The Relationship Between Leadership Style and Organizational Entrepreneurship in the Staff Managers of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

Background: Today, the success of organizations depends on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the appropriate tools for the growth of organizational entrepreneurship is an appropriate leadership style tailored to the concepts of entrepreneurship in the organization. This study aimed to examine the relationship between leadership style and organizational entrepreneurship in the staff managers of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study conducted in 2019. All the staff managers (n= 85) of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences were approached to participate in the study. Sampling was conducted using the census method. Sixty participants completed the questionnaire. Data were collected using two questionnaires: 1) the leadership style questionnaire, Clark and 2) the organizational entrepreneurship questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS16 descriptive statistics (e.g. frequency, percent, mean ± Standard Deviation (SD)), and statistical tests including t-test, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Results: The mean ± SD of organizational entrepreneurship in staff managers was estimated at 3.18 ± 0.66. The highest type of leadership among managers was related to participative leadership with 3.90 ± 0.51. There was a direction and significant association between autocratic leadership style and organizational entrepreneurship (r = 0.30, P-value = 0.01). In contrast, no significant association was found between participative leadership and organizational entrepreneurship (P-value = 0.05) and between laissez-faire leadership style and organizational entrepreneurship (P-value = 0.62). Conclusion: Having a leadership style tailored to the business environment makes the organization an entrepreneurial organization. In order to have an entrepreneurial organization, some measures must be taken so that managers can adopt appropriate leadership styles to provide the necessary environment for creating a successful organization and the presence of creative and entrepreneurial people in the organization.