An Empirical Analysis of Collective Creativity in Higher Education Institutes of Pakistan: A Mediated-Moderation Approach

Abstract

In today’s dynamic world, knowledge economy has become a driving factor for national socio-economic growth and overall development. The lynchpin of knowledge economy and ultimately that of national economy is creativity which has to be seen and realized through the prism of collaborative instead of standalone wisdom. Accordingly, as per international trends, Pakistan has to establish Prime Minister’s Knowledge Economy Task Force with the mandate to revitalize national economy through knowledge. This is where the role of higher education institutes (HEIs) becomes extremely critical, which cannot be achieved without collective and holistic creative efforts. Thus, HEIs have to build a collaborative creativity culture instead of standalone creativity. Creativity per se involves risks that instead of becoming barriers en route to progress need to be transformed into opportunities. Hiding the knowledge that drives collaborative creativity is one of the major behavioural risks posed by the academicians in HEIs and is the major research gap in this domain. This study, therefore, focuses on identifying such factors that lead to knowledge hiding, and interpersonal factors that hinder knowledge hiding by facilitating knowledge sharing and ultimately impacting collective creativity positively. This has been achieved by grounding on Social Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Self-efficacy Theory and targeting full-time faculty members working in HEIs of the public and private sector of Pakistan. By collecting data from 500 faculty members through proportionate random sampling, the analysis of the study has been carried out through empirically testing the hypothesis employing CFA and SEM, using AMOS and SPSS. The findings of this study support the proposed hypotheses and suggest that in presence of counterwork behaviour factors, commitment and self-efficacy contribute towards a collaborative and collective sharing environment among academicians to enhance collective creativity. In lieu of various managerial and practical implications and “Triple Helix Knowledge Network Model for Collective Creativity” proposed for policy makers, this study will be of great significance for HEC of Pakistan, for the pursuit of initiatives of a collective creative mindset and to enable HEIs to be recognized as global centers of interdisciplinary, creative, and collaborative research excellence, as identified in its Vision 2025. Realization of the proposed triple helix model is not possible until or unless knowledge hiding is smartly substituted with knowledge sharing for promoting the culture of collaborative creativity in HEIs for steering Pakistan towards its recognition as a knowledge economy nation.