TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND INNOVATIVE CULTURE: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON ADOPTION IN HONG-KONG, CHINESE MAINLAND, AND INDONESIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70301/SBS.MONO.2026.1.3Keywords:
AI; Transformational Leadership; Innovative Culture; Cross-Cultural; Hong Kong; Mainland China; IndonesiaAbstract
The Government of the People’s Republic of China has designated technological progress as a core driver of national development, with strategic partnerships with ASEAN countries identified as a key priority. Amid the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, effective leadership and an innovative organizational culture are increasingly recognized as critical enablers of successful AI adoption and implementation. Adopting a sequential mixed-methods design, eight core themes underpinning effective AI adoption were first identified from semi-structured expert interviews with industry leaders and subject-matter specialists. This study then investigates the culturally contingent influence of transformational leadership (TFL) behaviors in fostering innovative cultures across three distinct contexts: Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, and Indonesia. Data were collected via an anonymous online survey administered to 757 employees (469 from Hong Kong, 111 from Mainland China, and 177 from Indonesia), designed to examine the relationships between top management’s TFL behaviors and innovative culture. Linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS v. 31 to test these relationships. Findings indicate that none of the seven TFL behaviors exerted a significant influence on innovative culture uniformly across all three contexts; instead, their impacts varied substantially by region. For instance, in Hong Kong, The Top Management Team encourages others to innovate exhibited a moderate positive correlation with the cultural dimension Your organizational culture allows people to take risks and occasionally fail (B = 0.24, β = 0.22, p < 0.05); while in Indonesia, The Top Management Team goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group demonstrated the most pronounced influence (B = 0.19, β = 0.20, p < 0.05); while no TFL behaviors showed any significant correlation with this innovative culture dimension in Chinese Mainland. These results underscore that no singular TFL behavior can universally drive innovation across diverse cultural settings. This research offers valuable insights for tailoring leadership strategies to cultivate AI-enabling, innovative cultures, emphasizing the need for context-specific approaches to navigate the complexities of AI integration within the China-ASEAN tech collaboration framework. The findings contribute to the discourse on cross-cultural leadership and AI adoption, providing practical guidance for organizations operating in these dynamic regions.
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