Leader knowledge sharing behavior and follower creativity: the role of follower acquired knowledge and prosocial motivation

Abstract

PurposeAlthough leaders play a vital role in motivating the creative performance of followers, a paucity of research has examined specific behaviors of leaders. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of leader knowledge sharing behavior on followers’ creative performance.Design/methodology/approachTo decrease the potential of the common method bias, this research conducted a time-lagged study to gather data from 319 employees working at information technology companies in Vietnam. This study used the hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that leader knowledge sharing behavior had a positive impact on follower creativity. Moreover, follower-acquired knowledge partially mediated this relationship. Furthermore, follower prosocial motivation positively moderated the effects of leader knowledge sharing behavior and follower-acquired knowledge on followers’ creative performance.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to the creativity literature by providing evidence that leader knowledge sharing behavior could stimulate follower creativity directly and indirectly through follower-acquired knowledge. This research also confirmed the moderating role of prosocial motivation in reinforcing the influence of leader behaviors and employee ability on employee creativity.