환경변화에 뒤처지지 않고 살아남기 위해서는 조직은 끊임없이 변화와 혁신을 지속해야 한다. 오늘날과 같은 상시 변화상황 하에서는 변화를 관리하고 주도할 수 있는 리더십이 요구된다. 이러한 맥락에서 Yukl(1999)은 변화지향 리더십(change- oriented leadership)을 강조하였지만 효과성에 대한 실증은 미진한 상태이다. 따라서 그 효과성을 확인하기 위해 리더의 변화지향 리더십과 부하의 혁신행동 간의 관계를 검증하였다.
한편, 대부분의 리더십 연구들이 리더 혹은 부하 중심적인 관점을 벗어나지 못한 채, 차상위 리더의 존재를 간과하는 문제점을 안고 있다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 문제인식 하에서 리더십 효과에 대한 차상위 리더의 영향을 확인하기 위해, 변화지향 리더십과 부하 혁신행동의 관계에서 차상위 리더의 지원행동의 조절효과를 실증하였다.
군 간부들을 대상(리더-부하 231쌍)으로 수집된 자료를 분석하여 다음과 같은 결과를 도출할 수 있었다. 리더의 변화지향 리더십은 부하의 혁신행동과 정의 관계를 가진 것으로 나타났으며 변화지향 리더십과 부하의 혁신행동 간의 관계에서 차상위 리더의 지원행동의 조절효과가 확인되었다. 차상위 리더가 리더에 대해 지원적일수록 리더의 변화지향 리더십과 부하들의 혁신행동은 더 강한 선형관계를 보여주었다. 이러한 연구 결과를 바탕으로 연구의 이론 및 실무적 시사점을 고찰하고, 연구의 한계 및 미래 연구방향을 제시하였다.
In order to cope with progressively dynamic and competitive environments, organizations must carry on change and innovation. When everything is subject to change, the leader should be able to manage and initiate changes. Thus, Yukl(1999) emphasized the change-oriented leadership. Unfortunately, however, studies are scarce as to its effectiveness. With a view to verifying the effectiveness of change-oriented leadership, the first purpose of the present study is to explain the relationship between change-oriented leadership and subordinates’ innovative behaviors.
Traditionally, leadership researches focused on the bilateral relationship between the leader and subordinates (House & Aditya, 1997; Lowe & Gardner, 2001). This perspective overly excessively simplifies the leadership phenomena because it is impossible to ignore the impact of leader’s leader on the leadership effectiveness in an actual organizational setting. A leader’s leader acts as linking pins in organizations by connecting leaders to the upper management (Likert, 1967). In this vein, he/she is a direct channel of organizational support which impacts on the leadership. It is, therefore, necessary to study the trilateral relationship between leader’s leader, leader and subordinate for a more detailed model of leadership phenomena. The second purpose of this study is then to identify the influence of the leader’s leader on leadership effectiveness.
To measure the moderating effects of a leader’s leader on the relationship between change-oriented leadership and subordinates’ innovative behaviors, the leader’s leader supportive behavior to leader (LLSB) was introduced as the moderating variable. According to instrumental compliance theory (Kelman, 1958), for the successful implementation of the leader’s change-oriented leadership, subordinates should be aware that the leader has sufficient resources and the budget for the change propulsion. LLSB means that the required resources and psychological support for change are delivered to a leader from the leader’s leader. Below are the hypotheses tested in this study.
H1：Change-oriented leadership is positively related to the subordinates’ innovative behaviors.
H2：LLSB moderates the relationship between change-oriented leadership and the subordinates’ innovative behaviors in such a way that the relationship is stronger when LLSB is higher than when it is lower.
Data were collected from 356 officers and NCOs (231 leader-subordinate dyad) using questionnaire surveys. The results from multiple regression analyses are as follows.
Consistent with Hypothesis 1, change-oriented leadership was positively related to subordinate’s innovative behaviors. As predicted by Hypothesis 2, the relationship between change- oriented leadership and the subordinates’ innovative behaviors was stronger when LLSB was higher than when it was lower.
The findings have theoretical implications. First, change-oriented leadership does indeed affect subordinates’ innovative behaviors. So, its effectiveness is verified. Second, the moderating effect of LLSB implies that the leader’s leader role is important for the leadership effectiveness. This result clarifies the role of leader’s leader as a situational factor in leadership.
Along with its theoretical contribution, the study has meaningful and practical implications for organizations faced with changes. First, the leader’s initiative change-oriented leadership is very significant for the successful organization changes and innovation (Gill, 2001; Higgs & Rowland, 2000, 2005; Kotter, 2001; Yukl, 2006). Second, the leader’s leader support for the leader is indispensable to ensuring subordinates’ innovative behaviors.
In conclusion, this research clarified the effectiveness of the change-oriented leadership and the moderating effects of LLSB on the relationship between change-oriented leadership and subordinates’ innovative behaviors. The findings, the significant impact of the leader’s leader on leadership effectiveness, indicate that studies on the trilateral relationship between leader’s leader, leader and subordinate are more appropriate than the bilateral relationship between leader and subordinate for explaining the leadership phenomena.
