The Effects of Inclusive Leadership on Employee Innovation Performance

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As global markets grow more competitive and knowledge becomes a key economic asset, firms’ long-term development increasingly depends on their ability to enhance innovation capabilities. As a crucial driver of organizational innovation, Researchers and practitioners now devote considerable attention to how different leadership approaches shape employees’ behavioral responses and psychological resources. In China’s distinctive organizational environment, traditional hierarchical management often suppresses employee initiative and creativity. Therefore, Exploring leadership approaches that align with China’s organizational environment and assessing their effects on employees’ innovation outcomes holds significant theoretical and practical value. This study focuses on inclusive leadership and proposes an integrated framework comprising multiple psychological and behavioral pathways. Drawing upon extensive domestic and international literature, eleven hypotheses were proposed, covering direct, mediating, moderating, and moderated mediating effects. Established measurement scales were revised to fit the Chinese context, and a large sample survey was conducted among frontline employees. The analyses were conducted with SPSS 25.0, AMOS 24.0, and PROCESS 3.5, which facilitated reliability assessment, CFA, structural equation modeling, and mediation-moderation testing to verify the hypotheses. The results indicate that Inclusive leadership enhances employees’ innovation outcomes not only through direct effects but also via several indirect psychological and behavioral processes. Voice behavior and positive psychological capital act as key mediating mechanisms: the former represents proactive communication and problem-solving actions, whereas the latter reflects employees’ psychological resources that sustain motivation and resilience. Regarding moderation, job crafting positively shapes how positive psychological capital relates to innovation outcomes and amplifies the indirect influence of inclusive leadership through positive psychological capital. This implies suggesting that employees who proactively redefine their task boundaries are better able to convert psychological resources into innovative outputs. However, job crafting did not exhibit a significant moderating role on the direct impacts of inclusive leadership or voice behavior on innovation outcomes, indicating that contextual factors such as job autonomy and organizational systems may shape its boundary conditions. Theoretically, this study deepens the theoretical comprehension of inclusive leadership by clarifying both its direct and indirect influences on innovation, and broadens the application of social cognitive theory and conservation of resources perspectives. Practically, organizations should cultivate inclusive leadership, protect employee voice, strengthen psychological capital development, and offer reasonable autonomy to support job crafting, ultimately fostering sustainable innovation capacity in dynamic environments.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Chapter 1 Introduction 1
• 1.1 Research Background 1
• 1.1.1 Practical Background1
• 1.1.2 Theoretical Background.5
• 1.1.3 Problem Statement 9
• 1.2 Research Significance and Innovation 11
• 1.2.1 Theoretical Significance 11
• 1.2.2 Practical Significance 13
• 1.2.3 Innovation 14
• 1.3 Research Framework and Research Methods 16
• 1.3.1 Research Content 16
• 1.3.2 Research Methods 17
• 1.4 Research Process 18
• Chapter 2 Literature Review 21
• 2.1 Theoretical Basis 21
• 2.1.1 Social Cognitive Theory 21
• 2.1.2 Resource Conservation Theory 22
• 2.1.3 Self-Determination Theory 24
• 2.2 Research on Inclusive Leadership 25
• 2.2.1 Concept and Development of Inclusive Leadership25
• 2.2.2 Measurement of Inclusive Leadership31
• 2.3 Research on Voice Behavior 34
• 2.3.1 Concept and Development of Voice Behavior34
• 2.3.2 Measurement of Voice Behavior39
• 2.4 Research on Positive Psychological Capital 42
• 2.4.1 Concept and Development of Positive Psychological Capital 42
• 2.4.2 Measurement of Positive Psychological Capital 49
• 2.5 Research on Job Crafting 52
• 2.5.1 Concept and Development of Job Crafting 52
• 2.5.2 Measurement of Job Crafting 56
• 2.6 Research on Innovation Performance59
• 2.6.1 Concept and Development of Innovation Performance 59
• 2.6.2 Measurement of Innovation Performance 65
• 2.7 Chapter Summary68
• Chapter 3 Research Hypotheses and Models69
• 3.1 Inclusive Leadership and Innovation Performance69
• 3.2 The Impact of Inclusive Leadership and Voice Behavior on Innovation
• Performance72
• 3.3 The Impact of Inclusive Leadership and Positive Psychological Capital on
• Innovation Performance 80
• 3.4 The Mediating Role of Voice Behavior86
• 3.5 The Mediating Role of Positive Psychological Capital89
• 3.6 The Moderating Effect of Job Crafting 92
• 3.7 Research Model and Hypothesis Summary 110
• Chapter 4 Questionnaire Design and Measurement Scales 113
• 4.1 Questionnaire Design 113
• 4.2 Operational Definitions and Measurement Scales for Variables 114
• 4.2.1 Measurement of Inclusive Leadership 115
• 4.2.2 Measurement of Voice Behavior 116
• 4.2.3 Measurement of Positive Psychological Capital 117
• 4.2.4 Measurement of Innovative Performance 118
• 4.2.5 Measurement of Job Crafting 119
• Chapter 5 Large Sample Survey and Data Quality Analysis 121
• 5.1 Sample Feature Analysis 121
• 5.2 Common Method Bias Test 124
• 5.3 Reliability Test125
• 5.4 Validity Test 125
• 5.4.1 Model Fit 125
• 5.4.2 Convergent Validity 126
• 5.4.3 Confirmatory Factor Analysis 128
• 5.4.4 Discriminant Validity130
• 5.4.5 Comparison of Measurement Models 132
• 5.5 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis 133
• Chapter 6 Hypothesis Testing 136
• 6.1 Structural Equation Model Fit Test 136
• 6.2 Mediation Effect Test 138
• 6.3 Moderating Effect Test 141
• 6.4 Summary of Hypothesis Tests148
• Chapter 7 Research Conclusions and Prospects 151
• 7.1 Research Conclusions 151
• 7.2 Theoretical Implications154
• 7.3 Practical Implications 157
• 7.4 Research Limitations and Future Research 162
• References 167
• Appendix 190
• 국문초록 190