Search results

The main objective of this paper is to analyze how leadership unity (LU) within universities affects the innovativeness of faculty, with a focus on the potential moderating role of strategic sensitivity (SS).

The conceptual model of this research shows that SS and LU of the university impact the faculty's innovativeness. Meantime, the moderating effect of SS is assessed. A 49-item questionnaire was administered to 350 respondents who were managers and faculties of the university. The hierarchical regression technique was used for analyzing data and testing hypotheses.

The findings support both a curvilinear relationship based on a concave upward pattern and a linear relationship between LU in the university and the innovativeness of faculty. In addition, the university's SS positively influences the faculty's innovativeness. SS negatively moderates the curvilinear relationship between LU and faculty's innovativeness, i.e. the U-shaped effect exists only when the level of SS is high.

The results of this study shed new light on the relationships between LU and SS with innovativeness in the higher education landscape. It underlines the importance of SS as a moderator in the relationship between LU and innovativeness. This study was conducted in a developing country under sanctions with an Eastern culture, Iran. Thus, it is recommended that the conceptual framework of this study be tested in different countries with cultural diversity to generalize its findings.

Administrators of universities need to recognize that creating unity and cohesion among managers of various levels of the university is crucial. They should also be aware that responses to external changes can lead to new opportunities for the university. Embracing transformation within the organizational strategies of the university will have a significant influence on competition, politics, and internal operations.

This research contributes to the academic discussions on the importance of LU and SS and also the moderation effect of SS in driving and promoting innovativeness in among faculties by providing empirical evidence. The results present valuable insights for scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking to understand innovativeness among faculties in the higher education setting.

This study explores the effect of organizational identification (OID) on organizational innovativeness (OINN) in universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) of Iran, mediated by organizational risk-taking capability (ORTC).

A questionnaire was designed and distributed in universities and HEIs in three geographical regions of Iran. The sample includes deans of faculties, their assistants, and heads of departments, and heads, assistants, and employees of research and education offices. The authors determined the reliability and validity of the scales and used structural equation modeling to develop the conceptual model and to test hypothesized relationships.

The results show that the OID has a positive impact on the ORTC and OINN in universities and HEIs of Iran. Furthermore, the ORTC played a partially mediating role between the OID and OINN.

This study can lead to a theory of the effect of the OID on the OINN in higher education (HE) system, mediated by the ORTC. It can support practitioners working in the HE system as they create a climate that welcomes uncertainties, ambiguities, failures and mistakes in a risk-taking spirit and develop an innovation culture open to new things and generate ideas. Such a culture is rooted in a distinct organizational identity. The researchers recommend that the promising results of this study be pursued in a larger sample and also in universities and HEIs of other countries.

This study develops an understanding of the role of the OID with the university in fostering, enhancing and embedding the ORTC into university, and as a result, promoting its innovativeness culture.