The impact of effective leadership and organizational innovation in achieving performance excellence: Empirical study of the investment boards in Iraq

Effective leadership is the main driver of many activities in organizations. Leadership is also one of the management roles that result from key organizational functions of senior management, or managers, such as planning, organization, output, and oversight. Thus, the ultimate goal of this study is to explore the impact of effective leadership and organizational innovation in achieving organizational performance excellence. As a data collection method, the survey questionnaire was used, and the participants were from the investment boards in Iraq, in particular, north of Iraq. The survey was managed among managers and employees working with the branches of investment boards. The statistical programs SPSS, and Amos 23, are used for analyzing empirical data and testing the study hypotheses. The results showed that effective leadership positively related to organizational innovation, in addition, the results revealed that organizational innovation positively affects organizational performance excellence, however, there was a direct impact of effective leadership on performance excellence based on the perceptions of managers and employees working within the investment boards in Iraq. Furthermore, the results showed that organizational innovation partially mediates the impact of effective leadership on organizational performance excellence. The current study significantly contributes to the literature since there is a lack of empirical studies that have explored the relationship between effective leadership, organizational innovation, and performance excellence.