THE ROLE OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP FEATURE OF MANAGERS IN INNOVATION STRATEGIES APPLIED IN SMES

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the managerial leadership qualities of the managers are effective in the implementation of innovation strategies in SMEs. With a questionnaire based on the quantitative research method, data are gathered from 149 senior managers in SMEs operating in Aksaray OIZ by using by convenience sampling method. The collected data are subjected to correlation, ANOVA, regression analysis. According to the results of the analysis, transformational leadership characteristics of managers have been found to be effective in the implementation of innovation strategies. In addition, the transformational leadership feature has been achieved that it has no impact on the sub-dimensions of innovation strategies such as aggressiveness and risk-taking. Whereas; analysis shows that it is effective on sub-dimensions like defensiveness, future-focus and proactivity. This result demonstrates that managers can implement innovation strategies in SMEs thanks to their transformational leadership characteristics