Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era

The research explores how SME employee creativity develops under humble leadership (HL) in the context of Industry 4.0. This research applies the Job Demands-Resources theory to study direct HL effects on creativity and examine indirect relationships through employee vitality and peer support as wel...

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Main Authors: Fang He, Rana Tahir Naveed, Muhammad Adnan, Volkan Çakir, Warda Naseem, Saqib Muneer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002859
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author Fang He
Rana Tahir Naveed
Muhammad Adnan
Volkan Çakir
Warda Naseem
Saqib Muneer
author_facet Fang He
Rana Tahir Naveed
Muhammad Adnan
Volkan Çakir
Warda Naseem
Saqib Muneer
author_sort Fang He
collection DOAJ
description The research explores how SME employee creativity develops under humble leadership (HL) in the context of Industry 4.0. This research applies the Job Demands-Resources theory to study direct HL effects on creativity and examine indirect relationships through employee vitality and peer support as well as the moderating impact of polychronicity. The research data shows that HL creates creativity directly and indirectly through employee vitality and peer support among 418 UK-based SME employees and supervisors, as analyzed through structural equation modeling. Moreover, the study demonstrates these effects increase when employees show polychronicity. The effects become stronger for people who possess effective multitasking abilities. The research presents practical guidelines to SME leaders demonstrating that leadership approaches based on employee welfare, teamwork,
format Article
id doaj-art-29f7d769cc7a4fd38aa264c91455a2a5
institution OA Journals
issn 0001-6918
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Acta Psychologica
spelling doaj-art-29f7d769cc7a4fd38aa264c91455a2a52025-08-20T02:11:41ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-05-0125510497210.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104972Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 eraFang He0Rana Tahir Naveed1Muhammad Adnan2Volkan Çakir3Warda Naseem4Saqib Muneer5School of Grammar and Management, Beijing Polytechnic College, Beijing 100042, ChinaUniversity of Education Lahore, Pakistan; Corresponding author.Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (CEBE), Birmingham City University, United KingdomFaculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (CEBE), Birmingham City University, United KingdomTIMES Institute Multan, PakistanCollege of Business Administration Department of Economics and Finance University of Ha’il, Saudi ArabiaThe research explores how SME employee creativity develops under humble leadership (HL) in the context of Industry 4.0. This research applies the Job Demands-Resources theory to study direct HL effects on creativity and examine indirect relationships through employee vitality and peer support as well as the moderating impact of polychronicity. The research data shows that HL creates creativity directly and indirectly through employee vitality and peer support among 418 UK-based SME employees and supervisors, as analyzed through structural equation modeling. Moreover, the study demonstrates these effects increase when employees show polychronicity. The effects become stronger for people who possess effective multitasking abilities. The research presents practical guidelines to SME leaders demonstrating that leadership approaches based on employee welfare, teamwork,http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002859HLEmployee creativitySustainable business modelsIndustry 4.0SMEs innovation
spellingShingle Fang He
Rana Tahir Naveed
Muhammad Adnan
Volkan Çakir
Warda Naseem
Saqib Muneer
Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era
Acta Psychologica
HL
Employee creativity
Sustainable business models
Industry 4.0
SMEs innovation
title Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era
title_full Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era
title_fullStr Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era
title_full_unstemmed Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era
title_short Humble leadership and creativity in SMEs: A pathway to achieve SDG 8 and SDG 9 in the industry 4.0 era
title_sort humble leadership and creativity in smes a pathway to achieve sdg 8 and sdg 9 in the industry 4 0 era
topic HL
Employee creativity
Sustainable business models
Industry 4.0
SMEs innovation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002859
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