Effects of transformational and transactional leadership on employees' creative behaviour: mediating effects of work motivation and job satisfaction

Abstract

Innovation has emerged as an important business issue and facilitating employee creativity is considered a necessity for any organization interested in achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage in a world characterized by rapid technological change. This paper examines the direct and indirect effects of transformational and transactional leadership on employees' creative behaviour in South Korea by considering work motivation and job satisfaction as two mediating variables. The results of a cross-sectional survey and structural equation modelling indicate that (a) transformational and transactional leadership had no direct effects on employees' creative behaviour (implying that the relationship between leadership and employee creativity should not be seen as straightforwardly causal); (b) transformational leadership worked through employees' work motivation to ultimately influence their creative behaviour; and (c) transformational and transactional leadership had indirect positive effects on employees' creative behaviour through job satisfaction. The results have practical and meaningful implications for managers interested in fostering employee creativity through leadership, work motivation, and job satisfaction.