The effect of digital leadership on employees’ radical creativity

Abstract

Drawing on social information processing theory, this study examined the mediating role of perceived leader expectations (PLE) for creativity and perceived leader support (PLS) for creativity on the relationship between digital leadership (DL) and employees’ radical creativity (RC). A total of 231 employees in China’s information technology industry contributed data through a two-wave survey over one week. Results from structural equation modelling and bootstrapping analysis indicate that digital leadership was directly associated with higher radical or innovative creativity. Perceived leader expectations for creativity and perceived leader support for creativity enhanced digital leadership effects on radical creativity. Perceived leader expectations for creativity–perceived leader support for creativity played a chain mediating role in the relationship between digital leadership and radical creativity, strengthening radical creativity. These findings are consistent with social information processing theory and expand the evidence of the impact of digital leadership on employees’ radical creativity.