Examining Sources of Employees' Creativity: A Configurational Approach

Abstract

This study identifies the configurations of personal and situational conditions that promote or inhibit creativity. We adhere to the Interactionist Model of Creative Behavior and Complexity Theory, adopting a qualitative research design. Data were collected via an online survey from 197 employees in the research and development departments of Portugal's technology and telecommunication industries. According to our findings, creativity requires complex combinations of conditions. Four alternative configurations foster creativity and four inhibit it. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we employ a configurational approach to understand how creativity can be facilitated or hindered and therefore contribute to the relatively unexplored topic of inhibiting creativity. Our theoretical contributions augment the Componential Theory of Creativity, addressing the complementarity among several conditions, the compensatory effect of a changing condition, and the substitute effect of a combination of conditions that compensate for the absence (lack) of a condition and still lead to the desired outcome. We also provide recommendations for managers in the technology and telecommunications industries. Even if they are not transformational leaders, they might cultivate creativity by considering other employees and contextual and organizational characteristics.