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An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector: The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity

Author

Listed:
  • Qinghua Fu

    (Department of Business Administration, Moutai Institute, Renhuai 564507, China)

  • Jacob Cherian

    (College of Business, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 59911, United Arab Emirates)

  • Naveed Ahmad

    (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Central Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
    Faculty of Management, Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore 54000, Pakistan)

  • Miklas Scholz

    (Division of Water Resources Engineering, Department of Building and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
    Department of Civil Engineering Science, School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus, P.O. Box 524, Aukland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
    Department of Town Planning, Engineering Networks and Systems, South Ural State University (National Research University), 76 Lenin Prospekt, 454080 Chelyabinsk, Russia
    Institute of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Norwida 25, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Sarminah Samad

    (Department of Business Administration, College of Business and Administration, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ubaldo Comite

    (Department of Business Sciences, University Giustino Fortunato, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

Abstract

Creativity at the level of employees is of utmost importance for every sector of an economy, with no exception to a healthcare system. The reason why employee creativity is important lies in the fact that employees have profound knowledge of their job and thus can serve as a source of meaningful innovation in an organization. Research shows that employee creativity is largely dependent on leadership. Corporate leaders significantly influence subordinates’ behavior. However, with the economic development, globalization, and changing business environment, a traditional authoritative leadership style can no longer be effective in understanding employees’ psychological needs to foster their creative behavior. In this regard, the role of inclusive leadership as an effective organizational management strategy was recently discussed in literature at different levels. It was also stated that an inclusive leader could foster employee creativity. However, such relationships in healthcare systems of developing economies have largely remained under-explored previously. We explored employee creativity in a healthcare context of a developing economy in an inclusive leadership framework to bridge such knowledge gaps. We also investigated the mediating roles of psychological safety and polychronicity in the above-stated relationship. We collected the data from hospital employees through a questionnaire (paper–pencil method). A hypothetical model was developed, which was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS. Based upon the statistical outcomes, we found that an inclusive leadership style in a hospital can significantly foster employee creativity, whereas psychological safety and polychronicity mediate this relationship. This study offers different theoretical and practical insights, especially to a healthcare system. An important finding was that an inclusive leader can motivate the followers to be more creative. This finding is significant for a hospital because creative employees provide a hospital with a solid competitive base.

Suggested Citation

  • Qinghua Fu & Jacob Cherian & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite, 2022. "An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector: The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:8:p:4519-:d:789926
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    16. Tahira Alam & Zia Ullah & Fatima Saleh AlDhaen & Esra AlDhaen & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz, 2021. "Towards Explaining Knowledge Hiding through Relationship Conflict, Frustration, and Irritability: The Case of Public Sector Teaching Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Qiangzhen Jian & Xiuting Wang & Hisham Mohammad Al-Smadi & Aamer Waheed & Alina Badulescu & Sarminah Samad, 2022. "Proposing a Robust Model to Reduce Employees’ Turnover Intentions in an Ethical Leadership Framework: Empirical Evidence from the Healthcare Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Natsu Sasaki & Akiomi Inoue & Hiroki Asaoka & Yuki Sekiya & Daisuke Nishi & Akizumi Tsutsumi & Kotaro Imamura, 2022. "The Survey Measure of Psychological Safety and Its Association with Mental Health and Job Performance: A Validation Study and Cross-Sectional Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Ying Xu & Diao Jie & Hongyu Wu & Xiaolu Shi & Daniel Badulescu & Sher Akbar & Alina Badulescu, 2022. "Reducing Employee Turnover Intentions in Tourism and Hospitality Sector: The Mediating Effect of Quality of Work Life and Intrinsic Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Junjie Peng & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Naveed Ahmad & Heesup Han & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz, 2022. "Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Employees’ Energy-Specific Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence from Healthcare Sector of a Developing Economy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    6. Yushan Wu & Rita Yi Man Li & Sher Akbar & Qinghua Fu & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite, 2022. "The Effectiveness of Humble Leadership to Mitigate Employee Burnout in the Healthcare Sector: A Structural Equation Model Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Yushan Wu & Qinghua Fu & Sher Akbar & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Mirela Bucurean & Alina Badulescu, 2022. "Reducing Healthcare Employees’ Burnout through Ethical Leadership: The Role of Altruism and Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-17, October.
    8. Jinyong Chen & Wafa Ghardallou & Ubaldo Comite & Naveed Ahmad & Hyungseo Bobby Ryu & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Heesup Han, 2022. "Managing Hospital Employees’ Burnout through Transformational Leadership: The Role of Resilience, Role Clarity, and Intrinsic Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-23, September.
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