Empowering leadership and innovative work behavior: the mediating effects of climate for initiative and job autonomy in Moroccan SMEs

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to explore the role of empowering leadership, organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy in spurring innovative work behavior (IWB). Design/methodology/approach This study resorted to the structural equation modeling technique along the Bayesian estimation approach to analyze the mediating role of the organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy in the empowering leadership-IWB link in data gathered from CEOs, middle managers and non-managerial employees of 444 small and medium enterprises in Morocco. Findings The findings revealed that empowering leadership is a prerequisite of IWB as subordinates, who are empowered by their leaders and demonstrate IWB. Further, organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy mediate the empowering leadership-IWB link. Practical implications This research has demonstrated that firms and organizational leaders who seek to make their middle managers innovative in their job should adopt empowering leadership practices, build an organizational climate that is favorable for initiative-taking and grant middle managers with autonomy in the way they carry out their tasks. Originality/value This paper extends our understanding on the mechanisms linking empowering leadership and IWB by testing the mediating effects of organizational climate for initiative and job autonomy.