Differential effects of team level expertise diversity and individual level expertise dissimilarity on creativity: the moderating role of member social skills and leader social behavior

By recognizing the distinct effects of team- and individual-level diversity on individual and team creativity, our study would benefit to existing understanding of the effects of diversity. Specifically, this study investigates a novel contrasting effect in which team-level expertise diversity is positively associated with individual creativity, but individual-level expertise dissimilarity negatively affects individual creativity. It further investigates whether this divergent effect is moderated by employee social skills, which mitigate the negative effects of individual expertise dissimilarity, and by leader social behavior, which can weaken the positive effect of team expertise diversity. Data were collected from 368 members of 57 research and development (R&D) teams in two high-technology companies in Taiwan, and support the research hypotheses, providing a clear view of the complex relationships that team- and individual-level diversity have with creativity. The effects of diversity on creativity in teams can be differentiated based on both team- and individual-level diversity and such distinct effects will be moderated by employee social skills and leader social behavior.

Automated summary

By examining the effects of team- and individual-level diversity on creativity, this study contributes to the existing understanding of diversity effects. The results indicate that team-level expertise diversity is positively associated with individual creativity, while individual-level expertise dissimilarity negatively affects individual creativity. Additionally, employee social skills and leader social behavior moderate these effects.