The relationship between employee creativity and team creativity: The moderating roles of team autonomy and task interdependence

Abstract

With the growing attention on the competitive advantage in organizations, so has the attention on the field of creativity in an organizational setting. In this study, we investigate whether team autonomy or task interdependence has an effect on the relationship between employee creativity and team creativity. We propose a model where team autonomy and task interdependence works as moderators on the relationship between employee creativity and team creativity. In order to explore the relationship, we applied data collected from a two-staged survey. The survey had a total of 78 participants, consisting of 48 employees and 30 leaders, from 29 Norwegian based companies in the creative field. Through regression analysis, the results from the data collection showed that the relationship between employee creativity and team creativity was non-significant. The results also showed that the moderating effect of team autonomy and task interdependence on the relationship between employee creativity and team creativity was nonsignificant. The findings indicate that employee creativity may not necessarily lead to team creativity. Future research is recommended to investigate its boundary conditions. Discussion of our findings, implications and directions for future research is deliberated.