Nurturing knowledge absorption in the organizations: examining the role of transformational leadership, learning climate, and proactive personality

Based on social learning theory, this study examines the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge absorption. In addition, using a moderated mediation model, a proactive personality is proposed as a moderator, and the learning climate is used as a mediator between transformational leadership and knowledge absorption. Four hundred and fifty-three participants were recruited from financial institutions and IT companies in South Korea. PLS-SEM is used to examine the study’s proposed hypotheses. The results show that transformational leadership is positively associated with learning climate and knowledge absorption. In addition, learning climate significantly mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge absorption. Proactive personality significantly moderates the direct relationship between transformational leadership and the learning climate and indirectly strengthens the relationship via the learning climate. The study contributes to the knowledge absorption literature by providing new insights concerning transformational leadership and learning climate.