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Visionary leadership and employee creativity in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lulu Zhou
  • Shuming Zhao
  • Feng Tian
  • Xufan Zhang
  • Stephen Chen

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how visionary leadership influences employees’ creativity in R&D teams in China, and the role of employee knowledge sharing and goal orientation. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted on 331 professional technical engineers in R&D departments of 62 high-tech corporations in China. Hierarchical regression was used to model the relationships between visionary leadership style, employee goal orientations, knowledge sharing and employee creativity. Findings - The results show that visionary leadership is positively associated with employee creativity in Chinese organizations and the relationship is positively mediated by employee knowledge sharing. Furthermore, employee “learning goal” orientation strengthens the relationship between visionary leadership and employee knowledge sharing, whereas employee “performance-avoid goal” orientation weakens the relationship between visionary leadership and employee knowledge sharing. Originality/value - This study contributes to the literature on the effects of leadership on employee creativity by showing that, contrary to western organizations, where a less directive leadership style is generally recommended to enhance employee creativity, in Chinese organizations, visionary leadership is positively associated with employee creativity, but the effect is contingent on employees’ goal orientations and knowledge sharing.

Suggested Citation

  • Lulu Zhou & Shuming Zhao & Feng Tian & Xufan Zhang & Stephen Chen, 2018. "Visionary leadership and employee creativity in China," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(1), pages 93-105, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijmpps:ijm-04-2016-0092
    DOI: 10.1108/IJM-04-2016-0092
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kansu Ercantan & Şerife Z. Eyupoglu & Özlem Ercantan, 2024. "The Entrepreneurial Leadership, Innovative Behaviour, and Competitive Advantage Relationship in Manufacturing Companies: A Key to Manufactural Development and Sustainable Business," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.
    2. Manhua Zheng & Decong Tang & Chenwen Wei & Anxin Xu, 2023. "Can Transformational Leadership Affect the Two Dimensional Creativity of Middle Managers in Retail Enterprises? The Mediating Role of Psychological Security," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.

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