AMBIDEXTROUS LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOUR: A SERIAL MEDIATION MODEL OF CREATIVE SELF-EFFICACY AND WORK ENGAGEMENT AMONG IT PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

 This study focuses on IT professionals who are working in the firms, located along the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) IT corridor in Chennai, India. It is intended to explain the influence of ambidextrous leadership (AL) on innovative work behaviour (IWB), and to analyse the mediating mechanisms of creative self-efficacy (CSE) and work engagement (WE) between these two. A time bound survey method was conducted by sending questionnaires to all ELCOT and SIPCOT zone employees resulting in 407 usable responses from the questionnaires. The conceptual model proposed was then validated by applying the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique in the software SmartPLS. The results show that AL has a significant direct positive impact on IWB (β = 0.308, t = 5.622) and CSE (β = 0.710, t = 21.507). CSE, in turn, significantly enhances IWB (β = 0.210, t = 3.507) and WE (β = 0.297, t = 4.607). AL also positively influences WE (β = 0.212, t = 3.341), which subsequently strengthens IWB (β = 0.282, t = 5.745). Additionally, CSE and WE jointly demonstrate partial serial mediation between AL and IWB (β = 0.059, t = 3.449*). Overall, the findings indicate that AL promotes IWB both directly and indirectly by boosting employees’ creative self-efficacy and enhancing their work engagement.