Entrepreneurial Leadership Impacts on Innovation: The Role of Customer Focus

الملخص

Innovation is a strategic outcome influenced by many aspects, e.g., leadership, strategy, organizational culture, quality management practices, and the convergence of different capabilities. However, leadership plays a crucial role in providing orchestration and strategic direction to prior efforts, thereby driving innovation success. Nevertheless, evidence on entrepreneurial leadership EL within that field remains limited and fragmented. EL is characterized by dimensions such as (visionary thinking, risk-taking, proactiveness, opportunity recognition, and adaptability), which can theoretically play a paramount role in fostering organizational innovation. Hence, this study aims to address this gap and examine the relationship between EL and innovation. The study also examines the mediating role of organizational customer focus, which can create conditions to satisfy the customers' needs through innovation. To answer the study questions, this study employs a quantitative research methodology utilizing a cross-sectional survey design. The target population is employees of the private sector in Saudi Arabia, using non-probability sampling. The study sample consists of N=129 respondents. To assess EL, the study adopts (Renko et al., 2015), to measure customer focus study adopts (Ahire et al., 1996), and to measure innovation, the study adopts (Kafetzopoulos & Psomas, 2015). The findings suggest that customer focus indeed mediates the relation between EL and process and product innovation and serves as a significant mechanism through which EL influences innovation.