Inclusive leadership and voice behavior: The role of psychological empowerment

ABSTRACT

Although there have been studies in the past that have highlighted the important role of leadership in motivating employees to speak up, relational leadership has been scarcely investigated in this context. Therefore, the current research investigates the relationship between inclusive leadership, as a form of relational leadership, and employees’ voice behavior directly and indirectly via psychological empowerment. Using the data collected from 252 employees and their respective supervisors working in cargo companies across the United Kingdom, this study finds a positive relationship between inclusive leadership and voice behavior. The results further confirm the mediating role of psychological empowerment in the relationship between inclusive leadership and voice behavior. We use causal attribution theory to support the findings and discuss implications for research and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive leadership
• voice behavior
• psychological empowerment
• causal attribution theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/yvbp24djbp.1.

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badges for Open Data and Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The data and materials are openly accessible at http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/yvbp24djbp.1.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Amjad Younas

Dr. Amjad Younas attained his Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering (HRM) from the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) in June 2020. He completed his Master's degree (MS) in Management from the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir in 2013. He served as lecturer/ HOD at Mohi-Ud-Din Islamic University, Nerian Sharif AJ&K, Pakistan for more than one year. He is an approved HEC supervisor and currently serving as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Management Sciences, Mohi-Ud-Din Islamic University, Nerian Sharif AJ&K, Pakistan. His research interests include environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR), leadership and change-oriented behaviors including creativity, innovative work behavior, voice behavior, taking charge, change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), ethical leadership, and inclusive leadership. He has published his research work in well-reputed journals and conferences like the Journal of Creative Behavior, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Chinese Management studies, and the Academy of Management Meeting 2020.

Daoping Wang

Daoping Wang is a Professor and Ph.D. tutor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, Donlinks School of Economics and Management, Beijing- P.R. China. He has obtained degrees of BS and MS from Tsinghua University in 1987 and 1989. Wang has received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Machinery Engineering in 1999 and post Ph.D. from Tsinghua University in 2001. His teaching and research interests include Supply Chain Management, Logistics Management, Information Management, Data Mining, and Data Warehouse, IT Project Management, and Electronic Business. Apart from this, Wang has supervised numerous national and international research scholars.

Basharat Javed

Dr. Basharat Javed did his Ph.D. in Management Sciences from Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST) in January 2018, Islamabad, Pakistan. In 2013, he completed his MS in Management Sciences in 2005 from Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He has also been teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses as visiting faculty member at CUST, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi, University of Central Punjab, and Base College Gujarkhan. His Ph.D. research work was on ‘impact of inclusive leadership on Innovative Work Behavior: the role positive psychological states in small capitalization textile firms in Pakistan’. His research interests include innovative work behavior, Islamic Work Ethics, Inclusive Leadership, and Abusive Supervision. He has published his research work in well-reputed journals like Journal of Creative Behavior, Business Ethics: A European Review, Journal of Psychology, Personnel Review, Journal of Management & Organization, Current Issues in Tourism, and Asia Pacific Business Review. He has also published his research work in well-reputed Conferences like the Academy of Management Meeting 2017, 2018, and 2019. He has been a faculty member at Namal University since July 2017.

Adnan Ul Haque

Adnan ul Haque is a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Wales TSD-London. His doctoral research investigates the impact of varying occupational stressors on the organizational commitment of teaching and non-teaching (administrative) staff working in public universities in Pakistan and the UK. He holds a Master's degree in HRM from the University of Sunderland and MPA-HRM from the University of Karachi with distinctions. He is a business lecturer and external examiner for London Graduate School and an online mentor and research supervisor at Oxford Brookes University for BA (Hons) students working on final research projects. He also gives guest lectures at different institutions and presents keynote speeches at international conferences. He is an HR consultant to logistics firms in Canada.