Empowering leadership and employee innovation through knowledge sharing: The moderating role of psychological resources in South Korea's high-technology firms

Employee innovation is essential for sustaining a competitive advantage in organizations. This study investigates how empowering leadership fosters employee innovation through knowledge-sharing behavior and the psychological conditions that moderate this process. Drawing on a contingency perspective, we focus on psychological safety, intrinsic motivation, and proactivity as moderators of the relationship between empowering leadership and knowledge sharing. Using survey data from 234 employees in high-technology firms in South Korea, we found that empowering leadership enhances employee innovation, and this effect is mediated by knowledge sharing. Furthermore, the empowering leadership-knowledge sharing relationship is moderated by psychological safety, intrinsic motivation, and proactivity. These findings clarify the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which empowering leadership translates into innovative outcomes, advancing theory by highlighting psychological resources as moderators and providing actionable insights for leaders seeking to promote innovation through knowledge sharing.