Ambidextrous Leadership

The effect of ambidextrous leadership on innovative performance in a global perspective

Leadership has been recognized as one of the most important drivers of innovative performance. As the innovation process is highly complex there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. An ambidextrous leadership style consisting of “transactional/transformational” leadership has been recognized in the literature to drive innovative performance. As globalization becomes more important in todays business environment this research tries to find out whether the proposed leadership styles can be applied in collectivist cultures.

RQ: Is the concept of ambidextrous leadership, to foster innovative performance, applicable in collectivistic cultures?

The innovation process involves the conceptualization of an idea (creativity) as well as the development of the idea (implementation). Transformational leadership (charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration) is needed in the creative phase of innovation. Transactional leadership (contingent reward, management by exception) is needed in the implementation phase. Leaders need to be flexible in their proposed leadership styles. They need to switch between transactional and transformational leadership during different phases of the innovation process (ambidextrous leadership). The impact of leadership on the innovative performance of a firm is contingent on the cultural intelligence of managers. Modification of individual leadership behavior is crucial to the effectiveness of leadership. In general, transformational leadership appears to be more effective in collectivistic cultures (Asia) and transactional leadership in individualistic cultures (Europe,US). As the ambidextrous leadership has been developed in individualistic cultures the following research hypothesis were developed.

H1: During the creative phase transformational leadership leads to higher innovative performance in collectivist...