Relational Transparency and the Innovative Work Behavior of Pharmacy Superintendents in Retail Pharmacies in Kenya

This study sought to investigate the extent to which a leader’s relational transparency, a core dimension of authentic leadership, influences the innovative work behavior of pharmacy superintendents in retail pharmacies in Kenya. Relational transparency was operationalized in terms of a leader’s openness, honesty, and trustworthiness while innovative work behavior was measured in terms on new idea generation, new idea promotion, and new idea implementation. Grounded in authentic leadership theory, and adopting a post-positivist research philosophy, this study utilized a descriptive correlational research design and a cross sectional survey strategy. The target population comprised pharmacy superintendents from 1129 registered retail pharmacies in Kenya, as per the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) December 2023 listing. Three hundred and twenty-six (326) participants were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, namely frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics, including Spearman’s rank-order correlation and ordinal logistic regression. Analysis was conducted using the SPSS v29 tool, and data were presented in tables and figures. Findings revealed that relational transparency explained 37.8% of the variance in innovative work behavior (Nagelkerke Pseudo R² = .378). It also emerged as the strong and statistically significant determinant of innovative work behavior (β = 1.77, p < .05), suggesting that leaders who demonstrate openness, honesty, and authenticity foster greater innovation among their teams. This led to the rejection of the null hypothesis that relational transparency does not significantly influence innovative work behavior. The study provided empirical evidence that relational transparency predicts innovative work behavior and offered theoretical implications for leadership development and practical recommendations for enhancing innovation in pharmaceutical retail settings.