Positive effects of leader perceived overqualification on team creativity

With the spread of higher education and the global economic downturn, the overqualification phenomenon is increasingly becoming common and popular. Prior research has mainly focused on the negative effects of perceived overqualification. However, some scholars are currently urging a deeper exploration of the positive implications of perceived overqualification. Although most studies have focused on employee perceived overqualification and its impact on work attitudes, behaviours and personal well-being, information is limited on the phenomenon of leader perceived overqualification and its effects. For organisations, understanding the effects of leader perceived overqualification on teams is crucial for effective talent management. Therefore, our study draws on self-regulation theory and the process-based theory of team creative synthesis to propose and test a mediated moderation model that explores when and why leader perceived overqualification influences team creativity. To test the proposed hypotheses, we conducted a multi-wave and multi-source field study. We collected data from five hospitals in North China, and the final sample consists of 106 head nurses and their 847 nurses. At time 1, head nurses were asked to report their demographics and perceived overqualification. At time 2 (two months later), head nurses were asked to report their perceptions of team capability and psychological entitlement. Additionally, nurses were asked to evaluate leader encouragement of creativity and abusive supervision. At time 3 (two months later), nurses rated their team creative process engagement. Lastly, head nurses were asked to assess team creativity. Results provided support for our theoretical model and revealed the following findings. (1) The interaction between leader perceived overqualification and leader perceived capability significantly predicted leader encouragement of creativity, such that the positive relationship between leader perceived overqualification and leader encouragement of creativity was stronger when team capability was higher rather than lower. (2) Team creative process engagement mediated the relationship between leader encouragement of creativity and team creativity. (3) Leader encouragement of creativity and team creative process engagement mediated the interactive effect of leader perceived overqualification and team capability on team creativity, such that the indirect effect was stronger when team capability was higher. The preceding results provide several important theoretical contributions. Firstly, this research enriches the outcomes of perceived overqualification by investigating the positive impact of leader perceived overqualification on team creativity. Secondly, this research identifies leader perceived team capability as an important boundary condition for the positive effects of leader perceived overqualification. Thirdly, by exploring the chain mediating roles of leader encouragement of creativity and team creative process engagement, this study opens the 'black box' of the effect of leader perceived overqualification on team creativity and expands the understanding of the positive implications of perceived overqualification. Lastly, by examining the relationship between leader perceived overqualification and team creativity, this study enriches the antecedents of team creativity from the leader characteristic perspective.