The influence of leadership on creativity: A systematic review of experimental studies

__Abstract__ Various studies argue that leaders can stimulate the creativity of their followers. However, many of these studies rely on survey or case studies methods, which generally suffer from endogeneity threats, such as reverse causality or omitted variables. In order to provide robust evidence on the cause-and-effect relationship of leadership on creativity, this paper systematically reviews the published experimental studies available on this topic. Findings show that – contrary to expectation – we did not an unequivocal positive influence of general leadership styles such as transformational leadership. On the other hand, leadership strategies such as letting followers participate (related to empowering leadership) and increasing self-efficacy of followers (related to authentic leadership) did increase creativity across various studies. Furthermore, when leaders set creativity goals, this can positively influence creativity. Based upon the review, future research directions are suggested

Connecting HRM and Change Management: How HR Practices Can Stimulate Change Readiness

Organizations are continuously under pressure to adapt to new developments such as policy changes, budgets cuts, and the introduction of new management ideologies. To adjust successfully to changing conditions, it is important that employees feel vital and are pro-active so that they can help implementing proposed organizational changes. However, how job proactivity and vitality is achieved is still unclear. This study connect HRM literature with change management literature to analyze how HR practices can increase proactivity and vitality at work. We used data collected in three large public healthcare organizations in the Netherlands (n = 1,507). SEM results shows that three HR practices are particularly effective for improving proactivity and vitality: 1) autonomy, 2) participation in decision-making, and 3) teamwork. Based on these results, we discuss the possibilities of using HRM to stimulate employees’ readiness for organizational change

Assessing the implementation of sustainable public procurement using quantitative text-analysis tools

Public organizations are using sustainable public procurement (SPP) as a policy tool to address societal and environmental issues. Having a policy on SPP however does not guarantee implementation. Several barriers have for example been identified that prevent public procurers from implementing SPP in their procurement projects, such as financial constraints, lack of knowledge or motivation. The question therefore arises how much SPP public organizations actually implement in their procurement projects. However, existing studies often focus on the environmental part of SPP and often rely on using interviews or surveys to assess the perceived degree of SPP (which have been accused of being subject to social desirability bias and low response rates). Little is therefore known about what SPP is in practice, and how frequently it is implemented. In this study, we therefore provide a detailed operationalization of SPP that encompasses the full concept. We subsequently assess the implementation of SPP in practice using text mining techniques to analyse over 140.000 Belgian public procurement notices that were published between 2011 and 2016. The research shows that in more than 70% of the notices (with an annex) SPP is implemented, but there appears to be a downward trend. It seems that SPP is implemented less over time, rather than more. Environmentally friendly procurement was, relative to other types of SPP, prevalent over time and across regions. For SPP to live up to its potential there ar

‘Through the Looking-Glass’: Addressing Methodological Issues in Analyzing Sector Differences in Employee Attitudes and Behaviors.

Many studies have investigated potential differences in employee attitudes and behaviors across sectors. However, empirical evidence in this regard remains largely inconclusive or even contradictory. Although theoretical explanations may exist, it cannot be ruled out that there are issues pertaining to methodological choices at play as well. The aim of this contribution is to explore whether two issues, one related to the justification of interpreting the public sector as a homogenous one and one to controlling for measurement invariance, influence conclusions of comparative research. Using a Dutch data set containing 1,998 respondents, we tested the impact of these two issues on four concepts that have gotten much attention in employee level comparative research, namely work satisfaction, organizational commitment, proactivity toward self-development, and public service motivation. Our findings demonstrate that differences exist within the public sector and that lack of measurement invariance affects results, which, in turn, affect conclusions regarding within- and between-sector comparisons. We therefore recommend that scholars recognize these issues before conducting comparative research