Review of empirical research on leadership and organizational learning

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how the relationships between different leadership approaches and organizational learning have been examined in the literature, from which future research areas can be recommended. Design/methodology/approach This systematic literature review applies matrix method to examine major literature in leadership and organizational learning. A total of 57 peer-reviewed English publications from 45 journals were selected and analyzed. Findings The synthesis of these empirical studies revealed as follows: the relationship between leadership and organizational learning has been mostly quantitatively investigated in many countries and sectors; multiple leadership styles have been identified to ameliorate processes, levels and capabilities of organizational learning and transformational leadership still remains the most commonly used style; there are mediating mechanism and boundary conditions in the relationship between leadership and organizational learning. Research limitations/implications The literature search in this study was mainly focused on English articles only; therefore, some papers in other languages may have not been included. Practical implications This review offers an overall picture of the existing knowledge of organizational learning and leadership that will be fruitful for practitioners to understand and replicate these concepts. Originality/value There are little systematic literature reviews on the relationship between leadership and organizational learning. This paper is among the first systematic reviews to analyze how leadership has been associated with organizational learning and provide potential research directions.