Asian Journal of Empirical Research, 2013, 3(8):1051-1060 1051 THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING, AND ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION: A CASE STUDY IN ASIAN MANUFACTURING FOOD INDUSTRY Che Wan Jasimahbt Wan Mohamed Radzi 1 Huang Hui 2 Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi 3 Farihah Abu Kasim 4 Son Radu 5 ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study to find out the relationship among transformational leadership (TL), organizational learning (OL), and organizational innovation (OI) in manufacturing food industry in east of Asia countries include China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses from168 manufacturing food companies. Our research model contains three constructs, and the results showed there is positive impact between constructs. Also, Organizational learning is a mediator in the linkage between transformational leadership and organizational innovation. Keywords: Transformational leadership, Organizational learning, Organizational innovation. INTRODUCTION In organizational studies, there are different definitions for TL, OL, and OI. TL is defined the style of leadership that heightens consciousness of collective interest among members of the organization and assist in achieving collective goals (García-Morales et al. 2012). OL is defined as the capability of an organization to maintain or improve performance based on experience (DiBella et al. 1996). But, OI is topic of many disciplines such as management/strategy, entrepreneurship, political science and marketing in which OI is thoroughly examined and discussed. However, majority of the relevant literatures have focused on technological innovation (Freeman et al. 2000) which has driven the studies into restricted and biased views in this regard, criticized in studies on OI (Barras, 1990; Avlonitis et al. 2001). The literature on management studies highlight the vital role that both TL (Jung et al. 2003; Gumusluoglu and Ilsev, 2009; Paulsen et al. 2013; Hu et al. 2013), and OL (Chiva et al. 2013; Salim and Sulaiman, 2013; Asheim, 2011) play in enhancing a firm’s innovativeness. Some studies find out that TL and its output is antecedents of learning 1 Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, Science and Technology studies Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Email: jasimah@um.edu.my 2 Ph.D candidate, Research Assistant, Science and Technology studies Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Email: huang1982hui@gmail.com 3 Ph.D, Research Assistant, Applied Statistics Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Email: hashem.salarzadeh@gmail.com 4 Ph.D candidate, Research Assistant, Science and Technology studies Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Email: farihah.abukasim@gmail.com 5 Ph.D, Professor, Food Science & Technology, University of Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. Email: son@putra.upm.edu.my Asian Journal of Empirical Research journal homepage: http://aessweb.com/journal-detail.php?id=5004