Utilizing every grain of intellect: exploring the role of individual-level intellectual capital in linking servant leadership with innovative work behavior
Journal of Intellectual Capital
ISSN: 1469-1930
Article publication date: 7 December 2023
Issue publication date: 2 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Based on social exchange and social learning theories, this study explicates the mediating role of individual-level human capital, structural capital and relational capital in linking servant leadership with the innovative work behavior (IWB) of employees.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 256 manager–employee dyads from the IT sector of Pakistan in three phases through a survey conducted two months apart.
Findings
Results showed that two dimensions of individual-level intellectual capital, namely, individual-level human capital and individual-level relational capital, mediated the relationship between servant leadership and IWB, whereas individual-level structural capital did not mediate the relationship between the two variables.
Originality/value
This study confirms the relationship between servant leadership and IWB and tests the mediating role of the three facets of individual-level intellectual capital in linking servant leadership with the IWB of employees.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Since submission of this article, the following authors have updated their affiliations: Muhammad Mumtaz Khan is at the Asia Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Tahir Islam is at the Leeds Trinity University, Leeds, UK.
Citation
Khan, M.M., Mubarik, M.S., Ahmed, S.S., Islam, T. and Rehman, S.U. (2024), "Utilizing every grain of intellect: exploring the role of individual-level intellectual capital in linking servant leadership with innovative work behavior", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 23-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-11-2021-0307
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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