Leadership and innovation: what’s the story? The relationship between leadership support level and innovation target

This article compares the effects of senior leadership support and direct supervisor support on public sector innovation, and the degree to which these innovations are internally or externally targeted. Using the 2017 Australian Public Service (APS) survey (n = 79,946), our findings show that leadership support at both levels is positively associated with innovation. Additionally, most innovations are internally targeted, and leadership level does not correlate significantly with the innovation target. Our study contributes to current debates about the drivers and orientation of public sector innovation by unravelling and juxtaposing the effects of leadership at different levels in relation to innovation targets.