Entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behavior: an examination through multiple theoretical lenses

Purpose The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behavior and examine mediating role of affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 343 employees of information technology (IT) service firms in Pakistan. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was applied to test the proposed research model. Findings The findings reveal that entrepreneurial leadership is strongly and positively related to employee innovative behavior. Moreover, affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety simultaneously mediate this relationship. Practical implications This study uncovers the important role of entrepreneurial leadership in driving employee innovative behavior in high-tech services industry. Findings of this study suggest that by practicing entrepreneurial behaviors, managers can enhance employees' affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety, which invoke employees to demonstrate innovative behavior leading toward improved innovation performance at organizational level. Originality/value This research makes novel contribution to entrepreneurial leadership theory by using competing theoretical perspectives and subsequently providing more nuanced picture of the contrasting mechanisms that transmit the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on employee innovative behavior.