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Transformational leadership and innovation in Vietnamese higher education: The serial mediating roles of engagement and citizenship behaviour

Thị Nương Lê

SA Journal of Human Resource Management2026https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v24i0.3326article
AJG 1
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Orientation: The rapid expansion of higher education institutions in Vietnam has heightened competition and increased demands for high-quality human resources. Lecturers and administrative staff are required to continually enhance teaching, research and administrative skills. Transformational leadership is a key factor fostering such innovative capacities. Research purpose: This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership on innovative work behaviour amongst lecturers and administrative staff in Vietnamese public universities, with a focus on mediating roles of work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Motivation for the study: Although transformational leadership has been studied in other organisational contexts, empirical evidence within higher education – particularly in Vietnam – remains limited. Clarifying its role in shaping innovative behaviours is vital to improving academic competitiveness. Research approach/design and method: A quantitative survey of 374 lecturers and staff from Vietnamese public universities was performed using convenience sampling. Data were analysed by Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess direct and mediating effects. Main findings: Transformational leadership significantly improves work engagement (β = 0.389, p < 0.05), OCB (β = 0.285, p < 0.05) and innovative work behaviour (β = 0.329, p < 0.05). Both work engagement (β = 0.122, p < 0.05) and OCB (β = 0.089, p < 0.05) function as partial mediators. Practical/managerial implications: The results suggest that strengthening transformational leadership practices fosters engagement, citizenship behaviours and innovation, thereby boosting institutional performance. Contribution/value-add: Drawing on empirical evidence from Vietnam, this study highlights how transformational leadership promotes innovation through dual-mediating mechanisms and extends the literature on leadership and innovation in higher education.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v24i0.3326

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@article{thị2026,
  title        = {{Transformational leadership and innovation in Vietnamese higher education: The serial mediating roles of engagement and citizenship behaviour}},
  author       = {Thị Nương Lê},
  journal      = {SA Journal of Human Resource Management},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v24i0.3326},
}

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Transformational leadership and innovation in Vietnamese higher education: The serial mediating roles of engagement and citizenship behaviour

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.