Leadership styles and employee creativity: the interactive impact of online knowledge sharing and organizational innovation

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the differences in the impact of three leadership styles (transactional, transformational, and creative) on intra-organizational online knowledge sharing and employee creativity. Specifically, we use self-determination theory (SDT) to examine the impact of these three leadership styles on four aspects of online knowledge sharing (knowledge donating, knowledge collecting, lurking, and active lurking) and the moderating role of organizational innovation on these relationships. Methodology: Data collected from 361 employees of B2B organizations in Vietnam support all our hypotheses. Structural equation modelling was used for data analysis. Novelty/Originality: This paper extends the current knowledge management research on online knowledge sharing by studying two new behaviors (lurking and active lurking), linking diverse leadership styles to these behaviors and employee creativity, and exploring the moderating role of organizational innovation. Our findings shed light on the complexity of the relationship between leadership and online knowledge sharing. This study also provides useful implications for practitioners to help them choose the most appropriate leadership style for their digitalization process to ensure optimal outcomes. Findings: Transformational, transactional, and creative leadership were found to affect online knowledge sharing, in which creative leadership had the strongest effect. Online knowledge sharing was found to mediate the impact of three types of leadership on employee creativity. The results also showed that organizational innovation moderates the influence of leadership on online knowledge sharing.