Impact of Transformational Leadership on Innovation Characteristic of Enforcement Employees in Malaysian Public Sector Agency. The Role of Trust as Mediator

摘要

This study examines the influence of transformational leadership on innovation and investigates whether employees’ trust mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and the innovation characteristic of enforcement employees in Malaysia. Less study of transformational leadership, employees’ trust and innovation has been conducted at the enforcement agency in Malaysia. Less employees’ trust to their organizations has been the obstacle to boost the innovation culture among them. Data on transformational leadership, employees’ trust, and innovation characteristic are collected through a survey of Malaysian enforcement body. Analyses are based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique through AMOS 20. The instruments used in this study have the acceptable validity and reliability. The results of SEM analyses show that transformational leadership has significant effect on innovation and trust. Trust also has significant effect on innovation and mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation. The results are expected to encourage leaders of Malaysian enforcement agencies to guide and motivate their followers through transformational leadership based style. The discussions and implications from the findings of this study are provided to contribute to the literature mainly based on the empirical evidence of the significant relationship between transformational leadership and innovation as well as the role of trust as mediator in the Malaysian enforcement body context.