Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23974777

Harshita Tanwar and Fatima Shanawaz (Amity Institute of Behavioural and Allied Sciences (AIBAS), Amity University, Haryana)

Leadership has been consistently identified as one of the most significant antecedents of innovative work behavior (IWB) among employees. Yet, the intellectual structure of this rapidly growing research domain remains unmapped. The present study maps the intellectual structure of leadership and innovative work behavior research through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 to 2025. A total of 1085 peer-reviewed articles on leadership and innovative work behavior were retrieved from the Scopus database using VOSviewer (version 1.6.20). The study employs performance analysis and science mapping, including keyword co-occurrence analysis and country co-authorship analysis, to examine publication trends, identify influential journals, authors and countries, map thematic clusters and trace the temporal evolution of research themes. The findings reveal an exponential growth in publication output, particularly after 2019 with China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia and India collectively dominating global research output. Transformational leadership emerges as the intellectual core of the field, while newer leadership styles including inclusive, servant, ethical, authentic, digital and green leadership represent rapidly growing thematic frontiers. Eleven distinct research clusters are identified. The overlay visualization reveals a clear temporal shift from foundational transformational leadership-creativity research toward contemporary themes of digital leadership, green innovative work behavior and ambidextrous leadership. Organizations should develop leaders who combine transformational, inclusive and authentic leadership behaviors. Indian scholars should strengthen global research partnerships. The present study contributes to the comprehensive bibliometric map of the leadership and IWB domain, offering scholars a systematic foundation for future research and identifying critical gaps.