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Relational impact of authentic and transactional leadership styles on employee creativity: The role of work-related flow and climate for innovation

Aminu Sanda (Department of Organization and Human Resource Management, University of Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana)
Nana Ama Dodua Arthur (Department of Organization and Human Resource Management, University of Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana)

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies

ISSN: 2040-0705

Article publication date: 4 September 2017

3491

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how authentic leadership and transactional leadership styles in Ghanaian telecom firms influence employees’ creativity, and the effect that climate for innovation and work-related flow have on such influencing relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Guided by the implicit theory of leadership, and using questionnaires, data were collected from 335 employees in five mining firms and analyzed descriptively and inferentially.

Findings

It was found that managers in the telecom firms use transactional leadership styles and authentic leadership styles to enhance employees’ creativity. The work climate fostered employees’ creativity and encouraged their innovation. The prevalence of work-related flow enhanced employees’ job performances. The innovative climate mediated the effect of authentic leadership on employees’ creativity, but moderated the effect of transactional leadership on the employees’ creativity. Work-related flow also moderated the effects of both authentic and transactional leadership styles on employee creativity. It is concluded that managers in telecom firms influence their followers’ creativity by altering their leadership styles in accordance with the given situation to achieve organizational goals.

Research limitations/implications

The study sample was drawn from a single sub-sector of the Ghanaian economy. This represents a limitation, for which the findings cannot be generalized. Replications and extensions of the study in different industrial sectors will help test the robustness and generalizability of the findings.

Originality/value

This study has shown that managers of telecom firms in Ghana can cultivate and nurture the creativities of their employees toward increased performances by creating conducive psychosocial work climate that supports innovativeness, and use the requisite authentic and transactional leadership skills in the conduct of their managerial functions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the management and staff of the following telecommunication firms for the interest shown in the research and the support they provided in the data collection process – MTN, Vodafone and Millicom Ghana (Tigo).

Citation

Sanda, A. and Arthur, N.A.D. (2017), "Relational impact of authentic and transactional leadership styles on employee creativity: The role of work-related flow and climate for innovation", African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 274-295. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-07-2016-0098

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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