Fostering Members' Creativity in Teams: The Role of Structuring of Human Resource Management Processes

Work teams are central to organizations as they constitute a vital mechanism in solving complex problems creatively. However, teams are often dysfunctional and do not reap their members' creative potential. We suggest that structuring, which is often associated with fixation, may nevertheless be instrumental for creativity. Specifically, we developed and tested a model in which structuring of human resource management (HRM) processes helps organizations to build high quality teams (with high human and social capital). We posit that being a member of such a team increases team members' growth satisfaction, and thereby team member creativity. The results of Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (MSEM) indicated a more complex pattern of relationships than hypothesized: the relationship between the structuring of HRM processes and team member creativity was shown to depend on the level of structuring. Low levels of structuring enhanced team member creativity through greater team human and social capital and growth satisfaction. By contrast, high levels of structuring led to a decline in growth satisfaction but not in creativity, but although growth satisfaction decreased, the positive effect of structuring on team human and social capital suppressed its negative effect. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.