Does creativity relate to innovation or destruction? An explanation from the perspective of novelty and usefulness.

Abstract

Creativity plays a vital role in both organizational innovation and success. However, existing research on the outcomes of creativity is controversial. This study intends to explain the controversy of the current research regarding novelty and usefulness, which are two dimensions of creativity. Using a sample of 721 employees, we tested the effects of novelty and usefulness as separate dimensions on certain employee behaviors, namely innovative behavior (IB), organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and deviant behavior (DB). The results show that usefulness plays a more significant role in deciding whether to engage in OCB and DB or not, and usefulness interacts with novelty to impact IB. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study as well as its limitations.