Contextual Factors and the Creativity of Frontline Employees: The Mediating Effects of Role Stress and Intrinsic Motivation

Filipe Coelho, Mário Augusto and Luis Filipe Lages

Journal of Retailing, 2011, vol. 87, issue 1, 31-45

Abstract: Creative frontline service employees may be crucial in ensuring organizational performance. However, scant research has investigated the antecedents of service employee creativity. This research applies Role Theory to enlighten this issue. The findings reveal that: role conflict and role ambiguity have opposing effects on creativity; Role Theory complements Cognitive Evaluation Theory as a mediational mechanism for the influence of contextual factors on creativity; and, against current thinking, contextual factors also affect creativity directly. The results underscore the need to reconceptualize the mechanisms by which contextual factors influence creativity, and suggest how managers can promote creativity through the work environment.

Keywords: Creativity; Frontline employees; Services; Contextual factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (44)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jouret:v:87:y:2011:i:1:p:31-45

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2010.11.004

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