The impact of transformational leadership on employees' innovative work behavior: A case study of SMEs in Uganda

In order to address the challenges of innovation faced by SMEs in resource-constrained countries like Uganda, it is crucial to adopt a leadership style that can inspire and motivate employees to utilize their knowledge, abilities, and skills towards delivering high-quality products and services. Transformational leadership, with its emphasis on inspiring and motivating employees, is particularly suited for this purpose. However, it is unfortunate that many managers of SMEs in Uganda lack the necessary leadership style and traits, which has resulted in a high failure rate for these businesses. Therefore, the aim of this research was to explore the influence of transformational leadership on innovative work behavior among employees, focusing on four dimensions of transformational leadership. Data was collected from 250 employees of 25 SMEs operating in the Food and Beverage sector in the Kampala Central Region of Uganda. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The analysis included reliability test using Cronbach Alpha coefficient to assess the internal consistency of the data, Pearson correlation coefficient to examine the inter-correlation between the observed variables and regression analysis to investigate the impact of the four constructs of transformational leadership on innovative work behavior. The results revealed a significant influence of transformational leadership on innovative work behavior in SMEs in Uganda. Keywords: Transformational Leadership, Innovative Work Behavior, Small and Medium Enterprises, Leadership