In the modern business environment, characterized by rapid technological advancements and globalization, abetted by IoT and Industry 5.0 phenomenon, innovation is indispensable for competitive advantage and economic growth. However, many organizations are facing problems in its true implementation due to the absence of a practical innovation management framework, which has made the implementation of the concept elusive instead of persuasive. The present study has proposed a new innovation management framework labeled as “Absolute Innovation Management (AIM)” to make innovation more understandable, implementable, and part of the organization’s everyday routine by synergizing the innovation ecosystem, design thinking, and corporate strategy to achieve competitive advantage and economic growth. The current study used an integrative literature review methodology to develop the “Absolute Innovation Management” framework. The absolute innovation management framework links the innovation ecosystem with the corporate strategy of the firm by adopting innovation management as a strategy through design thinking. Thus, making innovation more user/human-centered that is desirable by the customer, viable for business and technically feasible, creating both entrepreneurial and customer value, and boosting corporate venturing and corporate entrepreneurship to achieve competitive advantage and economic growth while addressing the needs of IoT and Industry 5.0 era. In sum, it synergizes innovation, design thinking, and strategy to make businesses future-ready for IoT and industry 5.0 revolution. The present study is significant, as it not only make considerable contributions to the existing literature on innovation management by developing a new framework but also makes the concept more practical, implementable and part of an organization’s everyday routine.

Numerous studies have empirically tested the linkage between transformational leadership and employees’ reactions to organizational change. However, no systematic attempt has been made to organize and summarize those findings. Based on a sample of 30 empirical studies that included 39 independent effect sizes and 12,240 participants, this meta-analysis found that transformational leadership exhibited (a) a positive relationship with commitment to change, openness to change, and readiness for change; (b) a negative correlation with resistance to change and cynicism about change; and (c) a nonsignificant correlation with support for change. Moderation analyses showed that in cross-sectional (vs. longitudinal) designs, transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with openness to change and cynicism about change. Using Bass and Avolio’s scale (vs. Podsakoff et al.’s), transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with resistance to change. In the Eastern (vs. Western) cultural context, transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with commitment to change and resistance to change. In low-level (vs. high-level) journals, transformational leadership exhibited a stronger correlation with commitment to change, openness to change, and support for change. This study highlights the value of incorporating transformational leadership theory into the literature on change reactions to obtain a better understanding of how leaders facilitate or hinder organizational change.

In today’s business world, the environment is changing rapidly. Employers need to rely upon their employees in order to produce long-term competitive advantage and sustainable performance. However, little research has investigated whether sustainable human resource management could prompt change-oriented behaviors in employees. By integrating the job demands–resources (JD-R) model and the proactive motivation model with the existing literature on sustainable human resource management, we explored the relationship between high-commitment work systems (HCWS) and the employees’ taking charge behaviors. Data from 352 employees of 96 organizations provided support for the positive effect of HCWS on the employees’ taking charge behaviors. The results of this study showed that HCWS affect the employees’ taking charge behaviors through their work engagement only when they felt a high level of impact. Based on these results, we not only provide several theoretical contributions to the literature on HCWS and taking charge, but also provide some practical suggestions for how to nurture change-oriented employees using sustainable human resource management within the organizations.

Drawing on the framework of human energy in organizations, this study proposed a moderated mediation model between narcissism and taking charge, as well as the role of energy at work and the employee’s hierarchy within organizations. A sample of 312 employees at one Chinese manufacturing company suggested that employees with narcissistic personality are more apt to exhibit taking charge at work via their energy at work. In addition, the results also indicated that employees’ hierarchical level within organization reinforced the indirect effect of energy at work between narcissism and taking charge. These findings have important implications for narcissism research and managerial practices.

In recent years, a bottom-up leadership style has received considerable attention from researchers. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to explore the link between leader humility and employee voice. Drawing on role theory, in this study we examined the relationship between leader humility and employee voice. Using data from 222 employees and their leaders, our results revealed that leader humility was positively related to employee voice. Voice-role conception fully mediated this relationship. Further, we delineate how employees’ regulatory focus moderates the mediated relationship between leader humility and voice, such that when an employee has a high promotion focus or low prevention focus, leader humility will be more positively related to voice via voice-role conception. These findings will provide guidelines for managers promoting employee voice.