The Moderating Role of Organizational Structure in the Relationship between Knowledge-Oriented Leadership and Service Innovative Performance

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and service innovation behavior, and to determine whether the organizational structure, comprising its three elements (centralization, formalization, and integration),
moderates this relationship.
Study design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was used to collect data for the present study, and Pearson's correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling were employed.
Sample and data: The study was conducted through a field survey of a simple random sample comprising 367 frontline employees across five Egyptian banks.
Results: The results revealed a positive and significant correlation between knowledge-oriented leadership and service innovation behavior. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the organizational structure negatively moderates the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and service innovation behavior.
Originality/value: This study is one of the earliest Arabic studies to address the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and innovative service behavior. It is also among the first Arabic and international studies to examine the moderating role
of organizational structure in the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and innovative service behavior.
Research limitations/implications: This study focused exclusively on knowledge-oriented leadership as the leadership style influencing innovative service behavior. Similarly, it limited its investigation of moderating variables to the organizational structure. Moreover, the study addressed only three main elements of the organizational structure: centralization, formalization, and integration.