The impact of team potency and leadership member exchange on expatriate creative work involvement

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine whether team potency moderates the effect of the leader member exchange (LMX) on the expatriate's creative work involvement such that the effect of leader member exchange on creative work involvement becomes less when team potency is high. Design/methodology/approach - Data were gathered via a printed survey instrument, using a purposive sampling approach and administered directly to 150 expatriate (non-Emirate nationals) employees located in the Jabal Ali Dubai Free Zone of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Findings - Our findings indicate that the higher the level of team potency the less the effect of LMX on expatriate creative work involvement. Practical implications - The findings suggest that, team potency, which is an asset in certain situations, can be a liability suppressing the effect of LMX on the expatriate employees creative work involvement. Expatriate employees experiencing satisfaction and fulfillment through the leadership exchange feel sufficiently empowered in their abilities to engage in creative work behaviors. Originality/value - Testing a theoretical model within the intranational cultural diversity of an expatriate workforce may be a stronger source of diversity than other sources, providing for an original theoretical contribution to the extant literature. Moreover, the UAE, with its prominent network of expatriate employment integrated within the national economy presents a highly relevant contextual environment in which to study expatriate behavior.