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The relationship between R&D team diversity and team creativity

Jinyong Kim (School of Business and Technology Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea)
Chanhoo Song (School of Business and Technology Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea)

Management Decision

ISSN: 0025-1747

Article publication date: 14 May 2020

Issue publication date: 22 January 2021

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how and what type of team diversity is related to team creativity in R&D organizations, incorporating conflict as a mediator and transformational leadership as a moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey questionnaires were used to collect data from 24 Korean R&D teams (185 team members, 24 team leaders and 24 managers) in the public and private sectors. The dependent variable, team creativity, was measured by questioning R&D team managers to whom R&D team leaders report directly, and the antecedents, mediator and moderator were answered by team members and their leaders.

Findings

The data confirmed that team diversity, particularly informational diversity, was positively associated with team creativity. However, conflict did not show a significant mediating effect between team diversity and creativity. Transformational leadership had a negative moderating effect between informational diversity and task conflict in such a way that when transformational leadership was high, teams with higher informational diversity showed lower task conflict between team members.

Originality/value

A growing number of R&D projects require interdisciplinary efforts resulting in incorporating scientists and engineers from multiple disciplines, and growing numbers of women and minorities now choose careers in science and technology. Naturally, R&D project teams have become more diverse than before. This study provides empirical evidence from multiple sources, showing both mediating and moderating effects on the relationship between R&D team diversity and creativity.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation

Kim, J. and Song, C. (2021), "The relationship between R&D team diversity and team creativity", Management Decision, Vol. 59 No. 2, pp. 175-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-12-2019-1727

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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