Title: Empowering leadership and organisational performance: the mediating role of knowledge management

Authors: Anjali Rai; N. Akbar Jan; A.K. Subramani

Addresses: Department of OB and HR, ICFAI Business School (IBS), A Constituent of IFHE (Deemed to be University), Hyderabad, Telangana, India ' Department of OB and HR, ICFAI Business School (IBS), A Constituent of IFHE (Deemed to be University), Hyderabad, Telangana, India ' Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha School of Management, Saveetha University, Vellappanchavadi, Chennai 600077, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: The main purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between empowering leadership (EL) and its effects on an organisation's performance (OP) based on investigating the mediating role of knowledge management (KM). The paper uses the social exchange theory, which posits that empowering leadership leads to employees' reciprocal behaviours, which in turn increases the organisation's performance. The current study used a structured questionnaire distributed through snowball sampling to collect data, and it involved 516 employees in the information technology sector. The results indicated that EL has a significant effect on OP, and KM significantly mediated the relationship. Therefore, the mediation effect of knowledge management was critical in the relationship between EL and OP, as it enhanced synergistic relationships in terms of continuous generation, sharing, and utilisation of knowledge to promote employee creativity in knowledge sharing and problem-solving, novel thinking processes, and performance outcomes.

Keywords: empowering leadership; organisational performance; knowledge management; employee empowerment; knowledge sharing; innovation and decision-making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2024.142301

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2024 Vol.23 No.4, pp.307 - 334

Received: 03 Apr 2024
Accepted: 20 Jul 2024
Published online: 18 Oct 2024 *

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