A cross-level examination of team-directed empowering leadership and subordinates' innovative performance: an AMO theory perspective

Purpose In the field of innovation, individual innovative performance also has an important impact on team and organizational innovative performance, thus it is necessary to identify factors that increase individual innovative performance. One key to unlock individual innovative performance is empowering leadership. Drawing on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theoretical framework, this study investigates the cross-level influence of team-directed empowering leadership on subordinates' innovative performance and verifies the mediating role of creative self-efficacy (A), intrinsic motivation (M), team knowledge sharing (O) and the moderating effect of feedback seeking climate. Design/methodology/approach With a sample of 102 teams and 722 employees, this study uses Mplus7.4 software to carry out cross-level model analysis based on MSEM multilevel mediation test methodology. Findings The results from cross-level analysis indicate that: (1) Team-directed empowering leadership has a significant positive impact on subordinates' innovative performance. (2) Team-directed empowering leadership enhances subordinates' innovative performance through the improvement of creative self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation and team knowledge sharing. (3) Based on the feedback perspective, feedback seeking climate moderates the relationship between team-directed empowering leadership and creative self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation and team knowledge sharing. Originality/value This study introduced the AMO theory into the research on cross-level mediating mechanism between team-directed empowering leadership and subordinates' innovative performance, which broadens the theoretical research perspective. Considering the difference between empowering leadership and laissez-faire leadership and the guiding role of feedback, this study selects feedback seeking climate as a moderator in view of feedback, which riches the contingency factors on the cross-level effect of team-directed empowering leadership.