Organizational culture and leadership as facilitators of creativity and innovation: Insights from the ICT sector in Poland in a post-COVID-19 reality

Abstract Aim/purpose – Creativity and innovation are crucial for attaining a competitive advantage for organizations. However, dynamic changes in the environment, like the ones induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also other developments force scholars and practitioners to critically assess solutions once considered valid and functioning. The pandemic has affected the ICT sector in two ways, on the one hand, by impacting organizations’ work and operations and forcing employees to work remotely, and on the other, through the global transition to a virtual world. This shift has forced the ICT sector to act quickly and deliver. Adopting an interpretive approach, this research aims at identifying these characteristics of an organizational culture and leadership style which foster creativity and innovation. Design/methodology/approach – As a result of the adopted interpretivist exploratory approach, a qualitative research design was chosen. 19 in-depth interviews with representatives of the ICT sector in Poland were conducted. A purposeful and theoretical sampling was used. For the analysis, a combination of deductive and abductive reasoning was employed. Findings – The analysis has shown that a pro-innovative leader should have traits of all the leadership styles: transformational, authentic, and servant, with an additional, new component – cooperative leadership. A pro-innovative organizational culture should foremost be characterized by openness. The importance of open communication but also openness towards the possibility of making mistakes was emphasized. Research implications/limitations – The theoretical implications include the presentation of characteristics of a pro-innovative organizational culture and leadership style in a post-COVID-19 reality but also a very specific context of the ICT industry. The paper also contributes to the literature on leadership by introducing the cooperative leadership style. Originality/value/contribution – The originality of the paper lies within the adoption of the interpretivist approach and a new perspective on well-known processes. The value of the paper is that the analysis has been conducted in the most innovative sector, the ICT sector, considering the impact of COVID-19 on its operation.