Mediating effect of innovative culture and organizational learning between leadership styles at third-order and organizational performance in Malaysian SMEs

The objective of this study is to see the mediating effect of innovative culture and organizational learning between leadership styles and organizational performance in Malaysian SMEs. Questionnaires were used to collect data from owners/managers and 950 questionnaires distributed by using postal and email strategy. Out of 950, only 409 questionnaires returned back, 25 questionnaires have missing values and eliminated from a sample, and only 384 questionnaires were used for final analysis. Findings reveal that leadership styles have a significant influence on organizational learning, innovative culture, and organizational performance. Innovative culture and organizational learning have a significant influence on organizational performance. Moreover, innovative culture and organizational learning significantly mediate between leadership styles and organizational performance. In practical term, the current study contributes for managers/owners in SMEs to focus leadership styles with innovative culture and organizational learning in their decision making if they want to enhance their organizational performance. This study is one of the pioneer studies that test leadership styles at third-order with the combination of two mediating variables innovative culture and organizational learning with organizational performance.