Leadership and Creativity in Research and Development Laboratories: A New Scale for Leader Behaviours

Abstract

Using a qualitative approach Gupta and Singh (in press) developed an inventory of leader behaviors that promote employee creativity. In this study, we construct and validate scales that can measure the leader behaviors proposed by Gupta and Singh (in press) quantitatively. We surveyed 584 scientists working in 11 Indian R&D laboratories for this purpose. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed five creativity enhancing leader behaviours - task-oriented, recognising and inspiring, empowering, team-building and developing, and leading-by-example. We discuss the implications of the study findings for future research and management practices.