Ambidextrous leadership and employee innovation in public museums

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of ambidextrous leadership on employees’ innovative behaviors in public museums based on the ambidexterity theory of leadership for innovation. It also examines the mediating mechanism of organizational climate for innovation in public museums. Design/methodology/approach Multisource survey data were obtained from 30 human resource managers, 74 department managers and 237 employees of Taiwanese public museums. Multilevel path analysis was conducted to test the proposed model. Findings Ambidextrous leadership has the most significant effect on employees’ innovative behaviors. Moreover, organizational climate for innovation has a mediating effect on the relationship between ambidextrous leadership and employees’ innovative behaviors. Practical implications This study provides a new perspective on dynamic and complementary ambidextrous leadership, thereby providing important practical implications for innovation management in public museums. Specifically, leaders should apply ambidextrous leadership behaviors in their daily operations to develop an organizational climate for innovation and facilitate employees’ innovative behaviors. Originality/value This study is the first to explore the influence of ambidextrous leadership in a museum. In addition, it examines the mediating effect of organizational climate for innovation to explain the effect of ambidextrous leadership on employees’ innovative behaviors. The findings provide valuable insights for both researchers and managers of public and private entities.