Exploring the effect of transformational leadership on individual creativity in e-learning: a perspective of social exchange theory

Individual creativity (IC) is regarded as the core driver of innovation in higher education. Information and communication technology supports the opportunity to study IC in the online environment. In addition, we believe that the role of transformational leadership (TL) has changed compared to the offline environment. In this research, we employ social exchange theory as our theory foundation and test the moderating effect of TL on knowledge sharing (KS), which is an important antecedent of IC in online circumstances. We designed this study in an eight-week course where teams were required to complete a project online. Two rounds of survey were performed to collect data. The results show that KS has a positive effect on IC, and TL has a significant moderate effect on the relationship between economic reward and KS. Implications for theory and practice, and limitations are also given.