Linking Transformational Leadership Behaviour to Employees’ Innovative Behaviour: Mediating Role of Affective Commitment

Abstract

This article investigated the effect of Transformational Leadership Behaviour (TB) and Affective Commitment (AC) on employees’ Innovative Behaviour (EIB) in Tanzania. Using the Affective Events Theory, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 376 academic staff members across 50 Technical Education Training Institutions. Data were collected through a self-administeredquestionnaire and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) Version 4. The findings revealed that transformational leadership has a positive influence on both affective commitment and employees’ innovative behaviour. In addition, affective commitment was found to significantly and directly affect employees’ innovative behaviour and partiallymediate the relationship between transformational leadership behaviour and employees’ innovative behaviour. These results highlight the importance of fostering employees’ innovative behaviour through transformational leadership and affective commitment in Tanzanian technical education training institutions.The article recommends that managers and policymakers in the Tanzanian education sector focus on initiatives that enhance employees’ morale, emotional attachment, and innovative capacity. Theoretically, this study confirms the applicability of Affective Events Theory in the Tanzanian vocational education context, providing insights that can inform human resource development policies in technical and vocational education training. Keywords: Transformational Leadership Behaviour, Affective Commitment, Employee Innovative Behaviour, and Technical Education and Training