Abstract
In an awarded conference paper presented at the Academy of Management in 2006, on which this chapter is based, I gave an example of how management science struggles to bring together knowledge from highly specialized research areas, leadership on the one hand, and organizational innovation on the other. Since that time, calls for increased interdisciplinary research have not fallen silent, but have grown louder. This makes the stocktaking more than 15 years later all the more sobering. The following text is therefore more or less identical except for the assignment of current research contributions and conclusions. The importance of appropriate leadership as an essential prerequisite for R&D success is still widely acknowledged. However, many scholarly contributions originating either from leadership or innovation research predominantly lump together any type of innovation, often lack precise definitions of research subjects, try to identify a single, superior leadership style, and usually produce blurred recommendations based on improper generalizations. The main objective of this study and chapter is to further prove the need for a distinct and systematic research agenda to explore the impact of leadership on R&D success and to propose promising avenues regarding research on R&D leadership especially in times of so-called disruptive innovation and digital transformation. It particularly highlights the need for increased R&D-centered research approaches based on solid theoretical frameworks, the importance of applying more precise leadership dimensions, and the need to build recommendations on contingent leadership principles rather than on the hope of finding or creating an ideal R&D leader.