The role of knowledge spillovers and cultural intelligence in enhancing expatriate employees' individual and team creativity

Abstract

Knowledge sharing is crucial for improving individual and team creativity. Workforce diversity might also be a strategic factor for increasing knowledge resources in dynamic organizations. However, knowledge spillovers between expatriate and local employees may be hampered by cultural differences. This study presents a conceptual model that examines the effect of knowledge spillovers between expatriate employees and host country national employees (HCNs) on expatriate employees' individual and team creativity. This study also examines the moderating effect of expatriate employees' individual cultural intelligence on the relationships between knowledge sharing and expatriate employees' individual and team creativity. The study uses social categorization theory to explain whether knowledge sharing between expatriate and local employees is affected by cultural factors and how this knowledge sharing influences individual and team creativity. Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modeling in SmartPLS 3.2.7 was used to empirically test the proposed hypotheses. The data were collected from 152 expatriate employees working with HCNs in different organizations in Saudi Arabia. The study shows a positive association between expatriate employees' knowledge sharing (with HCNs and other expatriate employees) and individual and team creativity. Moreover, expatriate employees' individual cultural intelligence moderates the relationship between expatriate employees' knowledge sharing with HCNs and individual and team creativity.