Ambidextrous leadership and academic staff innovative behavior at Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia: the mediating role of workplace happiness

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study.

Source: Adapted from previous literatures (Jiang et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2019; Rosdaniati & Muafi, 2021).

Table 1. Summary of the population and sample of the study.

Strata	Population size of each college (Nk)	Sample size of each college(NK
Engineering	272	85
Computing	67	21
Natural and computational	158	50
Agriculture	83	26
Business and economics	97	30
Social science and humanities	139	44
Law	21	7
Education	9	3
Health	427	134
Total	1273	400

Source: DBU (2022) and Own computation (2023).

Table 2. Demographic characteristics of respondents.

No	Characteristics	Frequency (%)
1	Gender
	Male	253 (73.76)
	Female	90 (26.23)
	Total	343 (100)
2	Age category
	Up to 35	182 (53.06)
	Above 35	161 (46.93)
	Total	343 (100)
3	Academic qualification
	BA (BSc)	28 (8.16)
	MA (MSc)	292 (85.13)
	PhD and above	23 (6.71)
	Total	343 (100)
4	Work experience
	Below a year	35 (10.2)
	1–5 years	76 (22.16)
	6–10 years	196 (57.14)
	Above 10 years	36 (10.5)
	Total	343 (100)

Source: Survey result (2023).

Table 3. Reliability and validity test results.

Construct	Items	Factor loading	Validity and reliability
AL	AL2: Encouraging experimentation with different ideas	0.775	α = 0.901, CR = 0.901, AVE = 0.505, MSV = 0.346, MaxR (H) = 0.905
	AL1: Allowing different ways of accomplishing a task	0.772
	AL13: Sanctioning errors	0.757
	AL11: Controlling adherence to rules	0.740
	AL6: Allowing errors	0.718
	AL7: Encouraging error learning	0.695
	AL10: Taking corrective action	0.680
	AL9: Establishing routines	0.678
	AL3: Motivating to take risks	0.663
WPH	WPH7: My work means a lot to me	0.801	α = 0.864, CR = 0.867, AVE = 0.524, MSV = 0.306, MaxR (H) = 0.881
	WPH4: I am always learning new things at work	0.796
	WPH2: I receive clear and consistent guidance for my work	0.794
	WPH1: My boss helps me get ahead	0.710
	WPH8: I find my work personally satisfying	0.704
	WPH9: I understand how this organization works	0.687
EIB	EIB6: At work, I come up with innovative and creative notions	0.794	α = 0.853, CR = 0.857, AVE = 0.601, MSV = 0.346, MaxR (H) = 0.866
	EIB5: At work, I try to propose my own creative ideas and convince others	0.788
	EIB4: At work, I try to secure the funding and resources needed to implement innovations	0.770
	EIB2: Overall I consider myself a creative member of my team	0.719

Source: Survey result (2023).

Table 4. Correlation table.

Correlations
		AL	WPH	EIB
AL	Pearson correlation	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)
	N	343
WPH	Pearson correlation	.333**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000
	N	343	343
EIB	Pearson correlation	.524**	.466**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.000
	N	343	343	343

Source: Survey result (2023).

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 5. Goodness of model fit results.

Name of category	Name of index	Cutoff point	Measurement model	Structural model
Absolute fit	Chi p-value	<0.05	.000	.000
	RMSEA	<0.08	0.049	0.049
	GFI	>0.90	0.921	0.921
Incremental fit	CFI	>0.90	0.960	0.960
	TLI	>0.90	0.954	0.954
	NFI	>0.90	0.917	0.917
Parsimonious fit	Chisq/df	<3.0	1.837	1.837

Source: Survey result (2023).

Figure 2. Structural model.

Table 6. Hypotheses testing results summary.

Hypotheses	B	p	Remark
H1: Ambidextrous leadership has a positive and significant effect on innovative behaviour	0.374		Supported
H2: Ambidextrous leadership has positive and significant effect on workplace happiness	0.293	***	Supported
H3: Work place happiness has positive and significant effect on innovative behaviour.	0.419	***	Supported
H4: Workplace happiness mediates the relationship between ambidextrous leadership and innovative behaviour	0.123	.003	Supported

*** < 0.05.

Source: Survey result (2023).

Jiang, L., Pan, Z., Luo, Y., Guo, Z., & Kou, D. (2023). More flexible and more innovative: The impact of flexible work arrangements on the innovation behavior of knowledge employees. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1053242. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1053242

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Liu, Y., Wang, W., & Chen, D. (2019). Linking ambidextrous organizational culture to innovative behavior: A moderated mediation model of psychological empowerment and transformational leadership. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2192. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02192

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Rosdaniati, R., & Muafi, M. (2021). The influence of workplace happiness and innovative work behavior on job satisfaction mediated by work engagement. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 10(7), 186–198. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v10i7.1457

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Debre Berhan University (2022). Annual report.

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