Transformational leadership, employee self-efficacy, employee innovativeness, customer-centricity, and organizational competitiveness among insurance firms

Purpose This study aims to assess how employee innovativeness, employee self-efficacy and customer-centricity intervene in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness of insurance firms. Design/methodology/approach This study was a survey, with data collected using a structured questionnaire. The population was the insurance firms in Ghana, and the target respondents were employees. The sample comprises 218 employees drawn from 19 insurers. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings This study concludes that transformational leadership had a direct effect on organizational competitiveness. Employee innovativeness partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness. Employee self-efficacy moderated the effect of transformational leadership on employee innovativeness. Finally, customer-centricity moderated the effect of employee innovativeness on the organizational competitiveness of insurance firms. Research limitations/implications Future studies should pay particular attention to the individual dimensions of transformational leadership (individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence), in combination with the other constructs studied. Practical implications Insurance is a service industry, which sells mostly unsolicited products. Customer-centricity is therefore very crucial in achieving organizational competitiveness. Attention should also be paid to transformational leadership and employee self-efficacy, as they enhanced employee innovativeness needed for competitive advantage. Originality/value This study contributed to the understanding of the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness, by identifying employee innovativeness, employee self-efficacy and customer centricity, as intervening variables.