Influence of Leadership on Creativity In Business Academics/ Higher Education

Abstract

Business academics/ higher education and training must continuously strive to cope up with the evolving demands of the corporate world. Proactive approach towards adaptability to the environmental changes may be mastered through creative leadership and mentoring of the academic institutes. It has been found that few research studies have focused on the cases of influence of leadership on creativity in higher education. This study addresses the challenges faced in the sector of business academics/higher education and empirically explores how leadership influences creativity among the academics to enable more advanced and appropriate education and training in management or business education sector/ higher education, in the mid-tier institutes, in particular. A qualitative, case research approach has been used to understand the relationship between leadership style and academic creativity and its role in enhancing the effectiveness of business academics/ higher education. The findings of the study have established a positive influence of creative leadership on the effectiveness of business academics/ higher education. It has led to the identification of three critical aspects that are essential for inducing creativity in business academics/ higher education, i.e., appropriate leadership style, organization structure that balances between hierarchy and heterarchy to facilitate communication, and creative interaction leading to learning and growth.