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Organizational creativity and psychological well-being : Contextual aspects on organizational creativity and psychological well-being from an open systems perspective

Rasulzada, Farida LU (2007)
Abstract
Organizational creativity and psychological well-being. Present day organizations in a globalized society are experiencing external challenges and changes more than ever before and in order to adapt and react to these changes creativity and innovation are seen as some of the most important means. The standpoint in this thesis is that all employees have creative potential, and how the creative potential is expressed may depend on variables in the organizational context. Accordingly, this thesis aims to investigate the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation and contextual aspects: organizational climate, team climate, leadership, work resources, workload, the organizational culture, and the individual.

... (More)
Organizational creativity and psychological well-being. Present day organizations in a globalized society are experiencing external challenges and changes more than ever before and in order to adapt and react to these changes creativity and innovation are seen as some of the most important means. The standpoint in this thesis is that all employees have creative potential, and how the creative potential is expressed may depend on variables in the organizational context. Accordingly, this thesis aims to investigate the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation and contextual aspects: organizational climate, team climate, leadership, work resources, workload, the organizational culture, and the individual.



In this time of change, globalization, and technology improvements to mention some few factors, the well-being of the employees may be at risk. In this thesis it is suggested that increasing organizational creativity and innovation, for which the foundation is employee creativity, are means to achieve a psychological well-being.



The results of study I showed that the joint contribution of the contextual variables was related to ratings of organizational creativity and innovation. The more one rated the organizational climate for creativity, team climate for innovation, change/employee-oriented leadership style, work resources, and less workload, the higher was the organization rated as creative and innovative. On the importance of the context, the results of study III also implied that, although creativity mainly was experienced to be an individual phenomenon, the context had an important if not a determining role for how organizational creativity and innovation were experienced. Contextual aspects such as structure dependency, organizational defences, collaboration difficulties, and political cannibalism, among other things, made it difficult for the engineers to be creative at their work.



Regarding well-being, the results of study I suggested that organizational creativity and innovation might be means to increase psychological well-being. In study II, the results implied that the more creative the climate was rated, the less did employees experience stress. Furthermore, in study II, stress was predicted by a relation-oriented leadership, indicating the importance of the leader for the well-being of the employees.



The results of study II suggested that educational level is a more relevant dimension than gender with regard to experiencing the organizational climate and leadership but not with regard to experiencing stress and workload. The results indicated that well educated people experienced the climate for creativity as more beneficial and the leadership as more change/employee-oriented than less educated, and women experienced stress and workload more than men.



Taken together, the results pointed at the importance of the context for how creativity is experienced and to the importance of the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation and well-being. The assumptions made regarding organizational creativity and innovation leading to a better well-being and a creative organizational climate leading to less stress are limited and needs to be further developed, especially concerning the causality of the relationships, within the context of organizations. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Organisationskreativitet och psykologiskt v älbefinnande. I den föreliggande avhandling föreslås det att hur kreativitet och innovation uttrycks i organisationen är kontextberoende. Att kreativitet och innovation kan bidra till en ekonomisk tillväxt är allmänt känt. I denna avhandling föreslås det att kreativtet och innovation också kan leda till ett bättre psykologiskt välbefinnande för individen. Syftet är saledes att undersöka den den sociala kontextens relation till kreativitet och innovation samt att undersöka relationen mellan ett psykologiskt valbefinnade och kreativitet och innovation i organisationen. Det empiriska materialet som ligger till grund för denna avhandling kommer från två... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Organisationskreativitet och psykologiskt v älbefinnande. I den föreliggande avhandling föreslås det att hur kreativitet och innovation uttrycks i organisationen är kontextberoende. Att kreativitet och innovation kan bidra till en ekonomisk tillväxt är allmänt känt. I denna avhandling föreslås det att kreativtet och innovation också kan leda till ett bättre psykologiskt välbefinnande för individen. Syftet är saledes att undersöka den den sociala kontextens relation till kreativitet och innovation samt att undersöka relationen mellan ett psykologiskt valbefinnade och kreativitet och innovation i organisationen. Det empiriska materialet som ligger till grund för denna avhandling kommer från två globala processorganisationer. Studie I och II är således baserade på samma deltagare, drygt halften akademiker och halften icke-akademiker (totalt 94 resp. 95) och organisation (företag A) samt även delvis samma skalor. Deltagarna i studie III var 13 utvecklings-ingenjörer från en annan organisation (företag B).



Resultatet av studie I visade att tillsammans var organisationsklimat, teamklimat, relation/förändrings-orienterat ledarskap, arbetsresurser och arbetsbelastningar signifikant relateterade till organisationskreativitet och innovation. De enskilda relationerna visade dock att endast organisationsklimat och arbetsresurser var av relevans for bedömningen av organisationen som kreativ och innovativ. Vidare pekade resultaten på att organisationskreativitet och innovation möjligtvis föregås av ett psykologiskt välbefinnande.



Resultatet av studie II visade att ju mer man bedömde organisationsklimatet som kreativt, ju mer relations-orientaret ledarskapet uppfattades, desto mindre stress upplevde man som anstalld.Vidare visade resultatet av studie II att kvinnorna upplevde mer stress och arbetsbelastning än män. Anställda med icke-akademisk utbildning upplevde klimatet för kreativitet som mindre fördelsaktigt och ledarskapet som mer kontrollerande och produktions-orienterat. Detta resultat får delvis stöd i tidigare forskning som har visa att kvinnor ofta stöter på fler barriärer i arbetslivet an män samt att personer med högre status i organisationen har fler tillgångar och möjligheter an dem med lägre status.



Med syftet att undersöka hur kreativitet uttrycks i en kontext bestående av utvecklingsingenjörer pekade resultatet av studie III på att det inte finns utrymme eller möjligheter att vara radikalt kreativ p.g.a ekonomiska begränsningar, tidsbrist, organisationsförsvar, politisk kannibalism, samarbetssvårigheter, och svagt intresse för att se helheten. Ingenjörerna rapporterade en upplevelse av en konservativ kreativitet eftersom man sysslade med samma material och samma arbetsmetoder hela tiden, vilket gav dem mindre utrymme för att utveckla sidospår. Denna typ av kreativitet refereras i literaturen som adaptiv kreativ och innebär att man förbättrar det som redan finns medan radikal kreativitet är normbrytande. Resultatet pekade på att även om företaget föredrar den adaptiva kreativiteten sa begränsas även denna av företagets betoning på rutiner och ingrodda sätt att arbeta på.



I sin helhet visade resulaten att hur man upplever kreativitet och innovation är relaterat till kontextuella faktorer samt att organisationskreativitet och innovation kan ha andra fördelar än de rent ekonomiska då relationen till det psykologiska välbefinnandet var signifikant. Dock behövs det mer forskning om kausaliteten och stöd for detta samband. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Forslin, Jan, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
work resources and workload, organizational culture, Industrial psychology, leadership, climate, stress, organizational creativity and innovation, psychological well-being, Arbetspsykologi, industripsykologi
pages
212 pages
publisher
Department of Psychology, Lund University
defense location
Nya Fest, AF-borgen, Lund
defense date
2007-05-23 14:55:00
ISBN
978-91-628-7210-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ba05c602-dd4e-4ff2-a12a-6caa0035ed40 (old id 548876)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:55:54
date last changed
2021-12-07 13:39:43
@phdthesis{ba05c602-dd4e-4ff2-a12a-6caa0035ed40,
  abstract     = {{Organizational creativity and psychological well-being. Present day organizations in a globalized society are experiencing external challenges and changes more than ever before and in order to adapt and react to these changes creativity and innovation are seen as some of the most important means. The standpoint in this thesis is that all employees have creative potential, and how the creative potential is expressed may depend on variables in the organizational context. Accordingly, this thesis aims to investigate the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation and contextual aspects: organizational climate, team climate, leadership, work resources, workload, the organizational culture, and the individual.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In this time of change, globalization, and technology improvements to mention some few factors, the well-being of the employees may be at risk. In this thesis it is suggested that increasing organizational creativity and innovation, for which the foundation is employee creativity, are means to achieve a psychological well-being.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The results of study I showed that the joint contribution of the contextual variables was related to ratings of organizational creativity and innovation. The more one rated the organizational climate for creativity, team climate for innovation, change/employee-oriented leadership style, work resources, and less workload, the higher was the organization rated as creative and innovative. On the importance of the context, the results of study III also implied that, although creativity mainly was experienced to be an individual phenomenon, the context had an important if not a determining role for how organizational creativity and innovation were experienced. Contextual aspects such as structure dependency, organizational defences, collaboration difficulties, and political cannibalism, among other things, made it difficult for the engineers to be creative at their work.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Regarding well-being, the results of study I suggested that organizational creativity and innovation might be means to increase psychological well-being. In study II, the results implied that the more creative the climate was rated, the less did employees experience stress. Furthermore, in study II, stress was predicted by a relation-oriented leadership, indicating the importance of the leader for the well-being of the employees.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The results of study II suggested that educational level is a more relevant dimension than gender with regard to experiencing the organizational climate and leadership but not with regard to experiencing stress and workload. The results indicated that well educated people experienced the climate for creativity as more beneficial and the leadership as more change/employee-oriented than less educated, and women experienced stress and workload more than men.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Taken together, the results pointed at the importance of the context for how creativity is experienced and to the importance of the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation and well-being. The assumptions made regarding organizational creativity and innovation leading to a better well-being and a creative organizational climate leading to less stress are limited and needs to be further developed, especially concerning the causality of the relationships, within the context of organizations.}},
  author       = {{Rasulzada, Farida}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-628-7210-6}},
  keywords     = {{work resources and workload; organizational culture; Industrial psychology; leadership; climate; stress; organizational creativity and innovation; psychological well-being; Arbetspsykologi; industripsykologi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Psychology, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Organizational creativity and psychological well-being : Contextual aspects on organizational creativity and psychological well-being from an open systems perspective}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}