Empirical analysis of roles of perceived leadership styles and trust on team members’ creativity: Evidence from Korean ICT companies

• We model members’ creativity with two leadership styles and two trust types.
• We examine the influence of two leadership styles on two trust types.
• We show both styles of leadership positively influence both types of trust.
• We examine the influence of two trust types on members’ creativity.
• We show only trust in organization positively influence members’ creativity.

This research proposes a theoretical model linking the role of trust to perceived leadership styles and team members’ creativity. Although much attention has been given to trust in the field of organizational research, relatively few empirical investigations have been conducted on the relationship between trust and team members’ creativity. We examined the relationship between two types of trust and their influence on members’ creativity. Additionally, we investigated the members’ perceptions of their leaders’ behavioral styles and the influences of these on leader trust and organizational trust. We surveyed 350 employees working in ICT companies to validate empirical evaluations of leadership styles (consideration and initiating structure), trust, and creativity. The results showed that both leaders’ consideration and their initiating structure had a positive influence on trust in both the leader and the organization. On the other hand, while trust in the organization had a significant positive influence on members’ creativity, trust in the leader did not have a significant influence on team members’ creativity.