The dual influences of team cooperative and competitive orientations on the relationship between empowering leadership and team innovative behaviors

In a rapidly changing environment, organizations that thrive are those that place innovation as their key strategic priority. This study examines the influence of empowering leadership on team innovative behaviors in group settings and explicates the dual influences of team cooperative and competitive orientations on the relationship. Drawing on nested data (527 followers nested in 60 departments) from 19 Chinese hotels, our results show that team cooperative orientation plays an important mediating role between empowering leadership and team innovative behaviors. The presence of team competitive orientation moderates the positive influence of team cooperative orientation on team innovative behaviors such that the combined influences of team cooperative and competitive orientations result in the highest levels of team innovative behaviors. We discuss the implications of both theory and practice of empowering leadership on team innovative behaviors.