The Role of Leadership Behaviour of Project Manager in Managing the Fuzzy Front End in the Development of Radical and Incremental Innovation

Existing theories of organisational behaviour have addressed the relationship between the role of leadership behaviour of project manager and outcomes of subordinates in developing new products (e.g., improving innovation speed and new product performance). However, only a small number of researchers have investigated the impact of leadership behaviour on the fuzzy front end. Specifically, the role of leadership behaviour in reducing uncertainty in the fuzzy front end for each innovation type has been largely overlooked. Apart from employing the path-goal theory and using survey research, this research collects data from the food & beverage, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries in Thailand ([Formula: see text]) and analyses the data with structural equation modeling. Our results can contribute how the leadership behaviour of project manager impacts on development of each type of product innovation. The findings reveal that the directive path-goal behaviour of project managers helps to reduce uncertainty in the fuzzy front end during incremental innovation development. In contrast, achievement-oriented behaviour of project managers helps to reduce uncertainty in the fuzzy front end during radical innovation development. Additionally, reducing uncertainty in the fuzzy front end can enhance the new product performance of these two types of innovation.