Leading the green way: the role of green leadership and green organisational culture in modelling innovative behavior in the hotel industry

Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of green leadership on employees’ innovative work behaviour and investigate the moderating effect of green organizational culture within the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative, explanatory research design was adopted. Data was gathered from 395 hotel employees in Ghana and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings The results show that both green leadership and green organizational culture positively and significantly predict innovative work behaviour. Furthermore, green organizational culture significantly strengthens the relationship between green leadership and employee innovative behaviour, demonstrating a meaningful moderation effect. Practical implications The findings highlight the need for hotel managers to embed sustainability into organizational values, mission and practices. Demonstrating a visible commitment to environmental stewardship and cultivating a strong green culture can enhance employees’ willingness to generate and implement innovative sustainability-focused ideas. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the premier empirical studies that reports the intricate relationship between green leadership, green organizational culture and innovative work behaviour as espoused in this study. This provides fresh insights into how cultural conditions amplify the effectiveness of green leadership in fostering sustainability-driven innovation. With this state in mind, this study fills in these gaps in the hotel industry.