Nilesh Kumar, Yanghua Jin and Zhiqiang Liu
This study, based on motivated information processing theory and theories of leadership (contingency and functional), investigates how servant leadership (SL) could be an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study, based on motivated information processing theory and theories of leadership (contingency and functional), investigates how servant leadership (SL) could be an effective leadership style for employee creative deviance engagement (CDE) to foster radical (RC) and incremental creativity (IC) in two different goal-oriented organizations: learning (LGO) and performance (PGO) goal-oriented organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed descriptive and comparative approaches and surveyed two sources (leaders and team members). Using multi-source data involving 486 LGO-based and 498 PGO-based employee–supervisor dyads from 104 LGO-based and 104 PGO-based high-tech firms in China, the authors distinguish comparative support for assumed hypotheses by using the Monte Carlo simulation technique for the indirect effects and Mplus for multilevel path analysis.
Findings
The study outcomes found that SL transmits the effects of employee CDE directly and nurtures RC and IC indirectly. It identified that an organization's LGO strengthens the direct and indirect relationships between SL and creativity via employee's CDE when the organization's LGO is high. However, an organization's PGO strengthens the direct relationship when it's low and strengthens the indirect link between SL and IC when it's high. In addition, the organization's PGO demonstrated an insignificant effect on the indirect relationship between SL and RC.
Originality/value
This study is the first to verify SL as the specific leadership style for responding employee's CDE and identify its distinctive effects on RC and IC. Additionally, there has been no effort to associate SL with employee's CDE for nurturing distinctive types of creativity under the different organizational dispositions (LGO and PGO).
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Keywords
Yanghua Jin, Biao Nie and Yuchun Xiao
To identify the typical multilevel issues in social science, as well as illustrate the theoretical basis, hierarchical models and empirical exemplars of multilevel paradigm.
Abstract
Purpose
To identify the typical multilevel issues in social science, as well as illustrate the theoretical basis, hierarchical models and empirical exemplars of multilevel paradigm.
Design/methodology/approach
Hierarchical and multilevel data are extremely common in social systems, but multilevel analysis is constrained by statistical techniques. With the development of social system theory and empirical methods such as hierarchical structure modeling and latent growth modeling, multilevel paradigm can be used to analyze multilevel data. So it is necessary to identify typical multilevel phenomena in social science and discuss multilevel modeling techniques.
Findings
This paper identifies four typical multilevel phenomena in social system study: hierarchical and clustered sampling, collective construct research, longitudinal repeated measures, and event history analysis. Hierarchical structure modeling and latent growth modeling are effective multilevel analysis techniques in social science because of their advantages in the integration of social system research.
Research limitations/implications
The quality and availability of multilevel data are the main limitations regarding which model will be applied.
Practical implications
The paper can aid the provision of effective multilevel models to social workers.
Originality/value
This paper provides information on application of multilevel modeling in social science.