Servant leadership and employee creativity in Islamic context: role of employee empowerment and knowledge sharing
International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management
ISSN: 1753-8394
Article publication date: 3 February 2025
Abstract
Purpose
In today’s volatile global marketplace, cultivating human capital via efficient leadership has become an indispensable requisite for organizational growth. This study aims to examine how servant leadership affects employee creativity through employee empowerment. Moreover, this study examines the moderating effect of knowledge sharing in the relationship between employee empowerment and employee creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative data were processed using Smart PLS-SEM to test the hypothesis. Survey data for this study were obtained from 368 employees working in two Islamic holy sites: the Masjid al-Haram and the Masjid an-Nabawi.
Findings
A positive correlation is found between employee empowerment and employee creativity. In addition, employee empowerment mediates the relationship between servant leadership and employee creativity. Lastly, knowledge sharing moderates the effect of employee empowerment on employee creativity.
Practical implications
The findings shed light on the need for servant leadership in service sector organizations. The findings imply that employee creativity in religious firms can be promoted by servant leadership. The results of this study can assist managers in developing a deeper understanding of contextual factors such as employee empowerment and knowledge sharing while formulating policies and development plans.
Originality/value
The impact of servant leadership in fostering creativity within religious organizations has not been investigated sufficiently. This study expands the literature by offering a thorough understanding of the contextual factors influencing employee creativity in religious organizations such as the mediating role of employee empowerment and the moderating role of knowledge sharing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors express their gratitude to the management of the General Presidency of Saudi Arabia for their invaluable support in facilitating the execution of this research.
Declarations:
Availability of data and materials: Data will be made available on the reasonable request.
Author contributions: Saad Alasmari, Conceptualization and Writing, Original Draft Preparation Anees Janee Ali, Review and Editing Jamshed Khalid, Data Analysis and Final Draft Preparation Mi Chuanmin, Conceptualization and Editing Muhammad Shahid Rasheed – Corresponding Author, Editing and Final Draft Preparation.
Citation
Alasmari, S., Ali, A.J., Khalid, J., Chuanmin, M. and Rasheed, M.S. (2025), "Servant leadership and employee creativity in Islamic context: role of employee empowerment and knowledge sharing", International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMEFM-06-2024-0291
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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