Explorative team learning as a catalyst for innovation and performance: Evidence from Vietnam’s aviation sector

In today's dynamic service sectors, particularly aviation and tourism, innovation is a vital driver of performance. While leadership is known to foster innovation, the mechanisms by which leadership influences innovation outcomes through team learning remain underexplored. This study examines the impact of innovation leadership on team performance through team explorative learning, employee innovation, and team innovation, and further examines the moderating role of customer relationship management (CRM) practices in these relationships. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and Social Learning Theory, innovation is conceptualized as a multi-level outcome shaped by leadership and team dynamics. Using Structural Equation Modelling on survey data from 430 employees and leaders in Vietnam's aviation and tourism sector, the findings show that innovation leadership enhances team explorative learning, which in turn promotes employee and team innovation. These innovation outcomes subsequently enhance team performance, confirming their mediating roles in the relationship between team explorative learning and performance. Moreover, customer relationship management (CRM) practices moderate these relationships by strengthening the effect of team innovation on performance and attenuating the direct relationship between team explorative learning and team performance. In contrast, CRM practices had a limited moderating effect on the relationship between employee innovation and team performance. This study advances understanding of the indirect pathways through which leadership drives innovation and highlights CRM practices as a boundary condition. Practical implications for managing innovation in complex service environments are offered.