The linkage between Turkish managers’ leadership orientations and their innovativeness feature: an empirical study

Abstract

The dual issues of leadership features and innovativeness constitute an important component of the related literature along with the studies focusing on the connections between these two. The current study considers this connection with the notion that innovativeness should be included as a feature of a leader, but it also moves further by trying to understand how leadership orientations and innovativeness are patterned together within the leadership concept. To this end, the authors of the current study collect data from the top managers of businesses in the Istanbul Leather Organized Industrial Zone and perform inferential analyses. It is discovered that leadership orientations have three and that innovativeness has five distinct factors. A structural equation model that includes all of these factors together under the concept of leadership is proposed. Although all of the innovativeness factors are found to be integrated within this model, only one factor for leadership orientations – people orientation – can be integrated within the model. In other words, innovativeness can entirely be included within the proposed model of leadership, but leadership orientations can only partially be included. Most of the innovativeness factors are positively and moderately related to leadership, albeit assertiveness is not considerably favored. Overall, the emphasis appears to be on people oriented and innovative leadership.