Distributed leadership and exploratory and exploitative innovations: mediating roles of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing and organizational trust

Purpose The aim of this paper is to highlight the impact of distributed leadership (DL) on exploitative and exploratory innovations through the mediating effects of organizational trust (OT) and tacit and explicit knowledge sharing (KS). Design/methodology/approach Focusing on a quantitative approach, an empirical study was performed within a sample of information and communication technology Tunisian firms. The data collected was analyzed through the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method. Findings Findings revealed that DL is a driver of tacit and explicit KS, and exploitative and exploratory innovations. It also highlighted that tacit KS is associated with these two types of innovation. In this line, results showed that tacit KS plays a mediating effect between DL and exploitative and exploratory innovations. Moreover, our research highlighted that DL has a positive impact on OT that in turn boosts tacit and explicit KS. Originality/value This paper investigates the links between DL and exploitative and exploratory innovations within knowledge intensive firms (KIFs) that have never been studied in the literature within the context of business firms. This paper pioneers the examination of the mediating roles of explicit and tacit KS and OT in these links as well. This paper highlights the importance of DL for KIFs and sheds the light on how this collectivist approach of leadership creates an atmosphere of trust and fosters tacit and explicit KS to boost exploitative and exploratory innovations.