The cross-level double-edged-sword effect of boundary-spanning behavior on creativity

Abstract

There has been much interest in boundary spanning behavior recently. The existing studies about boundary spanning behavior focus on its positive outcome from the perspective of social network. In the decades, research has consistently demonstrated that the boundary spanning behavior produces a wide array of positive outcomes for team and organizations. However, scholars recently found that the boundary spanning behavior have negative outcoms for individuals. Based on the conservation of resources theory (COR), we examined the double-edged sword effect of boundary spanning behavior on creativity on different levels, the mediating mechanism and boundary conditions. To test the proposed theoretical model, we used multi-waves and multi-source research design. The data was collected from the dyads employees and supervisors in the enterprise. At time 1, boundary spanning behavior, role stress, and role breadth self-efficacy were measured. These variables were rated by employees. About one month later, we asked leaders to rate employees’ creativity. These variables were assessed by mature scales. A total of 536 employees (90.32%) and 111 leaders (82.22%) responded to our survey. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and average variance extracted (AVE) were conducted to assess the discriminant validity and convergence validity of the key variables. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) was used to test the hypothsis and the Monte Carlo simulation procedures by the open-source software R to test mediation effects. The results showed that in the team level, team boundary spanning behavior had significantly positive effect on team creativity (β = 0.18, p < 0.05), but in the