Effect of job demands-control match on employee creativity: perspective of match in the context of job design.

Intense market competition has caused organizations to pay increasing attention to employee creativity. At the same time, as two typical job characteristics, job demands for employees are gradually increasing, and correspondingly, more job control is given to employees. However, the relationship between these two job characteristics and creativity is relatively limited. Based on the match perspective in the context of job design and drawing on the conservation of resource theory, this study uses a combination of polynomial regression and response surface analysis to study the impact of job demands-control match on employee creativity and the mediation effect of creative self-efficacy. Through an analysis of questionnaires from 204 employee-supervisor dyads, this study found that (1) in the case of congruence, employee creativity is higher when job demands and job control are aligned at a higher level than at a lower one; (2) in the case of incongruence, employee creativity is higher when job control exceeds job demands (low-high) than when job demands exceed job control (high-low), and (3) creative self-efficacy mediates the relationship between job demands-control match and employee creativity. The results of this investigation can address the existing relational and methodological gaps in the literature and help managers understand what job design schemes should be formulated and managed to influence the level of employee creative self-efficacy, which in turn fosters employee creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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