Unleashing the mechanism between affect-based trust and employee creativity: a knowledge sharing perspective
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-04-2021-0071 |
| Published date | 03 September 2021 |
| Date | 03 September 2021 |
| Pages | 509-528 |
| Author | Talat Islam,Arooba Chaudhary,Saqib Jamil,Hafiz Fawad Ali |
Unleashing the mechanism
between affect-based trust and
employee creativity: a knowledge
sharing perspective
Talat Islam and Arooba Chaudhary
Institute of Business Administration, University of the Punjab,
Lahore, Pakistan, and
Saqib Jamil and Hafiz Fawad Ali
Department of Management Sciences, University of Okara, Okara, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –Creativity has become essentialfor organizations to remain competitive. Therefore, this paper
aims to investigate the intervening role of knowledge sharing between affect-based trust and employee
creativity. The study further investigates perceived organizational support as a conditional factor on the
associationbetween affect-based trust and employee creativity.
Design/methodology/approach –The study tackled the issue of common method variance by
collecting data in dyads. Specifically, the study collected data from 368 employees and their supervisors
working in various organizations in Pakistan through Google Forms in two waves. In the first wave,
employees wereapproached on a convenience basis, whereas,in the second wave, data from their supervisors
were collected.
Findings –Structural equation modeling wasapplied to test hypotheses. The study noted knowledge
sharing as a mediator between affect-based trust and employee creativity. The study also noted that
individuals with high perceptions of organizational support are more likely to strengthen the association
between affect-basedtrust and knowledge sharing.
Practical implications –This study suggests managementwork on their employees’affect-based trust-
building. Employeeswho have relationships based on affect-based trust feel safeand are less afraid of being
criticized for sharing their ideas and thoughts. This positively contributes to developing a cooperative
environmentwhich becomes the base for employee creativity.
Originality/value –Past studies have examined the association between general trust and employee
creativity. To this backdrop, this study highlighted the importance of affect-based trust toward employee
creativity. More specifically,drawing upon social exchange, this study is the first of its kind that examined
the mediatingrole of knowledge sharing between affect-basedtrust and employee creativity, where perceived
organizational support is examined as a conditional variable between affect-based trust and knowledge
sharing.
Keywords Developing countries, Social exchange theory, Knowledge sharing, Employee creativity,
Perceived organizational support, Affect-based trust, Norms of reciprocation
Paper type Research paper
Ethical statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The authors are thankful to Editor, reviewers and participants of the study.
Affect-based
trust and
employee
creativity
509
Received20 April 2021
Revised2 June 2021
Accepted9 June 2021
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.71 No. 6/7, 2022
pp. 509-528
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-04-2021-0071
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9342.htm
Introduction
In today’s dynamic environment, organizations need to struggle with much more challenges than
ever before (Kim, 2020). Therefore, organizations have been forced to rethink their strategic plans
as these help an organization to get competitive advantage in dynamic environment(Sui fan et al.,
2018). From strategic point of view, employee creativity (EC, henceforth) is appeared asa viable
factor to acquire competitive edge because it leads to success, growth and improves
organizational performance due to its potential to develop new knowledge and creativity
(Zeb et al.,2019;Liao and Chen, 2018). Indeed, creativityis an employee’s ability to generate useful
and creative ideas (Thuan and Thanh, 2020). Thus, enhancing EC serves a major role in
transforming the ideas and actions of employees into productive services, products or innov ative
practices which enhance organizational competitiveness (Mittal and Dhar, 2015).
Past studies have identified that employees with a high degree of creativity are morevaluable
to organizations than those who fail to come up with creative, new and useful ideas (Amabile and
Pratt, 2016;Thuan and Thanh, 2020). Therefore, employees strive to maintain their creativity in
an extremely competitive environment. In addition, organizations are also spending in new ways
to interact and connect with different aspects of the creative community (Bhimani et al.,2019).
Thus, the discussion on ways to enhance EC has become an inspiring catch-all in the eyes of
business leaders and management (Zhang et al.,2020). Employees’creativity not only contributes
to organizational performance (Zouand Jian, 2021), but is also a source of competitive advantage
(Chin et al.,2016). Although, most of the studies have focused on the importance of EC, still,
studies on the predictors and outcomes of EC are scant (Zoua ndJian, 2021;Zhang et al., 2020).
According to Song and Gu(2020), social exchanges inthe workplace are effective in
stimulating EC. Social exchange is defined as a reciprocal and bidirectional transaction in
which somethingmust be given and somethingmust be obtained (Lee, 2021). Individuals are
likely to feelobliged to give back to what they have receivedduring these exchanges(Ahmad
et al.,2020).Reciprocal associationsand exchanges that arise from interacting with varietyof
colleaguesare highly important for creativity(Perry-Smith, 2006). Knowledge sharing (KS) is
also a typeof social exchange in which individuals mutuallyshare and create new knowledge
(Islam et al.,2021a). It happens when a person is keento take part in acquiring and donating
knowledge to generate new ideas (Bock and Kim, 2002).Moreover, KS is characterizedas an
environment of social interaction in which employees exchange skills, information and
experiences across the organization (Lee et al.,2020). In fact, creativity is a by-product of
knowledge formation (Wang, 2010). Knowledge is a form of strongreasoning of information
that can enhancean individual’s learning, decisionmaking, problem-solvingand efficiency at
job; thus, newknowledge is essential for creativity (Alshwayatet al., 2021). The impact of KS
in stimulating EC was first introduced by Sternberg and Lubart (1999), that showed new
dimensions to later researchers (Thuan and Thanh, 2020). For instance, Zeb et al. (2019)
identified that employees with higher level of KS are more willing to induce creativity into
their work. Similarly, Liao and Chen (2018) identified KS as a predictor of EC. There is also
clear evidence of a positive relationship between trust and work-related behaviors
(Tomlinsonet al.,2020), including knowledgesharing (Nerstad etal.,2018).
Based on social exchange theory (SET), trust is a key element to induce KS (Yu and
Takahashi, 2021) where individuals partake in exchanges with the hope ofreciprocity in
future (Gouldner, 1960). It was observed that higher degree of affect-based trust (ABT)
indicates that knowledge contributor is more likely to engage in social exchanges and
mutual practices with knowledge seeker (Ring and Van de Ven, 1994). Resultantly, more
knowledge is exchanged (Rutten et al.,2016). Although, recent studies have identified the
association between trust and KS (Kmieciak,2020;Lo et al., 2021;Yu and Takahashi, 2021),
however, few suggested more evidence to support these results (Zeb et al.,2019). With this
GKMC
71,6/7
510
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