Linking leader humor to employee creativity: the roles of relational energy and traditionality

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Yang ◽  
Fu Yang ◽  
Chao Ding

PurposeThe current study examines the effects of leader humor on the creativity of employees by focusing on the mediating role of relational energy and the moderating role of traditionality.Design/methodology/approachThis study used three-wave data from 302 employee–supervisor dyads and tested the hypotheses using hierarchical regression and bootstrapping.FindingsThe results indicated that leader humor was positively associated with employee creativity, relational energy mediated this influence. Besides, traditionality not only moderated the relationship between leader humor and relational energy but also attenuated the indirect relationship between leader humor and employee creativity through relational energy.Practical implicationsLeadership training programs can be used to assist leaders in improving their humorous skills. In addition, supervisors should implement humorous behaviors according to the different levels of traditionality of employees.Originality/valueIntegrating conservation of resource theory, this study provides solid evidence that the extent to which relational energy mediates the relationship between leader humor and employee creativity depends on traditionality. It provides a new direction for leader humor.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Jahanzeb ◽  
Dirk De Clercq ◽  
Tasneem Fatima

PurposeWith a basis in social identity and equity theories, this study investigates the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational injustice and their knowledge hiding, along with the mediating role of organizational dis-identification and the potential moderating role of benevolence.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested with three-wave survey data collected from employees in Pakistani organizations.FindingsThe experience of organizational injustice enhances knowledge hiding because employees psychologically disconnect from their organization. This mediation by organizational dis-identification is buffered by benevolence or tolerance for inequity, which reduces employees' likelihood of reacting negatively to the unfavourable experience of injustice.Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this study identifies organizational dis-identification as a key mechanism through which employees' perceptions of organizational injustice spur their propensity to conceal knowledge, and it reveals how this process might be mitigated by a sense of obligation to contribute or “give” to organizational well-being.Originality/valueThis study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between employees' perceptions of organizational injustice and their knowledge hiding, with particular attention devoted to hitherto unspecified factors that explain or influence this process.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Jahanzeb ◽  
Dave Bouckenooghe ◽  
Rabia Mushtaq

PurposeAnchored in a social control theory framework, this study aims to investigate the mediating effect of defensive silence in the relationship between employees' perception of supervisor ostracism and their creative performance, as well as the buffering role of proactivity in this process.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested using three-wave survey data collected from employees in North American organizations.FindingsThe authors found that an important reason for supervisor ostracism adversely affecting employee creativity is their observance of defensive silence. This mechanism, in turn, is less prominent among employees who show agency and change-oriented behavior (i.e. proactivity).Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this study identifies defensive silence as a key mechanism through which supervisor ostracism hinders employee creativity. Further, this process is less likely to escalate when their proactivity makes them less vulnerable to experience such social exclusion.Originality/valueThis study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between supervisor ostracism and employee creativity, with particular attention to mediating mechanism of defensive silence and the moderating role of proactivity in this relationship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 531-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makoto Matsuo

Purpose Although unlearning is considered an essential step for creativity, little is known about the relationship between team unlearning and employee creativity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of individual reflection between team unlearning and employee creativity. Design/methodology/approach The research model was tested using multisource survey data from 164 employees in 28 teams at a manufacturing firm and a service firm. Findings The results of the multilevel analyses indicated that team unlearning had a positive influence on supervisor-rated employee creativity, fully mediated by individual reflection. Practical implications It should be noted that employee creativity is not automatically enhanced through team unlearning. Managers should encourage members to reflect on their work practices following team-unlearning exercises for the purpose of enhancing their creativity. Originality/value The findings contribute to the existing literature by demonstrating that reflective practices play significant roles in linking team unlearning with employee creativity. This study explored preceding literature examining employee creativity in terms of the unlearning process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-137
Author(s):  
Shuaib Ahmed Soomro ◽  
Olivier Roques ◽  
Akhtiar Ali

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of fear of terror (FOT) on employee organizational commitment (OC) working in terror-induced areas through examining the role of rumination as a mediator and perceived organization support (POS) as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a model in which the mediating role of rumination in the FOT relationship is conditional to the values of OC. Using a sample size of 268 respondents, questionnaires were used to collect data from Pakistan during a period when terrorist attacks were at a peak. Results from the hierarchical regression analyses provided support for the developed model. Findings Overall, the statistical model is significant (p < 0.05); the authors found negative relationships between FOT and OC. The authors found that FOT positively led to rumination, which then negatively led to OC. It was also found that POS significantly moderated FOT and OC. Practical implications This study revealed that FOT is a deterring factor that changed employees’ OC. It further revealed that organizations providing support to employees working in terrorist-ridden areas showed positive commitment. This paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. Originality/value This paper provides an examination of the relationship between FOT and employee OC. It expands our knowledge of the stress theory and terror management theory for employees working in discontinuous areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1375-1395
Author(s):  
Zhigang Song ◽  
Qinxuan Gu

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the relationship between exchange ideology and employee creativity based on the social exchange perspective. It also attempts to examine the mediating role of perceived shared leadership and the moderating role of vertical moral leadership.Design/methodology/approachMultilevel and multisource data were collected from 56 research and development (R&D) teams with 306 employees. Hypotheses were tested with multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe authors found that exchange ideology was negatively related to both perceived shared leadership and employee creativity, and perceived shared leadership mediated the relationship between exchange ideology and employee creativity. Moreover, we revealed that vertical moral leadership buffered the negative relationship between employee exchange ideology and perceived shared leadership and also the indirect effect of exchange ideology on employee creativity via perceived shared leadership.Research limitations/implicationsOrganizations should select employees with a relatively weak exchange ideology when forming teams to conduct creative tasks. Moreover, team leaders should make great efforts to facilitate the development of shared leadership among team members while to be a moral leader.Originality/valueThis study extends creativity literature by investigating the effect of exchange ideology on employee creativity. It also sheds lights on leadership research by examining the mediating role of perceived shared leadership and the moderating role of vertical moral leadership.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk De Clercq ◽  
Tasneem Fatima ◽  
Sadia Jahanzeb

PurposeThis study seeks to unpack the relationship between employees' exposure to workplace bullying and their turnover intentions, with a particular focus on the possible mediating role of perceived organizational politics and moderating role of creativity.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses are tested with multi-source, multi-wave data collected from employees and their peers in various organizations.FindingsWorkplace bullying spurs turnover intentions because employees believe they operate in strongly politicized organizational environments. This mediating role of perceived organizational politics is mitigated to the extent that employees can draw from their creative skills though.Practical implicationsFor managers, this study pinpoints a critical reason – employees perceive that they operate in an organizational climate that endorses dysfunctional politics – by which bullying behaviors stimulate desires to leave the organization. It also reveals how this process might be contained by spurring employees' creativity.Originality/valueThis study provides novel insights into the process that underlies the connection between workplace bullying and quitting intentions by revealing the hitherto overlooked roles of employees' beliefs about dysfunctional politics and their own creativity levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangning Zhang ◽  
Yingmei Wang

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of organizational identification to employees’ innovative behavior, the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of creative self-efficacy in the relationship between organizational identification and employees’ innovative behavior. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted questionnaires to gather data. The sample of 289 employees working in diverse organizations in China was applied to examine the hypotheses. Findings The results indicates that organizational identification is positively related to employees’ innovative behavior and work engagement mediates the relationship between organizational identification and employees’ innovative behavior. In addition, creative self-efficacy enhances the relationship of work engagement and employees’ innovative behavior. Originality/value This study builds a system from psychological aspect to behavior, which includes the effect of individual cognition to explain the mechanism of organizational identification on employees’ innovative behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio Domínguez-Escrig ◽  
Francisco Fermín Mallén Broch ◽  
Ricardo Chiva Gómez ◽  
Rafael Lapiedra Alcamí

PurposeThe objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between leaders' forgiveness and organizational performance using radical innovation as an explanatory variable.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in a sample frame of 11,594 Spanish companies. A total of 600 valid questionnaires were obtained. The structural equations were used to validate the proposed hypotheses.FindingsResults confirmed the hypotheses proposed in the model: the authors provided, through structural equations, empirical evidence of the relationship between leaders' forgiveness and organizational performance, mediated by radical innovation. Leaders' forgiveness promotes radical innovation and, in turn, performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample of companies is heterogeneous in terms of firm turnover, size and age. The study is focused on radical innovation.Practical implicationsThe present study may help to develop more humane policies to manage human resources, by taking into account employees' feelings and needs.Originality/valueThe business field is closer to competitive values and has traditionally underestimated the importance of leaders' forgiveness. This is one of the few studies that empirically analyze the consequences of leaders' forgiveness within organizations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanhaiya K. Sinha ◽  
Chad Saunders ◽  
Simon Raby ◽  
Jim Dewald

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of previous venture experience on the relationship between learning breadth and innovation breadth, defined as the range of innovation types within a firm, and the impacts on SME performance.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model was developed, and hypotheses were tested using step-wise multivariate regressions on survey data from 509 North American SME respondents.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the previous venture experience of a firm's top management plays a key role in enhancing the innovation breadth for a given level of learning breadth. There is a curvilinear relationship between innovation breadth and learning breadth, and increases in innovation breadth lead to increases in firm performance.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that organizations seeking higher performance returns by expanding their breadth of innovations need parallel attention on higher learning breadth in order to adequately capture the value from this broader set of innovations.Originality/valueThe paper contextualizes learning and innovation in the SMEs and argues that the consideration of diversity (breadth) of learning and innovation can help us understand their performance implications across industries. It also extends the effect of previous venture experience (PVE) of the leadership team in explaining performance. Beyond their ability to address external factors, PVE has a moderating effect on the relationship between learning and innovation breadth across the organization. Previous venture experience serves as both a guide and catalyst for investments in learning activities that lead to a broader range of innovation activities across the firm.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2681-2703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Liu ◽  
Zhiwei Zhu ◽  
Zheng Liu ◽  
Chunyan Fu

PurposeThis study, based on construal level theory, aims to examine the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, along with the moderating effect of consideration of future consequences (CFC) on this linkage.Design/methodology/approachA two time-point survey study (n = 214) was conducted to collect information from leaders and employees in terms of mutual evaluation in several Chinese industries. To effectively avoid common source bias, this survey was conducted through pairing leaders and employees. During the survey, the supervisors and subordinates were double-blinded. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsFirstly, leader empowerment behaviour can significantly predict employee creativity. Second, cognitive flexibility plays a partial mediating role in the linkage between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity. Thirdly, CFC moderates the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and cognitive flexibility. The mediating role of cognitive flexibility underlies the overall moderating effect of CFC on the relationship between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity.Research limitations/implicationsWe used construal level theory to explain the influence of the mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. In this manner, this study bridges the gap between theory and practice, as well as enriching the research on leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, especially in the Chinese context. Moreover, our study has several practical managerial implications, based on the importance of employee creativity. It inspires the implementation of leader empowerment behaviour, cultivation of employee creativity and introduction of several procedures.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity from a new perspective and explains the process of encouraging employee creativity through information-processing methods. It mainly highlights the application of construal level theory to discuss employee creativity and develops a new research frame for employee creativity. Leaders can raise employee creativity through leader empowerment behaviour.


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