Creating innovation culture through visionary leadership in small medium enterprises

Innovation culture is relatively at a slow pace in South Africa compared to other countries. Leadership plays a critical role in creating an innovation culture within organisations. Due to globalization, uncertainties, technology, lack of skills and innovative leadership style, many organisations are struggling to survive firmly. This study was aimed to develop an innovative model by applying the key characteristics of visionary leadership to create an innovation culture in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). A comparative analysis covered both employees (n₁=366) and leaders (n₂=56) from a group of SMEs in the Western Cape. A Likert scale questionnaire was designed for data collection. The relationship between employees and leaders regarding the visionary leadership characteristics were tested. The results showed significant impact of leadership on innovation within SMEs. However, it is further revealed that leaders should enhance their leadership styles by bringing employees to become future orientated towards innovation.