Research Articles

Facing the Dark Side: How Leadership Destroys Organisational Innovation

Authors

  • Paulo Lopes Henriques ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal & Advance/CSG
  • Carla Curado ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal & Advance/CSG
  • Helena Mateus Jerónimo ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal & Advance/CSG
  • Joana Martins ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242019000100018

Abstract

Leadership is an essential element for promoting innovation. The literature has primarily focused on the effect of “constructive” leadership on innovation, although numerous studies point out that destructive leadership affects organizational performance. However, such literature pays little attention to the relationship between destructive leadership and innovation. This study uses an online survey of 210 employees from 80 Portuguese firms in different sectors, to test the effect of destructive leadership on behavioural innovation and how a caring climate influences such relationship. The analysis uses multiple linear regressions to test the hypotheses. Findings reveal that destructive leadership has a negative effect on innovation and on caring climate. The results show that a caring climate influences innovation in a positive way that mitigates the relationship between destructive leadership and innovation.

Keywords:

  • Destructive leadership
  • organisational innovation
  • behavioural innovation
  • organisational climate
  • caring climate
  • mitigation effects.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J. & Herron, M. (1996). Assessing the work environment for creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), 1154-1184. doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/256995

Aasland, M. S., Skogstad, A., Notelaers, G., Nielsen, M. B. & Einarsen, S. (2010). The prevalence of destructive leadership behavior. British Journal of Management, 21(2), 438-452. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2009.00672.x

Akkermans, H. J. L., Isaksen, S. G., & Isaksen, E. J. (2008). Leadership for innovation: A global climate survey-A CRU technical report creativity research unit, Buffalo, NY: The Creative Problem Solving Group, Inc.

Boddy, C.R. (2014). Corporate psychopaths, conflict, employee affective well-being and counterproductive work behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 121, 107-121. doi: 10.1007/s10551-013-1688-0

Choi, B. K., Moon, H. K. & Ko, W. (2013). An organization's ethical climate, innovation, and performance: Effects of support for innovation and performance evaluation. Management Decision, 51(6), 1250-1275. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-Sep-2011-0334

Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B.A. & LePine, J.A. (2007). Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: A meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 909-927. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.4.909

Cullen, J. B., Victor, B., & Bronson, J.W. (1993). The ethical climate questionnaire: An assessment of its development and validity. Psychological Reports, 73(2), 667-674. doi: https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1993.73.2.667

Deci, E. L., Connell, J. P., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(4), 580-590. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.74.4.580

Denti, L., & Hemlin, S. (2012). Leadership and innovation in organizations: A systematic review of factors that mediate or moderate the relationship. International Journal of Innovation Management, 16(3), 1-20. doi: 10.1142/S1363919612400075

Deshpande, S.P. (1996). Ethical climate and the link between success and ethical behavior: An empirical investigation of a non-profit organization. Journal of Business Ethics, 15, 315-320. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382957

Dickson, M. W., Smith, B. D., Grojean, M. W., & Ehrhart, M. (2001). An organizational climate regarding ethics: The outcome of leader values and the practices that reflect them. The Leadership Quarterly, 12(2), 197-217. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(01)00069-8

Einarsen, S., Aasland, M. S., & Skogstad, A. (2007). Destructive leadership behavior: A definition and conceptual model. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(3), 207-216. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.03.002

Garcia, P. (2011). Inovação, estratégia competitiva, meio envolvente e performance das exportações: Um estudo sobre as PME´s exportadoras em Portugal (unpublished Master dissertation). University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.

Gonzalez-Padron, T., Hult, T.G., & Calantone, R. (2008). Exploiting innovative opportunities in global purchasing: An assessment of ethical climate and relationship performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 37(1), 69-82. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2007.06.013

Grojean, M. W., Resick, C. J., Dickson, M. W. & Smith, D. B. (2004). Leaders, values, and organizational climate: Examining leadership strategies for establishing an organizational climate regarding ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 55(3), 223-241. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-1275-5

Krasikova, D. V., Green, S. J., & LeBreton, J.M. (2013). Destructive leadership: a theoretical review, integration, and future research agenda. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1308-1338. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206312471388

Lee, S., Yun, S. & Srivastava, A. (2013). Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between abusive supervision and creativity in South Korea. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(5), 724-731. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.07.002

May, D., & Meier, F. (2013). Measuring negative forms of leadership: Preliminary evidence for factor structure and criterion validity of a revised version of Shaw, Erickson and Harvey’s (2011) Destructive Leadership Questionnaire. Paper Presented at the 16th EAWOP Congress, Münster, Germany.

Martin, K., & Cullen, J. (2006). Continuities and extensions of ethical climate theory: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Business Ethics, 69(2), 175-194. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9084-7

Martinko, M.J., Harvey, P., Brees, J., & Mackey, J. (2013). A review of abusive supervision research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34, S120-S137. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1888

Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M. & Greenbaum, R. (2010). Laying an ethical foundation: Ethical practices, ethical climate, and unethical behavior. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Montreal, Canada.

Padilla, A., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2007). The toxic triangle: Destructive leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(3), 176-194. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.03.001

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, Y., & Podsakoff, N.P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879

Rego, A. (2001). Climas éticos organizacionais: validação do constructo a dois níveis de análise. Psicologia: Organizações e Trabalho, 1(1), 69-106.

Reina, C.S., Zhang, Z., & Peterson, S.J. (2014). CEO grandiose narcissism and firm performance: the role of organizational identification. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(5), 958-971. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.06.004

Schyns, B., & Schilling, J. (2013). How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), 138-158. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.001

Shaw, J. B., Erickson, A., & Harvey, M. (2011). A method for measuring destructive leadership and identifying types of destructive leaders in organizations. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(4), 575-590. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.05.001

Simha, A. M., & Cullen, J. B. (2012). Ethical climates and their effects on organizational outcomes: Implications from the past and prophecies for the future. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), 20-34. doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2011.0156

Thoroughgood, C.N., Hunter, S.T., & Sawyer, K.B. (2011). Bad apples, bad barrels, and broken followers? An empirical examination of contextual influences on follower perceptions and reactions to aversive leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 100(4), 647-672. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0702-z

Victor, B., & Cullen, J. (1988). The organizational bases of ethical work climates. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1), 101-125. doi: 10.2307/2392857

Wang, C. L., & Ahmed, P. K. (2004). The development and validation of the organizational innovativeness construct using confirmatory factor analysis. European Journal of Innovation Management, 7(4), 303-313. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/14601060410565056

Wisse, B., & Sleebos, E. (2016). When the dark ones gain power: perceived position power strengthens the effect of supervisor Machiavellianism on abusive supervision in work teams. Personality and Individual Differences, 99, 122-126. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.019

Downloads

Received

2018-06-10

Accepted

2019-02-25

Published

2019-04-25

How to Cite

Henriques, P. L., Curado, C., Jerónimo, H. M., & Martins, J. (2019). Facing the Dark Side: How Leadership Destroys Organisational Innovation. Journal of Technology Management and Innovation, 14(1), 18–24. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242019000100018

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2019)

Section

Research Articles

License

 

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC