Abstract
Drawing on team creativity literature and social comparison theory, we investigate how leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation influences team creativity. Using a survey based on 91 R&D teams from Chinese companies, we observe that LMX differentiation is negatively related to team creativity (β = −0.35, p < 0.01). More importantly, we demonstrate that team behavioral integration mediates the relationship between LMX differentiation and team creativity (indirect effect size = −0.72, with 95% CI of −1.91, −0.13), and team emotional intelligence (TEI) moderates the relationship between LMX differentiation and team behavioral integration (β = 0.23, p < 0.05), such that LMX differentiation has a weaker negative influence on team behavioral integration when TEI is higher. These results provide relevant suggestions for organizational team building, management, and development.
Highlights
In an increasingly changing and competitive work environment, creativity has become an essential ingredient for organizations’ survival and development (Anderson et al, 2014)
The goal of this study is to investigate whether, how, and when leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation influences team creativity
Using a survey based on 91 research and development (R&D) teams from Chinese companies, we confirmed that LMX differentiation is negatively related to team creativity, and team behavioral integration mediates the above relationship
Summary
In an increasingly changing and competitive work environment, creativity has become an essential ingredient for organizations’ survival and development (Anderson et al, 2014). Defined as the product of novel and useful ideas by a group of employees working together (Shin and Zhou, 2007), team creativity has garnered a growing body of research in innovation and strategy literature. A number of researchers have explored the impact of leadership influence on team creativity (Shin and Zhou, 2007; Zhang et al, 2011; Hu et al, 2017; Mo et al, 2019), there are notable shortcomings in the current literature. Among the limited present studies that have examined the direct effect of LMX differentiation on team creativity, there remains a major inconsistency in the current findings (Li et al, 2016; Matta and Van Dyne, 2020). As demonstrated by a review by Anand et al (2015, p. 288), the “findings on the effects of LMX differentiation have been mixed at LMX Differentiation and Team Creativity best.” the current literature lacks insights on the mechanisms that drive differential effects (Matta and Van Dyne, 2020)
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