Leadership Styles and Innovation Management: What Is the Role of Human Capital?

Leadership styles and human capital are important drivers of innovation processes. The way the leader interacts with organization members can pre-empt or leverage processes as leaders influence, empower motivate other individuals in achievement their goals. Human is an driver competitiveness, it will shape uniqueness company well process to obtain skills, capabilities, knowledge expertise. As such, main objectives paper analyze impact leadership on also address moderation effect previous relation. Four styles—autocratic, transactional, democratic, transformational—were considered measure impacts process, considering alternative types innovations. 2018 Community Innovation Survey (CIS) database was used, encompassing Portuguese data, covering 2016–2018 period, a sample 13702 firms. In regard empirical part, first, exploratory analysis run better understand connection between innovative strategies followed by econometric estimation 28 logit models disentangle specific each type. Evidence proves that autocratic transactional have negative transformational democratic positively. Furthermore, found moderate relationship process; i.e., under same style, presence additional skills leverages propensity. brings relevant insights for both managers policymakers, highlighting be accelerated if firms implement more participatory (democratic transformational) they invest competences promote internalization share. All all, combined internal proved efficient combination take place; policy instruments must coexistence these two factors.