The influence of leader regulatory focus on employee creativity

Cindy Wu, Jeffery S. McMullen, Mitchell J. Neubert and Xiang Yi

Journal of Business Venturing, 2008, vol. 23, issue 5, pages 587-602

Abstract: Brockner and Higgins (Brockner, J., Higgins, E. T. 2001. Regulatory focus theory: Implications for the study of emotions at work. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 86(1), 35-66.) suggest that a leader's behavior may be perceived as an organizational endorsement of promotion-focused or prevention-focused concerns and that this perception will influence employee behavior by eliciting a congruent state of regulatory focus. We tested this hypothesis using matched pairs of leaders and employees from a Chinese firm and found that employee creativity is positively associated with the promotion focus of the supervisor's behavior. Consequently, through their actions, promotion-focused leaders may increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial action in their firms by eliciting a promotion-focused state of eagerness from their employees.

Date: 2008

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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:23:y:2008:i:5:p:587-602

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