Knowledge-oriented leadership and business performance: the mediating role of intellectual capital and sustainable competitive advantage in the knowledge-intensive service industry

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) and business performance (BP) in a knowledge-intensive industry and further investigate, heretofore neglected, a mediating effect of intellectual capital and sustainable competitive advantage in the relationship between KOL and BP. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted to conduct the present study. Data were collected from the full-service branches of private banks in Tehran, Iran. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to ascertain the validity and reliability of the observed items, and a structural equation model was employed for testing the proposed hypotheses. Findings The findings revealed that both intellectual capital and sustainable competitive advantage fully mediate the influence of KOL on branch performance. Research limitations/implications The study was conducted in the banking sector in Iran. Therefore, our conclusions may not be applicable to other countries. Future studies should be carried out with samples from other contexts. Moreover, as the study was cross-sectional, the causal relationships could not be inferred directly. Practical implications In this study, we found that knowledge-oriented leaders should increase their investment in intellectual capital to gain competitive advantage and improve branch performance. Originality/value This study contributes to advanced research on KOL by trying to explain how intellectual capital and sustainable competitive advantage can influence the relationship between KOL and BP in a knowledge-intensive service industry.