output (West, 1987). Others have taken a behavioural perspective (Janssen, 2000).We take the same line as the latter and address the influence of leaders on employees’individual innovative behaviour. Much of the behavioural research on individualinnovation has focused on creativity, for example, on how leaders can stimulate ideageneration. However, when and how creative ideas are implemented, a crucial part ofthe innovation process, is under-researched. We include both behaviours in the area ofidea generation and the application or implementation of these ideas as importantelements of innovative behaviour.
As stated, we focus on the innovative behaviour of employees and the role leadersplay in enabling and enhancing such behaviour. Previous work has indicated thatemployees’ innovative behaviour depends greatly on their interaction with others inthe workplace (Anderson et al., 2004; Zhou and Shalley, 2003). In general, leaders havea powerful source of influence on employees’ work behaviours (Yukl, 2002). Innovativebehaviour is no exception. Basadur (2004, p. 103), for instance, notes that in futurebusiness the most effective leaders:. . . will help individuals (. . .) to coordinate and integrate their differing styles through aprocess of applied creativity that includes continuously discovering and defining newproblems, solving those problems and implementing the new solutions.Despite agreement on the importance of leaders in triggering individual innovation,little integration of leadership and innovation research is found in the literature.Various innovation studies explore the influence of leader behaviours using modelsdeveloped in relation to performance outcomes, that is, leader behaviours thatpositively affect outcomes such as effectiveness and efficiency rather thaninnovation-related outcomes. Based on a special issue of Leadership Quarterly,Mumford and Licuanan (2004, p. 170) concluded that one cannot expect existingleadership models (developed to predict performance in routine settings) to be entirelyapplicable to the leadership of innovative individuals. Also, as mentioned above, mostavailable research has focused on employee creativity, while the implementation ofideas is explored far less often. Innovation researchers often address a broad range offactors in their studies and, at most, include very brief measures of a single leaderbehaviour as one such factor amongst many (Cooper, 2003). No conclusions can yet bedrawn from current innovation research as to which leader behaviours matter most.The current study aims to provide more insight into the role of leaders in individualinnovation. It uses a combination of in-depth interviews and literature research toexplore what particular leader behaviours are likely to enhance employees’ innovativebehaviour. The study is being conducted in knowledge-intensive service firms (e.g.engineering, IT, architecture, consultancy, market research). Knowledge-intensiveservice firms constitute an ever-increasing share of the business population and addsignificantly to economic development (Anxo and Storrie, 2001). Compared to othersectors, knowledge-intensive services have an intangible, heterogeneous andperishable nature (Hislop, 2005). Such firms have a strong need for continuous minor improvements and additions to their current product offerings, makingemployees’ innovative behaviour very important within this context.
2. Background 本
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