Fostering team innovation through inclusive leadership: a systematic literature review
Ibrahim Oluwapelumi Orekoya, Olufunmilola (Lola) Dada, Danny SoetantoPurpose
Although there is considerable evidence that team innovation is crucial to the survival and growth of organisations, fostering team innovation to generate novel ideas remains a key leadership challenge. The importance of leadership styles in fostering team innovation has been highlighted in extant literature. However, most leadership styles commonly associated with fostering team innovation – such as transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and servant leadership – do not address the need to encourage inclusivity during team innovation processes. In this paper, we propose that an inclusive leadership style facilitates team innovation more effectively than other leadership styles.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a systematic review of relevant empirical literature to enhance understanding of the relationship between inclusive leadership and team innovation. By consolidating the findings from diverse theoretical perspectives, we develop an overarching model of how inclusive leadership influences team innovation.
Findings
The evidence enables us to explain the factors that can facilitate an innovative workplace through the role of organisational leaders in strengthening inclusive leadership behaviours to enhance teams' capability to expedite innovation. We identify inclusive leadership behaviours, team-level and organisational conditions, mediating processes, moderating and boundary conditions, and team innovation outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the lack of synthesis of empirical evidence on the inclusive leadership behaviours that are most influential in fostering team innovation. The research and practical implications of this review are discussed in addition to the limitations and directions for future studies.