Examining Leadership-Driven Innovation in Higher Education: A Conditional Process Model of Inclusion, Intrapreneurship, and Learning Agility

Abstract

This study investigates how transformational leadership fosters ambidextrous innovation in private higher education institutions through the sequential mediating roles of perceived insider status and intrapreneurial behaviour, with learning agility as a moderating variable. Drawing on the Resource-Based View, the study conceptualizes leadership, psychological inclusion, and employee proactivity as critical intangible resources in resource-constrained academic settings. Data were collected from 470 faculty and administrative staff across private universities and analysed using PROCESS Macro. The findings confirm that transformational leadership significantly enhances perceived insider status, which, in turn, promotes intrapreneurial behaviour leading to ambidextrous innovation. Learning agility was found to positively moderate the relationship between perceived insider status and intrapreneurial behaviour. All hypothesized relationships were supported, offering theoretical and practical insights for fostering bottom-up innovation in higher education. The study emphasizes the importance of human-centric leadership and personal adaptability in enabling innovation through employee-driven pathways in developing country contexts.