on these results, we discuss the managerial and theoretical implications.

Keywords: ambidextrous leadership; innovative work behavior; climate for innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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