Leadership drivers of organizational creativity: a path model of creative climate in a professional service firm

The purpose of this study was to explore how and under what conditions two different leadership roles are able to facilitate an organizational climate that supports creativity. The study was conducted in a leading professional service firm. The introduced hypotheses were tested by means of a structural equation model. Findings indicate that the leadership roles are conceptually different and that organizational structure is important for leaders’ ability to create a climate that supports creativity. The results also indicate that relational and change leadership behaviors are vital for leaders when creating a climate that supports creativity. Furthermore, both job autonomy and intrinsic motivation are found to be important dimensions for enhancing the creative climate

Intellectual stimulation and team creative climate in a professional service firm

Purpose: To investigate the precise role of intrinsic motivation and autonomy in relation to intellectual stimulation in creating a creative climate in a professional services firm. The intention is to discover whether neo-classical approaches in Nordic knowledge-work contexts that have stressed the primacy of employee monitoring and control find support, in order to assist practitioners. Design/method: We propose and test a model for the relationship of interest. Our theoretical model is tested through analysis of multilevel data gathered across in two iterations over 2 years from 177 employees and 64 teams in one company. Findings: We find that intrinsic motivation and autonomy fully mediate the relationship between intellectual stimulation and creative climate. Autonomy exercises a stronger mediating effect than intrinsic motivation. Limitations: The single company research context’s specificity; causal relationships between variables cannot be empirically investigated; the verified research model cannot claim to represent how the organization actually functions, for which qualitative work is required. Implications: Theories stressing the primacy of employee autonomy are supported over those emphasising a need for management to monitor and control autonomy-seeking employees Originality/value: We contribute by showing the primacy of perceived employee autonomy in creating a creative climate among knowledge workers

Setting the scene: Partners' leadership behavior and employees' perceptions of work performance in professional service firms

The effect of leadership behavior on work performance is highly context sensitive. We address this notion by investigating leadership behavior in one important but understudied organizational context—namely, professional service firms (PSFs). We examine how partners’ leadership behavior in a PSF relates to employee self-leadership, creative climate, and work performance (N = 442). The results show that partners’ consideration leadership behavior is positively related to employees’ perceived work performance. Moreover, partners’ consideration and intellectual stimulation leadership behavior are especially important drivers of self-leadership and creative climate in a PSF, which in turn are positively related to employees’ work performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Contextualizing AMO explanations of knowledge sharing in MNEs: the role of organizational and national culture

Ability, motivation, and opportunity (AMO) approaches have dominated stud ies of knowledge sharing in multinational enterprises (MNEs). We argue that there is a need to consider both the national and organizational cultural contexts. Beyond their direct infuence on knowledge sharing with colleagues in other busi ness units (BUs), national and organizational culture signifcantly reinforce the positive relation between individual motivation and knowledge sharing. Thus, our multi-level approach to knowledge sharing in MNEs gives rise to a contextualized AMO approach that provides a novel and more potent understanding of variations in knowledge sharing. At the individual level, our approach includes the degree of ability in the sense of professional competence, intrinsic motivation, and oppor tunities to interact with colleagues in other BUs. At the organizational and coun try levels, we examine the direct and indirect efects of a collaborative culture on knowledge sharing. We employ data from an MNE that operates across a variety of regions, including the Nordic countries, Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. The sample consists of 11,484 individuals nested in 1235 departments in 11 countries. As well as confrming the signifcance of individual competence, intrin sic motivation, and opportunities for interaction for knowledge sharing, our fndings reveal that both organizational culture and national culture are important factors for our understanding of knowledge sharing. This suggests that over and above recruit ing intrinsically motivated employees, managers can enhance knowledge sharing by developing collaborative organizational cultures at the departmental level

Curvature force and dark energy

A curvature self-interaction of the cosmic gas is shown to mimic a cosmological constant or other forms of dark energy, such as a rolling tachyon condensate or a Chaplygin gas. Any given Hubble rate and deceleration parameter can be traced back to the action of an effective curvature force on the gas particles. This force self-consistently reacts back on the cosmological dynamics. The links between an imperfect fluid description, a kinetic description with effective antifriction forces, and curvature forces, which represent a non-minimal coupling of gravity to matter, are established.Comment: 14 pages; references added, to appear in New Journal of Physics (v3

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Ledelse av kunnskapsarbeid

Arbeidslivet har endret seg til å bli mer kunnskaps- og informasjonsintensivt. Mange private virksomheter har høyt utdannete arbeidstakere som de ønsker å anvende på en mest mulig effektiv måte. Et sentralt spørsmål i den forbindelse blir derfor hvordan man kan lede kunnskapsarbeidere? I denne artikkelen diskuteres ulike situasjonskarakteristika og lederstiler for hvordan effektivt lede kunnskapsarbeidere. Forskning har nemlig vist at ledelse av kunnskapsarbeidere er med på å forklare hvorfor noen bedrifter gjør det bedre enn andre og er derfor viktig for bedrifters prestasjoner

Hva påvirker direkte og myndiggjørende ledelse?

-With permission from publisher, FagbokforlagetStudien undersøker om autonomi, kreativitet og prestasjonsmål og lederes indre og ytre motivasjon påvirker valg av direkte og myndiggjørende ledelse. Data er basert på et representativt utvalg av norske ledere der 2 910 svarte på spørreskjemaet til AFF sin lederundersøkelse 2011. Jeg finner at autonomi, kreativitet og prestasjonsmål samt indre motivasjon gjør at ledere foretrekker myndiggjørende ledelse, mens kontroll (negativ autonomi), prestasjonsmål og ytre motivasjon fører til direkte ledelse. Implikasjoner for direkte og myndiggjørende ledelse blir presentert og diskutert

Ledelse av kunnskapsarbeid

-With permission from publisher, FagbokforlagetArbeidslivet har endret seg til å bli mer kunnskaps- og informasjonsintensivt. Mange private virksomheter har høyt utdannete arbeidstakere som de ønsker å anvende på en mest mulig effektiv måte. Et sentralt spørsmål i den forbindelse blir derfor hvordan man kan lede kunnskapsarbeidere? I denne artikkelen diskuteres ulike situasjonskarakteristika og lederstiler for hvordan effektivt lede kunnskapsarbeidere. Forskning har nemlig vist at ledelse av kunnskapsarbeidere er med på å forklare hvorfor noen bedrifter gjør det bedre enn andre og er derfor viktig for bedrifters prestasjoner