Creativity-stimulating leadership in R & D groups

Close relationship with the supervisor may impede employee creativity by suppressing vertical task conflict

“…Given the importance of employee creativity in transferring R&D spending into innovative outcomes (Aghion et al, ), scholars have examined a variety of antecedents of employee creativity in R&D context (e.g., Tang, ; Yun and Lee, , Zhu et al, ), among which the role of leadership has attracted particular attention given the preeminent effect of leaders in influencing employee behavior (Elkins and Keller, ). In line of the inquiry, several studies have suggested that Leader‐Member exchange (LMX), which denotes the quality of exchange relationship between the dyad, facilitates employee creativity (e.g., Khazanchi and Masterson, ; Hemlin and Olsson, ). This link has been often explained as the result of the supportive nature of high‐quality LMX relationships, which generate positive mechanisms via which creativity is fostered.…”

“…Given the majority of work on LMX has emphasized its positive effect (c.f., Zhou and Hoever, ), our findings have important implications in helping leaders be aware and avoid the unexplored negative effect of close relationships in fostering employee creativity. This is particularly important for R&D management given R&D scholars have repeatedly emphasized the importance of supportive leadership for employee creativity (e.g., Olsson et al, ; Hemlin and Olsson, ). Our findings suggested leaders in R&D teams must maintain task conflict at sufficient levels with their high‐LMX subordinates while providing support to them.…”