Leadership Style, Perceived Control And Creativity Among Employees In Non-Governmental Organizations In Ghana

ABSTRACT

The study employed the cross-sectional design to assess the impact of leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and perceived work control (internal and external) on subordinate’s creativity. The study further examined how demographic characteristics (gender, type of task and tenure of work) influence creativity. The mediation role of perceived control on the relationship between transformational leadership and creativity was also assessed. One hundred and seventy-six (176) employees completed a self-assessed questionnaires measuring demographic characteristics, leadership styles, perceived work control and creativity. The results of the study indicated that both Transformational and Transactional leadership styles significantly correlated with subordinate’s creativity. The amount of variance accounted by transformational leadership style was significantly higher than the amount of variance accounted by transactional leadership style on employee creativity. Internal perceived control and external perceived control were positively related with creativity. The amount of variance accounted by internal perceived control was significantly higher than the amount of variance accounted for external perceived control on creativity. Type of task (routine and non-routine) did not have any significant impact on creativity. There was no significant relationship between tenure of work and level of creativity. Males and females did not differ in their level of creativity. The relationship between leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and subordinates’ creativity were partially mediated by subordinates’ perceived control. Findings were discussed with theories of creativity and leadership styles.