The effect of authentic leadership, personal mastery, and job complexity on employee creativity: The mediating role of autonomous motivation / Adnan Fateh

Adnan , Fateh (2023) The effect of authentic leadership, personal mastery, and job complexity on employee creativity: The mediating role of autonomous motivation / Adnan Fateh. PhD thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Creativity is necessary for modern-day organizations to make sense of the ever-changing environment and thrive in the face of intense competition. A significant amount of importance is assigned to creativity at the workplace, due to its part in enabling the organizations to gain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Despite its importance for organizational success and performance, it remains an area of little empirical research. Though creativity is essential for all types of jobs and organizations, the study of creativity at software development firms is of particular importance because of its relevance to the activities of these organizations. Literature tells us that employee creativity results from the interaction of different factors present within the work environment and the individual, as skills and attitudes responsible for producing useful and novel innovations can be learned and honed over time. The factors facilitating creativity at the workplace can range from leadership to job characteristics to individual differences in motivation. The study aims to unravel the antecedents of workplace creativity by investigating the role of leadership, work environment, and personality orientation. For that purpose, the study sets out to examine the effect of two environmental factors, authentic leadership and job complexity and an individual-level factor of personal mastery orientation, on employee creativity at software development organizations in Pakistan, mediated through autonomous motivation. The paucity of research regarding the role of these factors in the software development organizations of Pakistan warrants this study. In pursuit of the study objectives, this study develops an integrated model of Self-determination theory (SDT) and componential theory of creativity to investigate the proposed relationship between the study's variables and how they influence the dependent variable. The basic model of SDT was used to construct the theoretical framework of the study. Seven hypotheses were developed based on the developed theoretical model. Quantitative research approach was employed following a post-positivistic paradigm. Primary data was collected using a survey questionnaire. A total number of 341 usable self-reported responses were collected from the employees of software development organizations in Pakistan. The study uses a cross-sectional design. Partial least square (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis and confirming the proposed hypothesized relationships. The study's findings provide empirical evidence of the relationship between authentic leadership, personal mastery, job complexity, and employee creativity through autonomous motivation. The results of the study suggest that authentic leadership has a significant positive relationship with autonomous motivation. Also, personal mastery and job complexity have a significant positive relationship with autonomous motivation. Additionally, autonomous motivation has a significant positive relationship with employee creativity. Furthermore, it was revealed that autonomous motivation mediates the relationship between authentic leadership, personal mastery, job complexity, and employee creativity. By integrating the theoretical models, the study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing understanding of leadership's role, individual differences, and job characteristics in fostering employee creativity. In practice, the study provides valuable inputs for the management of software development organizations faced with the challenge of low creative output and lays out recommendations for using factors present at the workplace appropriately to enhance creativity. Finally, study implications, limitations, and future research are highlighted.

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