Public leadership behaviour and employees’ innovative work behaviour in Ghanaian metropolitan assemblies; the role of organisational climate

Abstract

This study sought to determine public leadership behaviors’ influence on innovative work behavior within the six metropolitan assemblies in Ghana and the role of organizational climate in mediating such a nexus. The study adopted a quantitative approach and the simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from 314 staff of the Kumasi, Cape Coast, Accra, Sekondi-Takoradi, Tema and Tamale metropolitan assemblies through self-administered questionnaires. Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesis postulated. The findings revealed that transformational, transactional and network governance leadership behaviours had a significant direct positive effect on employees’ innovative work behaviour. Altruistic and entrepreneurial leadership had no significant direct influence on employee’s innovative work behavior. The result of the study also showed a full mediation of organizational climate on the relationship between altruistic leadership behavior and employees’ innovative work behavior. With respect to transformational leadership, the results showed a partial complementary mediation. There was no significant mediation effect on transactional, entrepreneurial and network governance. The study concludes that leadership behavior is a determinant of employees’ innovative behavior and that effect can be increased through an organizational climate that supports innovation. The study recommends that training program focuses on developing leadership capacity and stimulating innovative behavior among employees, and that management work to ensure the creation of an innovation supportive climate