The Development and Validation of a Cognitive Diversity Scale for Chinese Academic Research Teams

Cognitive diversity is an important concept stemming from western management research in the 1990s. With the rapid development of science and technology, there is a growing interest in the composition of an academic research team, such as team diversity. However, there is no tool available for measuring team cognitive diversity (TCD) for academic research teams. Based on Van der Vegt’s theoretical model of TCD, an Academic Research Team Cognitive Diversity Scale (ATCDS) is developed and validated for an academic research team in our research with two studies (N=737). In Study One, in-depth interviews and panel discussions were conducted to generate a preliminary questionnaire. In Study Two, the questionnaire was administered among academic research teams. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors regarding cognitive diversity: (1) the way of thinking, (2) knowledge and skills, (3) the view of the world, and (4) beliefs about what is right and wrong. The factor structure was further validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, correlation and regression analyses showed that academic research TCD was positively related to team creativity (r =0.306, p <0.01) and performance (r =0.204, p <0.10). To sum up, our newly developed 15-item ATCDS is sufficiently reliable and valid to be used for understanding cognitive diversity among academic research teams.

Team Social Media Usage and Team Creativity: The Role of Team Knowledge Sharing and Team-Member Exchange

Given that work teams have been widely used in a variety of organizations to complete critical tasks and that the use of social media in work teams has been growing, investigating whether and how team social media usage (TSMU) affects team creativity is imperative. However, little research has empirically explored how TSMU affects team creativity. This study divides TSMU into two categories, namely, work-related TSMU and relationship-related TSMU. Basing on communication visibility theory and social exchange theory, this study constructs a moderating mediation model to understand how TSMU affects team creativity. In this model, team knowledge sharing is used as mediating role and team-member exchange (TMX) is used as moderating role. Two-wave research data collected from 641 employees in 102 work teams in Chinese organizations are used for regression analysis. Results show that (1) Work-related TSMU and relationship-related TSMU are positively affect team creativity. (2) Team knowledge sharing plays a partly mediating effect on the relationship between work-related TSMU and team creativity and that between relationship-related TSMU and team creativity. (3) TMX not only positively moderates the indirect effect of work-related TSMU and relationship-related TSMU on team creativity through team knowledge sharing. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Differentiated transformational leadership, conflict and team creativity: an experimental study in China

Purpose The authors investigated the impacts of differentiated transformational leadership (TFL), including team-focused TFL and individual-focused TFL, on team creativity through the mediating effect of team conflict, consisting of task conflict and relationship conflict.Design/methodology/approach The authors designed and conducted a close-to-reality experiment, enrolling 180 students and six professors from a large Chinese university. Student participants worked on a real marketing project and professor participants imitated the behaviors of transformational leaders. Using the computed values of team-focused TFL, individual-focused TFL, team creativity, task conflict and relationship conflict, the authors assessed the relationship among differentiated TFL, team creativity and team conflict.Findings Team-focused TFL has a significantly positive impact on team creativity through the mediating effect of task conflict, whereas individual-focused TFL has a significantly negative impact on team creativity through the mediating effect of relationship conflict.Originality/value From a new perspective of team conflict, the authors revealed the “black box” of the differentiated TFL–team creativity relationship. Moreover, other determinants were well controlled in the experiment, and thus, the authors effectively clarified the intervening mechanism of differentiated TFL on team creativity through the mediating effect of team conflict.

From Ethical Leadership to Team Creativity: The Mediating Role of Shared Leadership and the Moderating Effect of Leader–Member Exchange Differentiation

Alongside ethical leadership’s effectiveness on team creativity, the superiority of shared leadership has been emphasized in the literature. Based on role theory, social information processing theory, and allocation preferences theory, this study suggests that shared leadership functions as a critical intermediating mechanism to explain the influence of ethical leadership on team-level creativity. Moreover, the dispersion value of leader–member exchange (LMXD) moderates the influence of ethical leadership on shared leadership. To empirically test our hypotheses, this paper used multisource samples and team-level data with moderated mediation model with PLS-SEM method. This study targeted a sample of 30 leaders and 233 team members who work at HRD Korea where a team structure is utilized. The results of structural equation modeling showed that ethical leadership increased shared leadership, and ethical leadership and shared leadership both positively affected team creativity. Shared leadership functioned as a crucial mediating factor in the ethical leadership–team creativity link. Moreover, the team-level LMXD moderated ethical leadership effectiveness on creativity via shared leadership.

Entrepreneurial leadership and team creativity: the roles of team psychological safety and knowledge sharing

PurposeCreativity is vital for the innovation and survival of organizations. The present study aimed to explore the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on team creativity through team psychological safety and knowledge sharing. Social learning theory (SLT) was used to explore the relationships in this study.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from the manufacturing sector of Pakistan, and a sample composed of 70 team leaders and 378 team members was used.FindingsThe results showed the positive influence of entrepreneurial leadership on team creativity. Furthermore, team psychological safety and knowledge sharing mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and team creativity. Finally, team psychological safety and knowledge sharing sequentially mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and team creativity.Research limitations/implicationsA small sample size and cross-sectional research design may hinder the generalizability of the findings. The findings suggest that leaders should practice entrepreneurial leadership principles to develop team creativity. Organizations should provide training and development programmes for their leaders and employees to learn the importance of entrepreneurial behaviors and how to explore and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities.Originality/valueThis study extends the leadership and creativity literature by exploring the role of entrepreneurial leadership in developing team creativity. Furthermore, this study was conducted in established organizations to explore entrepreneurial leadership's influence on team creativity. In contrast, earlier scholars recognized entrepreneurial leadership as a leadership style of entrepreneurs and thus examined its implications in new ventures or small and medium enterprises.

Applying Conflict Management Styles to Resolve Task Conflict and Enhance Team Innovation

Task conflicts among group members have a significant impact on team creativity, so it is critical to identify which conflict resolution styles should be used. This paper aims to examine how various conflict management styles influence team creativity via task conflict. The empirical research was conducted using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) for a sample of 257 employees working for Vietnamese organizations. The results show that dominating style increases task conflict while combining and obliging styles reduce it. To take advantage of the creativity-related benefits associated with task conflict, team leaders should develop an open atmosphere that encourages participants' integrating styles, rather than dominating styles. The negative influence of obliging style reflects Vietnamese culture's high collectivism. The study provides various approaches for task conflict management and also highlights the role of controlling task conflicts in enhancing team innovation. It implies that employees will be able to work better as a team in practice if conflict management strategies are used in a flexible manner. It helps them to build a good connection and successfully implement new ideas. Further research should extend the conclusion of this analysis in various contexts to generalize the findings. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2021-01303 Full Text: PDF

How Does Individual-Level Envy Affect Team Creativity? Effects of Knowledge Seeking and Moral Reflection

Where there is a team, there is envy emotion among team members. Prior studies argue that two opposite types of envy—benign envy and malicious envy differently influence team members’ interactions, thus impact team creativity differently. However, little literature has discussed whether envy has a direct influence on team creativity. This research is conducted to narrow this literature gap. Moreover, if their relationship was verified, the mechanism needs to be further explored. Previous studies have shown negative public perception of envy and strong behavioral motivation function of it. Therefore, a morality-related variable—moral reflection, and a competition-related variable—knowledge seeking are introduced as mediating variables. To test the relationships among the above variables, an experiment with 74 MBA students’ participation was conducted. The results show the positive relationship between benign envy and team creativity, while malicious envy gets the opposite result. Besides, knowledge seeking and moral reflection are proven to be bridges connecting envy and team creativity. Envy is more complicated than what previous studies have found. It has positive sides to team creativity.