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Research and Publications
Given the intuitive appeal of the assertion that leader behaviors are likely to have their strongest
and most immediate impact on subordinate perceptions, it is surprising that there is little research
testing the behavior-perception connection (Shin & Zhou, 2003; Zhou & Oldham, 2001). The
present study develops and tests a framework delineating the processes that have high potential
to explain the impact of leadership on employee creative performance. The paper examines the
role of justice perceptions, autonomous motivation, psychological capital and creative
performance behaviors as intermediating variables for the leadership-creative performance
relationship. The role of a few of these variables on employee creativity has been tested
individually in some studies (e.g. Dewett, 2007; George & Zhou, 2007; Rego, Sousa, Marques,
& e Cunha, 2009). However, a holistic examination of the relative contributions of these
variables on employee creative performance has been absent from the literature.
Research and Development (R&D) work is a driving force of the global economy and the main
source of innovation, at least on a scientific basis (Ángel & Sánchez, 2009; Dewett, 2007). The
self-image of R&D employees is usually that of men who make things work, avoid waste of
time, capital, and labor, and are independent in thought and action. When an occupational group
sees itself, and is seen by others, as playing the critical role in the achievement of broader
societal goals, it tends to demand quite different kind of authority relationships as compared to
those that are seemingly performing less critical roles (Kakar, 1971, 1977; Zheng, Khoury, &
Grobmeiher, 2010). The present study examines the behaviors of R&D leaders and establishes an
empirical basis for understanding their function in today’s R&D organizations.
A clear problem with most organizational behavior measures, including leadership measures, is
that they were developed in the United States (Liden, 2012). Uncritical adaptation of practices
and techniques evolved in the context of Western cultural values may not be effective in other
socio-cultural environments (Aycan et al., 2000; Dorfman, Howell, Hibino, Lee, Tata, &
Bautista, 1997; Shalley, Zhou, & Oldham, 2004; Shin & Zhou, 2003). While multiple motives
underlie employees’ reactions to workplace relationship, the saliency of these motives can differ
as a function of cultural values (Erez & Nouri, 2010; Morris & Leung, 2010; Shao, Rupp,
Skarlicki, & Jones, 2013). India of today is composed of two parts – one that is traditional and
inward-looking, characterized by older traditions and values of collectivism and high power
W.P. No. 2013-11-09
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