The Role of Team Regulatory Focus and Team Learning in Team Radical and Incremental Creativity

Abstract

This study explores team-level mechanisms linking team regulatory focus and team creativity. Drawing on the team self-regulation perspective and regulatory fit theory, the mediating roles of team exploratory and exploitative learning and the moderating effect of team bureaucracy were examined. Team-level analyses conducted on data captured from the leaders and members of 135 teams. The results showed that team exploratory learning mediates the relationship between team promotion focus and team radical creativity, whereas team exploitative learning mediates the relationship between team prevention focus and incremental creativity. Furthermore, the team bureaucratic context, including centralization and formalization, moderated the indirect relationship between team regulatory focus and team creativity. The findings improve understanding of why team regulatory focus differentially contributes to team radical and incremental creativity. The findings also provide meaningful insight into the role of team bureaucracy in the team regulatory focus–team creativity relationship.