Gro Ellen Mathisen

A Review of Instruments Assessing Creative and Innovative Environments Within Organizations

This article provides a review of the available instruments for measuring work environments conducive to creativity and innovation. The following instruments were assessed: KEYS: Assessing the Climate for Creativity, Creative Climate Questionnaire, Situational Outlook Questionnaire, Team Climate Inventory, and Siegel Scale of Support for Innovation. Each instrument was described, including details about the research on the measures norms, factor structure, reliability, and validity. It was concluded that two of the instruments are of acceptable scientific quality and are well documented in peer-reviewed literature. Too little documentation exists for the other three instruments.

The team-level model of climate for innovation : A two-level confirmatory factor analysis

The level structure of Wests (1990) four-factor model of team climate for innovation was assessed by means of multi-level confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA). The sample consisted of 1,487 individuals (195 teams) from a wide range of professions. Results showed that a considerable portion of the variance in the data was explained on the team level with intra-class correlations ranging from .30 to .39. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the overall measurement model fitted the data well at both the team and individual levels, while the factor loadings were slightly different across the levels with item loadings showing partial invariance. Results from confirmatory factor analyses conducted on separate levels, however, showed that the four-factor model displayed the best fit to the data for both individual and team levels. A second-order one-factor model also fitted the data well on both levels. The results indicate that the team climate for innovation model can be used as a team-level consensus model of team climate for innovation.

Creative leaders promote creative organizations

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of leaders’ creativity as a predictor of organizational creativity. The authors expected that creative leaders would promote creativity directly by functioning as a model and inspiration for their followers and indirectly by promoting a creativity-supporting work climate. Design/methodology/approach - The research was conducted in organizations within the restaurant sector; the data were obtained using questionnaires to employees and leaders ( Findings - Significant positive associations were found between leaders’ creative behavior, organizational creative climates, and organizational creative behavior. Mediation analyses revealed that the relationship between leaders’ creative behavior and organizational creativity was mediated by organizational creative climate. Practical implications - The results may provide useful guidelines for organizations that put emphasis on creativity, both for leader recruitment and leader development. Originality/value - The paper contributes to the creativity literature since it is one of the first to explore leader personality and leader creative behavior as predictors of creativity in organizations.

Individual and situational antecedents of workplace victimization

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to simultaneously examine individual- and team-level predictors of workplace victimization by applying two-level modeling. Previous workplace victimization research has primarily been conducted on the individual level of analysis, which may be insufficient when assessing organizational- and team-level predictors of workplace victimization. The authors examined the relationships between target personality (Big Five personality factors), perceived stressors, work climate, and perceived workplace victimization. Design/methodology/approach - The research was conducted in organizations within the restaurant sector; the data were obtained using questionnaires completed by employees and supervisors ( Findings - A model that included all variables fitted the data well. However, individual-level perceived stressors was the only variable that was significantly related to workplace victimization. The facts that our model included team-level climate factors and individual-level personality traits, and both individual- and team-level victimization showed good fit to the data, with only one specific variable in the model showing any significant relationship with bullying, may indicate that bullying is more a consequence of the total risk factors than related to specific factors, on an individual or team level. Hence, it is the additive effect of the factors that matters more than each individual factor. Practical implications - Of practical relevance is that the paper provides evidence that both individual and team-level factors are related to workplace victimization, indicating that bullying cannot be prevented by focusing on clearly defined risk factors either on team or individual levels. As a manager, one must work on all aspects of the social working environment, including the total vulnerability of ones employees and their respective levels of work stress. Originality/value - From a methodological viewpoint, the paper demonstrates that an analysis of clustered individual-level data, without the application of proper multilevel analysis, may lead to biased results.

Organizational Commitment of Directors in Collaborative Tourist Organizations Mediating Effects of Boardroom Behavior

This study focuses on commitment as a key factor for successful collaboration in tourism. Taking a corporate governance perspective, we studied directors in tourist organization boards and examined possible effects of directors’ strategic orientation (holistic orientation vs. stakeholder orientation) and compensation on organizational commitment. In line with recent behavioral perspectives on boards, this study accounted for board processes, including variables measuring intragroup conflict and effort norms. The sample included 307 directors in 98 Norwegian organizations. Findings underline the importance of recognizing the benefits of joint attempts and a community mindset among collaborators in tourist organizations. The results further indicated that board processes influence directors’ organizational commitment. The effect of a holistic orientation toward the destination and the goals and values of the collaborative organizations was mediated by both the perception of intragroup conflict and effort norms in the board. In addition, effort norms mediated the relationship between compensation and commitment.

Boards of directors in tourism organizations: roles and innovative climates.

Abstract As the ultimate decision makers in organizations, boards of directors have a strong influence on organizational success. This study contributes to better understanding of the mechanisms of boards within the tourism sector, more precisely, destination-based tourism organizations wherein several stakeholders collaborate. First, we examine how tourism directors perceive their roles including strategic, control and service roles. Second, as tourism organizations are in a constant need for development and innovation, we study the role of innovative climates as part of the board dynamics. Third, we compare limited liability companies with other tourism organizations to explore the influence of legal structure on the perception of board roles and innovation. The directors perceived the control and strategic tasks as the most relevant for the boards of tourism organizations. Furthermore, they reported generally high scores on climate for innovation with somewhat stronger emphasis on the performance-related climate factors “objectives – mutual and achievable goals” and “task orientation – focus on excellence” than the factors more closely related to social relationships (“support” and “participative safety”). Limited liability companies scored significantly higher on the control and strategic roles as well as the combined climate for innovation variable indicating a stronger investment in the organizations due to the legal responsibility linked to the role of director in such organizations.

Research note: destination decision-makers: developing a strategic orientation scale

This study presents the development of a scale for measuring directors of tourist organisations’ strategic orientation. Focus group interviews were conducted to identify different orientations, followed by a survey to further assess the measurement. Factor Analysis revealed two factors: 1 holistic orientation towards the destination, the collaborative organisation and its goals 2 stakeholder orientation towards specific groups or interests. The strategic orientation scale provides an instrument for measuring the bi-dimensional relationship between benefits to individual businesses and those to the destination as a whole, generating valuable knowledge for managing collaborative organisations and for further studies of collaborative planning in tourism.