The Influence of Leader Political Skill on Bootleg Innovation Behavior and Radical Creativity : The Mediating Role of Positive Psychological Capital and the Moderating Role of Communication Satisfaction

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Against the backdrop of digital transformation and increasing market uncertainty, organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on employees’ innovative activities under resource constraints and institutional boundaries. As higher-risk and breakthrough-oriented forms of innovation, bootleg innovation behavior and radical creativity can generate competitive advantages for organizations, while also placing greater demands on leader support, employee psychological resources, and communication environments. Therefore, this study takes leadership political skill as a starting point to examine its influence mechanism on employees’ deviant innovation behaviors and radical creativity, introducing positive psychological capital as a mediating variable and further investigating the moderating role of communication satisfaction, thereby establishing the ‘leadership political skill–positive psychological capital–innovation performance’ pathway and its boundary conditions. This study collected survey data from corporate employees and used SPSS and AMOS software to assess the reliability, validity, and discriminant validity of the measurement model. Based on these assessments, correlation analysis and structural relationship tests were conducted, followed by further examinations of mediating effects, moderating effects, and moderated mediation effects. The findings reveal two key mechanisms. First, leader political skill indirectly promotes employees’ deviant innovation behavior and radical creativity by enhancing their positive psychological capital—a set of positive psychological resources including self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience. This mediating pathway explains how external support from leaders is internalized by employees and transformed into the capacity to engage in high-risk innovative activities. Second, communication satisfaction serves as a critical boundary condition for both direct and indirect effects: when communication satisfaction is high, the positive direct effect of leadership political skill on deviant innovation behavior and radical creativity becomes stronger, and the indirect effect through positive psychological capital is also amplified. These results indicate that communication satisfaction, as a situational resource, facilitates the transmission of leadership influence and the conversion of psychological resources into innovative actions. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in integrating leadership political skill, bootleg innovation behavior, and radical creativity into a unified analytical framework, clarifying the mediating role of positive psychological capital between leadership influence and high-risk innovation, and extending the boundary conditions of political skill effects from the perspective of organizational communication. Practically, the research suggests that when pursuing breakthrough innovations, organizations should focus on selecting and developing managers’ political skills, systematically enhancing employees’ positive psychological capital, and optimizing communication feedback and cross-departmental collaboration mechanisms, thereby strengthening innovation vitality and transformation efficiency while managing innovation risks.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Chapter 1. Introduction 12
• 1.1 Research Background 12
• 1.2 Research Objectives and Significance 13
• 1.2.1 Research Objectives 13
• 1.2.2 Research Significance 14
• 1.3 Research Methods and Content 16
• 1.3.1 Research Methods 16
• 1.3.2 Dissertation Structure 17
• 1.4 Research Innovations 19
• Chapter 2. Literature Review 21
• 2.1 Research on Leader Political Skill （LPS） 21
• 2.1.1 Concept of Leader Political Skill 21
• 2.1.2 Measuring Leader Political Skill 22
• 2.1.3 Antecedent Conditions of Leader Political Skill 24
• 2.1.4 Outcome Variables of Leader Political Skill 26
• 2.2 Research on Bootleg Innovation Behavior （BIB） 28
• 2.2.1 Conceptualization of Bootleg Innovation Behavior 29
• 2.2.2 Measurement of Bootleg Innovation Behavior 31
• 2.2.3 Antecedents of Bootleg Innovation Behavior 32
• 2.3 Research on Radical Creativity （RC） 35
• 2.3.1 The Definition of Radical Creativity 35
• 2.3.2 Measurement of Radical Creativity 38
• 2.3.3 Antecedents of Radical Creativity 40
• 2.3.4 Outcome variables of Radical Creativity 42
• 2.4 Research on Positive Psychological Capital （PPC） 48
• 2.4.1 Concept of Positive Psychological Capital 48
• 2.4.2 Measurement of Positive Psychological Capital 50
• 2.4.3 Antecedent variables of Positive Psychological Capital 52
• 2.4.4 Outcome variables of Positive Psychological Capital 54
• 2.5 Related research on Communication Satisfaction （CS） 57
• 2.5.1 Concept of Communication Satisfaction 57
• 2.5.2 Measurement of Communication Satisfaction 60
• 2.5.3 Antecedents of Communication Satisfaction 63
• 2.5.4 Outcomes of Communication Satisfaction 66
• Chapter 3. Research Hypotheses and Research Model 71
• 3.1 Research Hypotheses 71
• 3.1.1 Leader Political Skill and Employees’ Positive Psychological Capital 71
• 3.1.2 Leader Political Skill and Employees’ Bootleg Innovation Behavior 73
• 3.1.3 Leader Political Skill and Employees’ Radical Creativity 76
• 3.1.4 Employees’ Positive Psychological Capital and Bootleg Innovation Behavior 77
• 3.1.5 Employees’ Positive Psychological Capital and Radical Creativity 79
• 3.1.6 The Mediating Role of Employees’ Positive Psychological Capital 82
• 3.1.7 The Moderating Role of Communication Satisfaction 86
• 3.2 Research Model 96
• CHAPTER 4. Research Design 98
• 4.1 Questionnaire Design 98
• 4.2 Measurement and Scale of Research Variables 99
• 4.2.1 Measurement of Leader’s Political Skill 100
• 4.2.2 Measurement of Positive Psychological Capital 101
• 4.2.3 Measurement of Bootleg Innovation Behavior 102
• 4.2.4 Measurement of Radical Creativity 103
• 4.2.5 Measurement of Communication Satisfaction 103
• 4.2.6 Control Variables 104
• 4.3 Data Collection Methods 104
• Chapter 5. Data Analysis 105
• 5.1 Sample Characteristics 105
• 5.2 Test for Common Method Bias 107
• 5.3 Reliability Analysis 108
• 5.4 Validity Analysis 109
• 5.4.1 Measurement Model Fit 109
• 5.4.2 Convergent Validity 109
• 5.4.3 Confirmatory Factor Analysis 111
• 5.4.4 Discriminant Validity 112
• 5.4.5 Comparison of Measurement Models 113
• 5.5 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis 114
• Chapter 6. Hypothesis Testing 117
• 6.1 Model Fit of Structural Equation Model 117
• 6.2 Mediation Effect Testing 119
• 6.3 Moderation Effect Testing 121
• 6.4 Summary of Hypothesis Testing 127
• Chapter 7 Conclusions and Future Research 128
• 7.1 Research Conclusions 128
• 7.2 Theoretical Contributions 131
• 7.3 Practical Implications 135
• 7.4 Limitations and Future Research 140
• References 144