The Impact of Transformational Leadership Style and Employee Creativity on Organizational Innovation in Universities During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Organizational innovation is one of the important issues for organizations in every country to adapt to changing operating environments, scientific and technological progress, and crisis issues. This study aims to evaluate the impact of transformational leadership style and employee creativity on organizational innovation in universities in Vietnam. We employed Bayesian exploratory factor analysis and Bayesian regression analysis with primary data of leader–employee pairs to explore the abovementioned effects. The findings show that the components of transformational leadership style, including idealized influence (II), inspirational motivation (IM), intellectual stimulation (IS), and individual consideration (IC), have positive impacts on organizational innovation (OI) and employee creativity (EC). The findings also imply that employee creativity (EC) is a mediating factor in the impact of transformational leadership style (TLS) on organizational innovation (OI). Finally, increasing intrinsic motivation (INM) can increase the positive impact of transformational leadership style (TLS) on employee creativity (EC). Based on the results, we propose policy implications to promote organizational innovation in Vietnamese universities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.