Relationship Between Leadership Styles and Organizational Creativity

Abstract

Purpose: Empirical research on entrepreneurship in organizations has brought disparate and often contradictory evidence related to the impact of leadership on creativity in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss the impact of different leadership styles on creativity, with the view to formulating an integrated conceptual model that links creative novelty and creative practicality with leadership.

Methodology: The author applied the methodology of meta-theoretical review. In accordance with the principles of theoretical bricolage, a new conceptual model was built on the basis of the multidimensional creativity theory and the leadership theory. In her analysis, the author took into account leadership styles that have already been subject to research; each of them was mapped in the two-dimensional space of organizational creativity.

Findings: In order to fully understand the reasons for differences in organizational creativity, the drivers of divergences in the space of creative novelty and creative practicality need to be clarified. Greater knowledge about the impact of leadership styles on the structure and configuration of organizational creativity is necessary. In this paper, the author provides a theoretical framework that illustrates manners in which leadership influences organizational creativity. The model clarifies the role that leadership plays in shaping a unique configuration of organizational creativity, and consequently in ensuring the necessary internal adaptation of an organization.

Originality: The value of this research lies in the situational interpretation of various leadership styles in the context of their impact on organizational creativity. The analysis goes beyond the conventional discussion about leadership and creativity, focused on establishing whether a given leadership style proves beneficial or not for organizational creativity. The paper identifies particular effects that several key leadership styles have on organizational creativity; they are depicted in a new theoretical framework.