Title: Transformational leadership on follower's creativity: an empirical study

Authors: Saud Alarifi; Jaithen Alharbi

Addresses: Independent Writer ' Department of Management and Marketing, College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

Abstract: Purpose: This study is an investigation into relationship between transformational leadership and innovation at the organisational level and creativity at the individual level as an empirical study in the public sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A survey instrument was adapted to obtain the data from different organizations. A Self administrated questionnaire was distributed to employees randomly selected from a public organisation. The final sample of 503 was selected for the study analysis. The results show that transformational leadership is positively and significantly correlated to the follower's creativity and organisational innovation. In addition, the relationship between the transformational leadership and follower's creativity through the mediating role of employee psychological empowerment, support for innovation, workplace relationship, and employee learning were found positive and significant. This research provides supportive insights into the state of transformational leadership for field experts, policy makers, and administration of the public organizations especially from the Gulf countries.

Keywords: transformational leadership; employees empowerment; intrinsic motivation; Saudi Arabia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMS.2019.099128

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 2019 Vol.10 No.2, pp.138 - 156

Accepted: 24 Feb 2018
Published online: 16 Apr 2019 *

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