THE POTENTIAL FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP IN WORK TEAMS OF INCUBATED TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS

Abstract

Creative leadership is considered an important factor for enhancing work teams’ performance, in particular because of its capacity to promote organizational knowledge management. Based on this perspective, this article examines the potential for creative leadership in work teams of incubated technology-based (ITB) firms, by means of an intervention tool based on the Creative Leadership Model – Team Factor Inventory (TFI). This descriptive research consists of a multiple-case study and involved administering the TFI to the owner-managers of nine of the fourteen resident companies in an ITB incubator. The findings reveal that the Atmosphere and Own Ideas factors display higher average scores, while the Share Vision factor presents the lowest; among the variables, Creativity and Productivity stand out, and regarding leadership style, the average of the Transformational Leadership variable outdoes the Transactional Leadership. The conclusion is that, for the sector investigated, the obtained creative leadership ratings allow the classification of the work teams as creative, since all the ITBs fit into the Dream Team category.