Consequences of Hierarchy for Creativity and Innovation in Teams

Abstract

Creativity stands as a cornerstone of modern organizational success, with teams often as keys to innovative ideas and solutions. Team structures are considered as an important predictor of creativity, and specifically, team hierarchy is ubiquitous. Yet, the impact of team hierarchy on creative performance remains a complex and underexplored area. While past research often portrays hierarchy as a potential impediment to creativity and innovation, recent scholars suggest a nuanced understanding is warranted. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to unravel the complex relationship between team hierarchy perceptions and creative outcomes, drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives in three different studies. The first study challenges the prevailing notion that "flatter is better" by examining how different team hierarchy shapes influence collective creativity. This study illustrates a conditional indirect relationship between members’ flat hierarchy perceptions and team creativity, through members’ support for innovation in the team. Crucially, however, these creativity benefits of a flatter hierarchy can be better materialized if members feel that creative action is crucial for their team’s task accomplishment. Moving beyond the collective lens, the second study delves into the micro-foundation of team hierarchy. By focusing on members’ standing within the hierarchy, this study investigates the cross-level relationship between team hierarchy perceptions and individual creativity. Through a multilevel analysis, it seeks to elucidate how a member’s standing in a hierarchy weakens the negative linkage between team hierarchy perceptions and individual creative contributions, through team social comparison propensity. Lastly, the third study moves back to team level, examining the role of teams’ overall hierarchy strength for their innovative work behavior. The results reveal that hierarchy mutability might alter the role of team hierarchy strength for a team’s innovative work behavior, through the team’s competition. By adopting a comprehensive approach that considers the multi-dimension of team hierarchy and their implications for creativity and innovation, this cumulative dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex associations between team structures and creative performance.