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An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector : The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity

Fu, Qinghua ; Cherian, Jacob ; Ahmad, Naveed ; Scholz, Miklas LU ; Samad, Sarminah and Comite, Ubaldo (2022) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(8).
Abstract

Creativity at the level of employees is of utmost importance for every sector of an economy, with no exception to a healthcare system. The reason why employee creativity is important lies in the fact that employees have profound knowledge of their job and thus can serve as a source of meaningful innovation in an organization. Research shows that employee creativity is largely dependent on leadership. Corporate leaders significantly influence subordinates’ behavior. However, with the economic development, globalization, and changing business environment, a traditional authoritative leadership style can no longer be effective in understanding employees’ psychological needs to foster their creative behavior. In this regard, the role of... (More)

Creativity at the level of employees is of utmost importance for every sector of an economy, with no exception to a healthcare system. The reason why employee creativity is important lies in the fact that employees have profound knowledge of their job and thus can serve as a source of meaningful innovation in an organization. Research shows that employee creativity is largely dependent on leadership. Corporate leaders significantly influence subordinates’ behavior. However, with the economic development, globalization, and changing business environment, a traditional authoritative leadership style can no longer be effective in understanding employees’ psychological needs to foster their creative behavior. In this regard, the role of inclusive leadership as an effective organizational management strategy was recently discussed in literature at different levels. It was also stated that an inclusive leader could foster employee creativity. However, such relationships in healthcare systems of developing economies have largely remained under-explored previously. We explored employee creativity in a healthcare context of a developing economy in an inclusive leadership framework to bridge such knowledge gaps. We also investigated the mediating roles of psychological safety and polychronicity in the above-stated relationship. We collected the data from hospital employees through a questionnaire (paper–pencil method). A hypothetical model was developed, which was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS. Based upon the statistical outcomes, we found that an inclusive leadership style in a hospital can significantly foster employee creativity, whereas psychological safety and polychronicity mediate this relationship. This study offers different theoretical and practical insights, especially to a healthcare system. An important finding was that an inclusive leader can motivate the followers to be more creative. This finding is significant for a hospital because creative employees provide a hospital with a solid competitive base.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
creativity, healthcare system, leadership, polychronicity, psychological safety
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
19
issue
8
article number
4519
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • pmid:35457388
  • scopus:85127647731
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
10.3390/ijerph19084519
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6cb13cc5-dcb5-4d9d-b784-0dc7d8b7cf6f
date added to LUP
2022-06-10 10:05:25
date last changed
2024-05-03 13:01:34
@article{6cb13cc5-dcb5-4d9d-b784-0dc7d8b7cf6f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Creativity at the level of employees is of utmost importance for every sector of an economy, with no exception to a healthcare system. The reason why employee creativity is important lies in the fact that employees have profound knowledge of their job and thus can serve as a source of meaningful innovation in an organization. Research shows that employee creativity is largely dependent on leadership. Corporate leaders significantly influence subordinates’ behavior. However, with the economic development, globalization, and changing business environment, a traditional authoritative leadership style can no longer be effective in understanding employees’ psychological needs to foster their creative behavior. In this regard, the role of inclusive leadership as an effective organizational management strategy was recently discussed in literature at different levels. It was also stated that an inclusive leader could foster employee creativity. However, such relationships in healthcare systems of developing economies have largely remained under-explored previously. We explored employee creativity in a healthcare context of a developing economy in an inclusive leadership framework to bridge such knowledge gaps. We also investigated the mediating roles of psychological safety and polychronicity in the above-stated relationship. We collected the data from hospital employees through a questionnaire (paper–pencil method). A hypothetical model was developed, which was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS. Based upon the statistical outcomes, we found that an inclusive leadership style in a hospital can significantly foster employee creativity, whereas psychological safety and polychronicity mediate this relationship. This study offers different theoretical and practical insights, especially to a healthcare system. An important finding was that an inclusive leader can motivate the followers to be more creative. This finding is significant for a hospital because creative employees provide a hospital with a solid competitive base.</p>}},
  author       = {{Fu, Qinghua and Cherian, Jacob and Ahmad, Naveed and Scholz, Miklas and Samad, Sarminah and Comite, Ubaldo}},
  issn         = {{1661-7827}},
  keywords     = {{creativity; healthcare system; leadership; polychronicity; psychological safety}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector : The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084519}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph19084519}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}