Miha Škerlavaj is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour, BI Norwegian Business School. He is also a Vice-dean for Research and Professor of Management and Organization at University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business (SEB LU) in Slovenia. He received his Ph.D. from SEB LU. His work has been accepted for publication in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Leadership Quarterly, Human Resource Management, and many others. It has been covered in popular press such as The New York Times. He also published books Capitalizing on Creativity and Post-heroic Leadership. His work has been rewarded with several national and international honors and awards.
Škerlavaj is an active author, reviewer, editor and as an expert to several accreditation bodies for quality in higher education. He teaches PhD, MBA, executive, and master of science programs. He is involved in research collaboration projects with international organizations and is also hired to hold invited talks for practitioners on organizational development and change, OB, HRM and innovation management-related topics.
Research areas
Proactive and prosocial organizational behaviors (e.g. creativity, innovation, intra-organizational networks, work engagement; job crafting; cultural intelligence ...).
Organizational development and change (e.g. change management, knowledge management and hiding, organizational learning, organizational culture ...).
Creativity and innovation management (e.g. implementing creative ideas, nontechnological innovations, business model innovations, service innovations).
Teaching areas
Managing knowledge work, creativity and innovation
Organizational behaviour
Organizational network analysis
Multilevel issues in management and organization
Human resource management
Publications
Klepec, Bojana Markovska & Škerlavaj, Miha (2023)
POSTHEROJSKO VODENJE KOT SITUACIJSKA KOMPONENTA INOVACIJSKEGA PROCESA
Redek, Tjaša & Ulčakar, Tomaž (red.). Uspešno, inovativno gospodarstvo, trajnostno-naravnana potrošnja in država blaginje kot temelji prihodnjega razvoja Slovenije
SODOBNO DELO IN SPANJE – KONCEPTUALNI MODEL, PREDLOGI ZA RAZISKOVANJE IN PRELIMINARNA ŠTUDIJA
Redek, Tjaša & Ulčakar, Tomaž (red.). Uspešno, inovativno gospodarstvo, trajnostno-naravnana potrošnja in država blaginje kot temelji prihodnjega razvoja Slovenije
RAZISKOVALNA USPEŠNOST IN PEDAGOŠKO DELO ZAPOSLENIH EKONOMSKE FAKULTETE UNIVERZE V LJUBLJANI
Redek, Tjaša & Ulčakar, Tomaž (red.). Uspešno, inovativno gospodarstvo, trajnostno-naravnana potrošnja in država blaginje kot temelji prihodnjega razvoja Slovenije
Vavpotič, Žiga & Skerlavaj, Miha (2023)
FOUNDING LEADERS' PHILANTHROPIC TRANSITION FRAMEWORK: LEADERSHIP JOURNEY FROM BUSINESS TO (FULL‐TIME) PHILANTHROPY
This article presents the Founding Leaders’ Philanthropic Transition Framework (FLPTF), a novel model examining founding leaders’ transition from business to philanthropy. Rooted in ontological principles and leadership theories, the FLPTF explores shifts in leadership styles and organizational dynamics. The article identifies a gap in the existing literature, highlighting the need for comprehensive analyses of these transitions, and offers a theoretical model. The model’s dimensions, built on cognitive and behavioral aspects, allow for a thorough exploration of leadership styles as they unfold and develop through the leadership journey of company founders. The FLPTF serves as a theoretical guide and pragmatic tool, anticipating challenges and opportunities during the transition process for potential cases, which are named in the article. It paves the way for deeper investigation into leadership evolution shifts when founding leaders transition from business to full‐time philanthropy.
Sumanth, John J.; Černe, Matej, Hannah, Sean T. & Skerlavaj, Miha (2023)
Fueling the Creative Spark: How Authentic Leadership and LMX Foster Employees’ Proactive Orientation and Creativity
Creativity is a critical determinant of organizations’ abilities to compete and perform in rapidly changing and complex contexts. Though scholars have identified several contextual factors, such as leadership, that motivate employees’ creative performance, the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions underpinning this relationship are relatively unknown. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose that a proactive orientation, a psychological state rooted in the cognitive and behavioral process of setting a proactive goal and striving to achieve it, is a critical mechanism linking authentic leadership to employees’ creativity. Across two field studies of working professionals in Central Europe and the U.S., we show how authentic leadership fuels employees’ creative performance through a proactive orientation and introduce leader–member exchange (LMX) as an important moderator of this mediated relationship. In Study 1, using a sample of European manufacturing employees, we find support for the mediating role of a proactive orientation linking authentic leadership to creative performance, above, and beyond the effects of ethical leadership. In Study 2, using a sample of university staff, we replicate this finding and extend it by highlighting the moderating role of LMX on the authentic leadership-proactive orientation relationship.
Skerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej & Batistič, Saša (2023)
Knowledge Hiding in Organizations: Meta-Analysis 10 Years Later
A decade since the seminal paper on knowledge hiding in organizations (Connelly et al., 2012) emerged, this research area has witnessed rapid evolution, resulting in a fragmentation of the field and conceptual proliferation. Given the increasing interest in knowledge hiding, this study complements a set of recently published (systematic) literature reviews and proposes an organizing framework (nomological network) for antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding, and tests it using meta-analytic procedures. Based on an effect analysis drawn from 131 studies and 147 samples, comprising 47,348 participants, the relationships between knowledge hiding and different antecedent and consequence categories are examined. The results generally support expected relationships across the vast majority of categories of knowledge-hiding antecedents, including job characteristics, leadership, attitudes and motivations, working context, personality, and individual differences. Knowledge hiding is related to outcomes, including creativity, task performance, incivility, deviance, and deterioration of workplace behavior. We also provide comprehensive empirical evidence to support the conceptual claim that knowledge hiding is not correlated with knowledge sharing. We have also tested mediations of the most salient antecedents of knowledge hiding. Through our meta-analytic review, we hope to solidify and redirect the trajectory of the growing and maturing knowledge-hiding domain after its first decade of existence.
Sadarić, Antonio & Skerlavaj, Miha (2023)
Leader Idea Championing for Follower Readiness to Change or Not? A Moderated Mediation Perspective of Prosocial Sensegiving
Change agents influence employee attitudes in order for organizations to change. In an effort to unravel this influence mechanism, we examined the change leader-recipient relationship. More specifically, how change leaders’ championing (independent variable) relates to recipients’ readiness to change (dependent variable). Our conceptual model of change leaders’ prosocial sensegiving is based on adult attachment theory operationalized through storytelling. To test our model, we surveyed 164 change recipients undergoing organizational change in various industries. Results confirm the first part of our model: psychological need satisfaction partially mediates the relation between change leaders’ championing and recipients’ readiness to change. In other words, prosocial change leaders act as attachment figures alleviating anxiety caused by ambiguity addressing change recipients’ proximity-seeking behaviour. Despite what has been described in scholarly works, change leaders’ methods of persuasion seem to be a more accurate indicator of recipients’ readiness for change. Part two of our hypothesized model could not be confirmed: moderation effects of leader influence and narrative intelligence could not be confirmed. We conclude that prosocial change leaders’ who demonstrate narrative intelligence use stories to elicit an emotional response from change recipients, effectively increasing their perceived psychological need satisfaction, ultimately affecting their readiness to change.
Sadarić, Antonio & Skerlavaj, Miha (2023)
Giving Sense to Change Leadership: Towards a Narrative-Based Process Model
Introduction: Recent studies on change agency and organizational change failure have significantly broadened the organizational behavior perspective on individual change experiences, however, the underlying mechanism for change leaders’ influential behavior remains a relatively underspecified area. Objectives: Our central theoretical contribution focuses on the ways in which linking the findings from different research areas that deal with storytelling and persuasive communication can contribute to understanding the underlying mechanism of change leaders’ influential behavior. Methods: We examine the various strands of research in management concerned with change leadership and persuasive communication, and propose a multidisciplinary perspective from developmental psychology, linguistics, political science, consumer psychology, and religious studies. Results: Our approach draws on the key theoretical perspectives from the social cognitive theory and commensurable interdisciplinary findings as the basis for a narrative-based process model of change leaders’ influential behavior. Our model includes propositions about the change leader’s interpretation of ideological change as well as the change leader’s process of sensemaking and sensegiving. Conclusion: We argue that the change leader’s persuasive communication efforts are based on the leader’s narrative intelligence and influence, which promote the change recipient’s attachment formation.
Černe, Matej; Škerlavaj, Miha & Smonig, Marjan (2022)
School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana : "It' is a privilege to give back to the country"
Kalika, Michel (red.). BSIS: A decade of Impact
Škerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Postherojsko vodenje : kontekst, proces in rezultati
University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business.
Hernaus, Tomislav; Černe, Matej & Škerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Creative Bootlegging as a Catalyst Between Job Design (Mis)fit and Innovative Work Behavior
Augsdorfer, Peter (red.). Corporate Underground: Bootleg Innovation and Constructive Deviance
Previous meta-analytic evidence has shown several job-design characteristics to be crucial predictors of employee innovativeness. The reality is, however, that many individuals are likely to be in misfit with the experienced characteristics of their jobs. Discrepancy in job-design characteristics (actual versus wanted) has (paradoxically) the potential to explain employee innovative work behavior. In particular, we focused on task identity and entertain the possibility that employee engagement in creative bootlegging interacts with incongruent situations between actual- and wanted-task identity, thereby increasing their creative and innovative performance. The results of moderated polynomial regression analyses from the multisource field study of 233 working professionals and 62 direct supervisors employed by a European bank suggest several interesting findings. First, congruence in actual–wanted task identity at high levels (a high-fit situation) leads to higher levels of innovative work behavior than congruence achieved at low levels (a low-fit situation). Second, we found empirical evidence that task–identity incongruence is driving innovative work behaviors more than congruence does. Finally, incongruence in actual–wanted task identity interacts with creative bootlegging in positively predicting innovative work behavior when employees self-report higher levels of underground innovation activities.
Černe, Matej; Kaše, Robert & Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Idea championing as a missing link between idea generation and team innovation implementation: A situated emergence approach
We examine idea championing as a key intermediary process of the idea journey linking idea generation and idea implementation in teams. Building upon multilevel framework of emergence we theorize about how compositional and compilational emergence of idea generation along with idea championing behaviors translate team members’ creative ideas into team-level innovative solutions. We adopt a two-study research design including a two-wave two-source field study (309 employees nested into 92 teams with direct supervisors) and an experimental study (423 students nested into 79 teams) to test our conceptual model. The results of field study show that team innovation process featuring strong compilational (selected actor-maximum) idea generating followed by compilational idea championing leads to best team-level innovative solutions. Using a sociometric approach as a part of an experimental study, we further show that individuals exhibiting the strongest idea generating activity are also significantly more likely the ones engaging in most intense idea championing behavior. While having team members exhibiting such exceptional behaviors is relatively more effective in an unstructured team innovation setup, structured idea journey setups result in better team-level innovative solutions, when idea championing behaviors are more equally distributed among team members. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Post-Heroic Leadership: Epilogue and Agenda for Future Research and Action
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Post-Heroic Leadership, Resilience, and Well-Being
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Post-Heroic Leadership of Creativity and Innovation: From Idea to Excel
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Building Communities and Collaborative Cultures
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Leading Change by Engaging and Involving
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Sustainable Post-Heroic Leadership Practices
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Becoming a Post-Heroic Leader: From Expert to Leader
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Post-Heroic Leadership in the Context of Humanizing Hybrid Work
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
What Is Post-Heroic Leadership and Why Do We Need It?
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
The concept of post-heroic leadership is defined, following the dimensions of shared and servant leadership. From the post-heroic view, leadership is firstly defined by its sharedness, focus on collective achievement, teamwork, and shared accountability. Secondly, it is seen as a social process, with human interactions at its core. Servant leadership is composed of six key characteristics: empowering and developing people, humility, authenticity, interpersonal acceptance, providing direction, and stewardship. We need post-heroic leadership to find viable solutions for complex tasks, that include both uncertainty and interdependence.
Skerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Time of Paradoxes and Uncertainty
Škerlavaj, Miha (red.). Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced completely new dimensions into an already uncertain world and has revealed important shortcomings in current forms of leadership. We are currently living in the time of paradoxes; caught between the local and the global, the common and the individual. These paradoxes cause increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and signal the need for a structural change in how we approach leadership. I argue that it is the post-heroic leaders who will be able to tackle the wicked problems of the future that are here to stay long after the pandemic is forgotten.
Škerlavaj, Miha (2022)
Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes
Palgrave Macmillan.
This pioneering new book sets out to categorize context, process, and outcomes of post-heroic leadership. Complexities of modern business environment along with fundamental functioning of human psychology require us to make a paradigm shift in the way we perceive and practice effective leadership. The author argues that in order for businesses to succeed in the times to come, leaders need to move away from ego-centered leadership toward post-heroic leadership – a leadership that emphasizes servant and shared practices, puts task and collective front and center and leaders’ ego in the background. Providing a deeper understanding of the post-heroic leadership across industries and disciplines, the book starts by elaborating on the zeitgeist and need for a new type of leadership. It highlights the process and elements of post-heroic leadership in action, such as post-heroically leading change, developing culture of trust with feedback, and sustainable and responsible post-heroic leadership. Finally, the book focuses on the outcomes of post-heroic leadership, including resilience and innovation. Featuring mini-case studies from leaders in healthcare, family entertainment, ICT, haute cuisine, and manufacturing to name a few, this book provides a thorough understanding of this new wave of leadership and a platform for further research.
Hleb, Katja; Skerlavaj, Miha & Rozman, Domen (2021)
Hopping the Hoops or Building a Communal Culture as the Most Significant Pillar of Leadership of the Commons
Singh, Devin P.; Thompson, Randal Joy & Curran, Kathleen A. (red.). Reimagining Leadership on the Commons: Shifting the Paradigm for a More Ethical, Equitable, and Just World
Hernaus, Tomislav; Černe, Matej & Skerlavaj, Miha (2021)
The interplay between relational job design and cross‐training in predicting employee job/task citizenship performance
Drawing on a relational perspective to human resource development and management (HRD/M), a multilevel and multisource field study has been conducted examining how HRM practices of job interaction requirements/task interdependence and HRD practice of cross-training interplay in order to enhance employees' job/task citizenship performance (JCP). A two-level research model from a sample of 43 organizations and 535 nested individuals demonstrates that socially enriched jobs (interactive and interdependent), when supplemented with organizational (system-wide) cross-training opportunities, increase extra efforts among employees to complete activities which are not part of their in-role requirements. Thus, by applying a 1-2-1 moderation analysis, we offer new knowledge about social and cognitive aspects of human behavior above and beyond the traditional focus on narrowly defined job/task performance. In addition, we explicate how mutual understanding across job positions may practically contribute to achieving superior individual-level JCP when relational architecture of the workplace is designed.
Understanding the patterns and underlying mechanisms that come into play when employees exchange their knowledge is crucial for their work performance and professional development. Although much is known about the relationship between certain global network properties of knowledge-flow networks and work performance, less is known about the emergence of specific global network structures of knowledge flow. The paper therefore aims to identify a global network structure in blockmodel terms within an empirical knowledge-flow network and discuss whether the selected local network mechanisms are able to drive the network towards the chosen global network structure. Existing studies of knowledge-flow networks are relied on to determine the local network mechanisms. Agent-based modelling shows the selected local network mechanisms are able to drive the network towards the assumed hierarchical global structure.
Škerlavaj, Miha (2020)
New normal, new leaders? Time for resilience and post-heroic leadership
Domadenik, Polona; Koman, Matjaz & Redek, Tjasa (red.). The virus after-math: A socio-economic twist?
Harrison, Spencer; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2019)
Marvel, la machine à succès: Comment les studios équilibrent continuité et renouvellement
Harvard Business Review France
Harrison, Spencer; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2019)
A máquina de sucessos de bilheteria da Marvel: Como o estúdio equilibra continuidade e renovação
Havard Business Review Brasil
Harrison, Spencer; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2019)
Marvel’ın Kapalı Gişe Makinesi
Harvard Business Review Turkiye
Harrison, Spencer; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2019)
마블의 블록버스터 머신 (Marvel's Blockbuster Machine)
Harvard Business Review Korea
Connelly, Catherine; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Škerlavaj, Miha (2019)
In our introduction to this special issue on understanding knowledge hiding in organizations, we provide some context to how and why this phenomenon should be studied. We then describe the five articles that comprise the special issue, and we note some common themes and divergences in this collection. Our introduction concludes with some suggestions for future research on knowledge hiding in organizations.
The Interplay among Prosocial Motivation, Cultural Tightness, and Uncertainty Avoidance in Predicting Knowledge Hiding
Economic and Business Review, 20(3), s. 395- 422. Doi: 10.15458/85451.71
In this paper, we examine the socio-cultural aspects of knowledge hiding. Specifically, we aim to deepen the understanding regarding the role that national cultural dimensions and motivation play in stimulating or preventing knowledge hiding. We investigate a three-way interaction among prosocial motivation, cultural tightness, and uncertainty avoidance to explain knowledge hiding in organizations. Our field studies involved working professionals from Slovenia (n = 123) and China (n = 253). Results show that the highest level of knowledge hiding happens when employees are met with a combination of a low level of prosocial motivation, a low level of cultural tightness, and a low level of uncertainty avoidance. The highest levels of knowledge hiding thus occur when employees are not motivated by the welfare of others, are inclined to take the risk and simultaneously perceive that deviation from cultural norms will not be sanctioned. We discuss the contributions and implications of our
Škerlavaj, Miha (2018)
From Creativity to Innovation: Four Leadership Lessons about Capitalizing on High-Potential Ideas
Sasson, Amir (red.). At the Forefront, Looking Ahead: Research-Based Answers to Contemporary Uncertainties of Management
Creative ideas fuel modern organizations and are increasingly salient in times of change. However, novelty—one defining characteristic of creative ideas—is associated with risk. That being said, highly creative ideas tend to represent the most potential, relative to the value they add to organizations and their members. How can leaders increase the odds of successfully transforming high-potential creative ideas into innovative realities? This chapter reviews the most current research findings on optimizing high-potential creative ideas to render the innovation advances they promise. It summarizes and exemplifies the following four leadership lessons: 1) change agents, 2) supportive leadership, 3) integrating multiple perspectives from assorted stakeholders, and 4) facilitating creative employee behavior in the workplace. Research suggests that effectively capitalizing on high-potential ideas in organizational settings requires active leadership that involves a mastery of the competencies of relevant change agents, as the development of new ideas requires rigorous in-context management of the change process. Leaders need to show two-dimensional support of tasks and individuals, not only to provide resources and assistance as needed, but also to facilitate proactive behaviors by challenging employees to depart from the status quo. The successful leader, above all, recognizes that capitalizing on creativity is a social process that requires contributions from multiple viewpoints, and that various stakeholders need to be involved.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Connelly, Catherine, Černe, Matej & Dysvik, Anders (2018)
Tell Me If You Can: Time Pressure, Prosocial Motivation, Perspective Taking, and Knowledge Hiding
Purpose The belief that knowledge actually expands when it is shared has been deeply rooted in the mainstream knowledge management literature. Although many organizations and managers expect employees to share their knowledge with their colleagues, this does not always occur. This study aims to use the conservation of resources theory to explain why employees who experience greater time pressure are more likely to engage in knowledge hiding; it further considers how this behavior may be moderated by these employees’ prosocial motivation and perspective taking. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses quantitative multi-study research design as a combination of two-wave field study among 313 employees at an insurance company and a lab experimental study. Findings In the field study (Study 1), the authors find that perceived time pressure is positively related to knowledge hiding. Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by prosocial motivation: employees who perceive greater time pressure hide knowledge only when they are low in prosocial motivation. An experiment (Study 2) replicates these findings, and finds that perspective taking mediates the moderating effect of prosocial motivation on the relationship between time pressure and knowledge hiding. Research limitations/implications Despite its many contributions, the present research is also not without limitations. Study 1 was a cross-lagged sectional field study with self-reported data (although the two-wave design does help alleviate common-method-bias concerns). Causality concerns were further alleviated by using additional experimental study. Practical implications The paper highlights important reasons why people hide knowledge at work (because of experienced time pressure) as well as identifies two interlinked potential remedies (prosocial motivation and perspective taking) to reduce knowledge hiding. Originality/value This paper contributes to expanding nomological network of knowledge hiding construct by extending the set of known antecedents and contingencies.
Sitar, Alesa Sasa; Pahor, Marko & Škerlavaj, Miha (2018)
Learning-structure fit Part II: Empirical examination of the relationship between employee learning and formalization, specialization, and standardization of work
Interpersonal trust is associated with a range of adaptive outcomes, including knowledge sharing. However, to date, our knowledge of antecedents and consequences of employees feeling trusted by supervisors in organizations remains limited. On the basis of a multisource, multiwave field study among 956 employees from 5 Norwegian organizations, we examined the predictive roles of perceived mastery climate and employee felt trust for employees' knowledge sharing. Drawing on the achievement goal theory, we develop and test a model to demonstrate that when employees perceive a mastery climate, they are more likely to feel trusted by their supervisors at both the individual and group levels. Moreover, the relationship between employees' perceptions of a mastery climate and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing is mediated by perceptions of being trusted by the supervisor. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Su, Chunke & Huang, Meikuan (2017)
The moderating effects of national culture on the development of organisational learning culture : A multilevel study across seven countries [Reprint from JEEMS, Vol. 18, Iss. 1, 2013]
Steger, Thomas; Lang, Rainhart & Rybnikova, Irma (red.). Management in CEE Countries between 1996 and 2016: Emerging and Enduring Issues [Special Issue, JEEMS, Journal of East European Management Studies]
Dysvik, Anders; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
Rings of fire: Training for systems thinking and broadened impact
Brown, Kenneth G (red.). The Cambridge Handbook of Workplace Training and Employee Development
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders, Nerstad, Christina G. L. & Su, Chunke (2017)
Riding two horses at once: The combined roles of mastery and performance climates in implementing creative ideas
Culturally diverse colleagues can be valuable sources for stimulating creativity at work, yet only if they decide to share their knowledge. Drawing on the social exchange theory, we propose that cross-cultural interactions among individuals from different national backgrounds can act as a salient contingency in the relationship between knowledge hiding and creativity (individual and team). We further suggest, based on the social ategorization theory (e.g., the categorization process of “us” against “them” based on national differences), that cultural intelligence enhances the likelihood of high-quality social exchanges between culturally diverse individuals and, therefore, remedies the otherwise negative relationship between individual knowledge hiding and individual creativity. Two studies using field and experimental data offer consistent support for this argument. First, a field study of 621 employees nested among 70 teams revealed that individual knowledge hiding is negatively related to individual creativity and that cultural intelligence moderates the relationship between knowledge hiding and creativity at an individual level. A quasi-experimental study of 104 international students nested in 24 teams replicated and extended these findings by implying that individual knowledge hiding is also negatively related to team creativity. We discuss the implications for practice and future research.
Social and economic leader-member exchange and employee creative behavior: The role of employee willingness to take risks and emotional carrying capacity
In the current study we explore the relational aspect of leadership for stimulating employee creative behavior. Drawing on leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, we propose that the association between two distinct types of leader-member exchange relationships (social [SLMX] and economic [ELMX]) and creative behavior is mediated by employee willingness to take risks and moderated by emotional carrying capacity. Based on two-wave data from a sample of 147 employees, we surprisingly find only marginal support for the association between SLMX and creative behavior, and, as expected, we find no support for the association between ELMX and creative behavior. We do find evidence of the full mediation of willingness to take risks in these two associations. Furthermore, we also find a positively significant interaction of SLMX with emotional carrying capacity (ECC), but no support for the interaction of ELMX with ECC in predicting employee creative behavior. We contribute to a deeper view of understanding the leadership of employee creativity as a relational process, contingent upon both employee characteristics as well as the nature of leader-member exchange.
Aleksic, Darija; Mihelic, Katarina Katja, Černe, Matej & Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
Interactive effects of perceived time pressure, satisfaction with work-family balance (SWFB), and leader-member exchange (LMX) on creativity
Purpose – Drawing on role theory, the paper aims to investigate a curvilinear relationship between employee’s perceived overall time pressure and creativity. Apart from this, we explore a three-way interaction of perceived time pressure, satisfaction with work-family balance (SWFB), and leader-member exchange (LMX) on creativity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports a quantitative study of 251 employees from a European company. An online survey was used to collect data. The proposed hypotheses were tested using moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Findings – Results demonstrate a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between perceived time pressure and creativity. Results further confirm the proposed three-way interaction of perceived time pressure, SWFB and LMX as joint predictors of creativity. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional research design limits the ability to demonstrate causality. Moreover, the data were collected from a single source causing concern for common method bias. Nonetheless, recent research suggests that common method bias cannot create an artificial interaction effect. Originality/value – This study is one of the rare attempts to examine a curvilinear relationship between perceived time pressure and creativity. Moreover, it contributes to the work-family literature by providing the first empirical examination of the linkage between SWFB and creativity. Furthermore, we find a three-way interaction between time pressure, SWFB and LMX, and creativity. Our findings broader our understanding of how personal and contextual factors interact to foster creativity
Černe, Matej; Hernaus, Tomislav, Dysvik, Anders & Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
The Role of Multilevel Synergistic Interplay among Team Mastery Climate, Knowledge Hiding, and Job Characteristics in Stimulating Innovative Work Behavior
This study investigates the multilevel interplay among team-level, job-related, and individual characteristics in stimulating employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB) based on the theoretical frameworks of achievement goal theory (AGT) and job characteristics theory (JCT). A multilevel two-source study of 240 employees and their 34 direct supervisors in two medium-sized Slovenian companies revealed significant two- and three-way interactions, where a mastery climate, task interdependence, and decision autonomy moderated the relationship between knowledge hiding and IWB. When employees hide knowledge, a team mastery climate only facilitates high levels of IWB if accompanied by either high task interdependence or high decision autonomy. In the absence of one of these job characteristics, knowledge hiding prevents higher levels of IWB even in the case of strong team mastery climate. The results suggest that multiple job design antecedents are necessary to neutralize the negative influence of knowledge hiding on micro-innovation processes within organizations.
Wong, Sut I; Škerlavaj, Miha & Černe, Matej (2017)
Build Coalitions to Fit: Autonomy Expectations, Competence Mobilization, and Job Crafting
Human Resource Management, 56(5), s. 785- 801. Doi: 10.1002/hrm.21805
Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Prososial motivasjon: du blir inspirert av gode gjerninger overfor andre … og deg selv
Buch, Robert; Dysvik, Anders & Kuvaas, Bård (red.). Produktiv motivasjon i arbeidslivet
Bogilovic, Sabina & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence: Superpowers for creativity in a culturally diverse environment
Economic and Business Review, 18(1), s. 55- 76. Doi: 10.15458/85451.18
Škerlavaj, Miha; Dysvik, Anders, Černe, Matej & Carlsen, Arne (2016)
Succeeding with capitalizing on creativity: an integrative framework
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Hudovernik, Janez; Škerlavaj, Miha & Černe, Matej (2016)
Proactive employee behaviors and idea implementation: three automotive industry cases
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Černe, Matej; Sumanth, John & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Everything in moderation: authentic leadership, leader–member exchange and idea implementation
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Černe, Matej; Škerlavaj, Miha & Dysvik, Anders (2016)
Supportive supervision: a crucial factor for unlocking the potential of highly creative ideas perspective
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Trošt, Jana Krapež & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Should our heart rule our head? Team innovation through intuition and rationality
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Černe, Matej; Kaše, Robert & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
This idea rocks! Idea championing in teams
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Bogilovic, Sabina; Škerlavaj, Miha & Wong, Sut I (2016)
Idea implementation and cultural intelligence
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Aleksic, Darija; Škerlavaj, Miha & Dysvik, Anders (2016)
The flow of creativity for idea implementation
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Černe, Matej; Carlsen, Arne, Škerlavaj, Miha & Dysvik, Anders (2016)
Capitalizing on creativity: on enablers and barriers
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (red.). Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Carlsen, Arne (2016)
Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Edward Elgar Publishing.
Černe, Matej; Kaše, Robert & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Non-technological innovation research: evaluating the intellectual structure and prospects of an emerging field
Krapez Trost, Jana; Škerlavaj, Miha & Anzengruber, Johanna (2016)
The ability-motivation-opportunity framework for team innovation : efficacy beliefs, proactive personalities, supportive supervision and team innovation.
Economic and Business Review, 18(1), s. 77- 102. Doi: 10.15458/85451.17
Aleksić, Darija; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
I want to be creative, but … preference for creativity, perceived clear outcome goals, work enjoyment, and creative performance
Stereotipi o medgeneracijskem sodelovanju v podjetjih : študija primerov slovenskih podjetij = Stereotypes about intergenerational cooperation in companies : case study of Slovene companies
Congruence of leader self-perceptions and follower perceptions of authentic leadership: Understanding what authentic leadership is and how it enhances employees' job satisfaction
This study aims to design and test a model examining the antecedents of management innovation at the organizational level. We propose internal knowledge exchange as a crucial predictor of management innovation and examine the mediating effect of IT system development, as well as the moderating effect of organizational size in the examined relationship. We test the model using structural equation modeling and hierarchical moderated regression analysis on data gathered from 604 firms in three countries: Slovenia, Spain, and South Korea. The results indicate a crucial role of knowledge exchange for management innovation, as this link is positive, very strong and significant in all three countries. In addition, our study provided evidence that knowledge exchange results in management innovation through developed IT systems that enable the information and knowledge to flow within an organization, as well as that the relationship between knowledge exchange and management innovation is hindered by firms’ size.
Černe, Matej; Jaklič, Marko & Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Decoupling management and technological innovations: Resolving the individualism–collectivism controversy
This study aims to resolve the contradictory previous research findings on the relationship between individualism–collectivism and innovation. We draw on innovation theory and relate to the difference between non-technological (management) and technological innovation types as well as to the distinction between exploration and exploitation (invention and commercialization of technological innovations). Using Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2006 micro data for innovation at the organizational level in 13 countries – along with Hofstede, 1980 and Hofstede, 2001, GLOBE (2005), and Schwartz (2006) scores for individualism–collectivism – we apply Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The results indicate that individualism is positively related to the invention phase, whereas collectivism is beneficial for the commercialization of innovative ideas. Furthermore, in collectivistic cultures, management innovation plays a more important stimulating role in enhancing technological innovation than it does in individualistic ones. This provides the managers with an idea of when innovation processes in their companies would be more favorable versus detrimental.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Su, Chunke & Huang, Meikuan (2013)
The moderating effects of national culture on the development of organisational learning culture : a multilevel study across seven countries
This study aims to propose and empirically test a multilevel model of cross-level interactions between authentic leadership and innovation at the team level, and perception of support for innovation and creativity at the individual level. We use data from 23 team leaders and 289 team members in a Slovenian manufacturing and processing firm engaged in producing innovative products and customer solutions and conduct a multilevel analysis using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). The results indicate that whereas perceived team leaders’ authentic leadership directly influences team members’ individual creativity and team innovation, the impact of self-ascribed team leaders’ authentic leadership was not significant. In addition to that, the relationship between team leaders’ authenticity and creativity is mediated by perception of support for innovation. Using a multilevel approach, this is the first study to our knowledge to quantitatively examine the relationship between authentic leadership and creativity and innovation. In addition, unlike previous research on related topics that relied solely on one source of information, we examine authentic leadership with empirical data gathered from both team leaders and their employees.
Krapez, Jana; Škerlavaj, Miha & Groznik, Ales (2012)
Contextual variables of open innovation paradigm in the business environment of Slovenian companies
Economic and Business Review, 14(1), s. 17- 38.
This article addresses the current condition of Slovenian business environment and its support to open innovation. By carrying out qualitative empirical research, we investigate to what extent determinants from internal, narrower and broader external business environment influence open innovation in Slovenian companies. Several support mechanisms were established to create friendlier environment for open innovation. Our study indicates that if Slovenia wants to be successful on the long run, supportive environment cannot and should not be based solely on government financial support, but must also contain other elements that affect technological development, meaning: 1) organizational culture, values, reward system; 2) legislation; 3) tax and social contributions; 4) bureaucratic barriers; 5) human resources; and 6) favorable bank loans, bank guarantees, venture capital, etc. The paper concludes with implications for managers and policy makers, outlining several promising areas for future research.
Strong organizational cultures or corporate cultism? : investigating the interplay of transformational leadership, organizational identification and employee engagement.
[Academic lecture]. Integrating organizational research : individual, team, organizational and multilevel perspectives : 6th International Conference on Management and Organization : conference abstracts.
Growing Givers at Work: A Systems Approach to Prosocial Agency
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Meeting 2018.
Harrison, Spencer; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2018)
Weaving Tapestries, Building Towers: Repeat Creativity in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Meeting 2018.
Škerlavaj, Miha & Vidovič Škerlavaj, Urška (2018)
Zvezde ali ozvezdja?
[Popular scientific article]. HRM: strokovna revija za ravnanje z ljudmi pri delu
Članek naslavlja dva široko uveljavljena mita o talentih, ki so jih raziskave v zadnjih dveh desetletjih odločno zavrnile. Prvič, ljudje niso talenti, ampak imajo talente. Drugič, zvezde niso zvezde, ampak so dejansko ozvezdja. Uspešnost najboljših posameznikov je izjemno pogojena z ljudmi in organizacijskim kontekstom, ki jih obdajajo. V razmislek ponujava več praktičnih predlogov za krepitev vključujočega modela razvoja talentov kar najširšega kroga članov organizacije.
Dysvik, Anders; Carlsen, Arne & Škerlavaj, Miha (2018)
Good relations are golden
[Popular scientific article]. BI Business Review
Bogilovic, Sabina; Černe, Matej, Škerlavaj, Miha & Berry, James (2018)
Creative Sparks: Task Conflict, Cultural Intelligence, and Creativity
[Academic lecture]. Israel Organizational Behavior conference.
Dysvik, Anders & Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
In search of innovative work behaviour
[Popular scientific article]. BI Leadership Magazine, s. 18- 19.
Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
Guiando ideas altamente creativas hacia la innovacion
[Popular scientific article]. Mundo Empresarial
Carlsen, Arne; Dysvik, Anders & Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
Growing Givers at Work: A Systems Approach to Prosocial Agency
Actual-Wanted Task Identity Incongruence, Creative Bootlegging and Innovative Work Behavior
[Academic lecture]. 77th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.
Bogilovic, Sabina; Škerlavaj, Miha, Černe, Matej & Berry, James (2017)
Creative sparks: Task conflict, cultural intelligence, and creativity
[Academic lecture]. EAWOP 2017.
Bogilovic, Sabina & Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
Person-organization value congruence and creativity
[Academic lecture]. EAWOP 2017.
Zweig, David; Scott, Kristyn A., Bogilovic, Sabina, Connelly, Cathrine E., Černe, Matej, Škerlavaj, Miha, van Dyne, Linn, Sarabi, Almasa, Min Toh, Soo & Robinson, Sandra (2017)
All quiet on the organizational front : knowledge hiding and silence
[Academic lecture]. The 32nd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Škerlavaj, Miha (2017)
Tick tock : time pressure, prosocial motivation, perspective taking, and knowledge hiding
[Academic lecture]. Research seminars in Organization Studies.
Bogilovic, Sabina; Connelly, Catherine, Černe, Matej, Škerlavaj, Miha & van Dyne, Linn (2017)
Conceptual and Empirical Differences and Similarities Between Knowledge Hiding and Silence
[Academic lecture]. 2017 SIOP Conference.
Hernaus, Tomislav; Černe, Matej & Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Going the extra mile? : cross-training, relational job design and extra-role behavior of high-skilled and low-skilled workers.
[Academic lecture]. V: 10th International Workshop on Human Resource Management.
Škerlavaj, Miha (2016)
Leading creative ideas to innovation
[Popular scientific article]. BI Advantage, 3, s. 18- 19.
Inovacije v managementu vstopajo v igro : njihov pomen v razmerju med tehnološkimi inovacijami in finančno uspešnostjo = Management innovation enters the game : re-considering the link between technological innovation and financial performance
[Academic lecture]. Organizacija in ravnateljevanje globalnih podjetij : usklajevanje v različnih kulturah.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders, Nerstad, Christina G. L. & Su, Chunke (2013)
Different, different but same : the combined roles of mastery and performance climates in implementing creative ideas in China and Slovenia
[Academic lecture]. 1st China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Conference on Cross-Cultural Dialogue, Education & Business.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Černe, Matej, Dysvik, Anders, Nerstad, Christina G. L. & Su, Chunke (2013)
The combined roles of mastery and performance climates in implementing creative ideas
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Annual Meeting.
Humborstad, Sut I Wong & Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Building Coalitions for Job Crafting: Leader-subordinate Autonomy Expectation (In)Congruence and Subordinate Perceived Competence Mobilization
[Academic lecture]. BI Leadership and organizational behavior friday seminar series.
Bogilović, Sabina & Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Vpliv kulturne inteligentnosti na razmerje med konfliktom glede na nalogo in ustvarjalnostjo v kulturno raznolikem okolju
[Academic lecture]. Organizacija in ravnateljevanje globalnih podjetij : usklajevanje v različnih kulturah.
Aleksić, Darija; Krapez, Jana & Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Work organisation and innovation : case study : company X, Slovenia
[Report]. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
Pfajfar, Lea & Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Zavzetost zaposlenih za delo: spodbudimo jo z ustreznim oblikovanjem delovnih mest in povezav med zaposlenimi
[Popular scientific article]. HRM: strokovna revija za ravnanje z ljudmi pri delu, 11(53), s. 28- 33.
Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Organizational networks
[Academic lecture]. lecture to executive postgraduate students.
Černe, Matej; Nerstad, Christina G. L., Dysvik, Anders & Škerlavaj, Miha (2013)
Kar seješ, to žanješ
[Article in business/trade/industry journal]. MQ Revija Združenja Manager, s. 26- 27.
Groznik, Ales & Škerlavaj, Miha (2012)
Business plan MBAR : Master of Business Administration in Research and Development
[Report]. COBIK.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Aleksic, Darija & Krapez, Jana (2012)
Work organizational innovation case study - Mercator group
[Report]. Institute for Employment Studies.
Škerlavaj, Miha; Pahor, Marko, Pustovrh, Ales & Černe, Matej (2012)
Evalvacija aktivnosti SID banke v obdobju 2007-2010 z oceno vpliva krize na prihodnji razvoj tržnih vrzeli: evalvacijsko poročilo (Development bank evaluation study)
[Report]. Universitz of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics.
Krapez, Jana; Škerlavaj, Miha & Groznik, Ales (2012)
Contextual variables of open innovation paradigm within and around Slovenian companies
[Academic lecture]. Advances in Business-Related Scientific Research Conference.
Černe, Matej; Kaše, Robert & Škerlavaj, Miha (2012)
The intellectual structure of the non-technological innovation field : an author co-citation analysis
[Academic lecture]. 9th International Conference on Innovation and Management..
The non-technological types of innovation are neither clearly defined, nor are they differentiated from each other, from other forms of innovation, from innovation in general, and from creativity. Hence we use co-citation analysis based on bibliometrics to produce a quantitative literature review that results in identification of key areas of research within the non-technological innovation literature. It enables us to find out where the knowledge base comes from in each of the areas. By using articles as the units of analysis and incorporating all the citations that are included in the ISI Web of Science, we trace the evolution of the intellectual structure of the non-technological innovation field during the period 1975–2011.
Černe, Matej & Škerlavaj, Miha (2012)
Too creative to innovate: a curvilinear relationship between employee creativity and individual innovation
In two field studies we contribute to bridging the gap between separated research streams on creativity and innovation by providing a more precise assessment of the relationship between employee creativity and innovation at the individual level . In Study 1, we found a curvilinear inverse U-shaped relationship between employee creativity and innovation. Moving beyond the person-centric perspective in examining this relationship, we propose a moderating effect of perceived supervisor support. We indicate it contributes to shaping the relationship between creativity and innovation to be more linear . In Study 2, we replicate results of the first study in addition to examining decision autonomy as a moderator in the investigated relationship. We find similar results as in case of supervisor support; decision autonomy buffers the curvilinearity of the relationship between employee creativity and individual innovation. We found support for the view that empowerment in the form of autonomy and close, supportive relations instead of tight monitoring and control are more suitable for stimulating implementation from creative behaviors .
Černe, Matej; Jaklič, Marko & Škerlavaj, Miha (2012)
Management and technological innovation: unveiling the individualism-collectivism controversy
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Annual Meeting.
This study aims to unveil contradictory past research findings on the relationship between individualism-collectivism and innovation. It does so by examining the role of this national culture dimension in enhancing different innovation types (management, technological) at different stages of the innovation process. Using Community Innovation Survey 2006 micro data for innovation at the organizational level in 13 countries and Hofstede (1980, 2001), GLOBE (2005) and Schwartz (2006) scores for individualism-collectivism, we apply Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to explain how this national culture dimension predicts technological innovation at different stages (in the form of propensity to innovate and innovative performance). We also investigate how individualism-collectivism dimension moderates the relationship between management innovation and technological innovation. The results indicate individualism to be positively related to propensity to innovate because emphasis on personal freedom allows individuals to think and act creatively, but collectivism is positively associated to innovative performance, where social interaction and collaboration are more important for commercialization of innovative ideas. Furthermore, interaction effects demonstrate that in collectivistic cultures, management innovation plays a more important stimulating role in enhancing technological innovation than in individualistic ones.
Černe, Matej; Nerstad, Christina G. L. & Skerlavaj, Miha (2012)
Don’t come around here no more: Knowledge hiding, perceived motivational climate, and creativity
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Annual Meeting.
Academic Degrees
Year
Academic Department
Degree
2007
University of Ljubljana
Ph.D.
2003
University of Ljubljana
Master of Science
2001
University of Ljubljana
Bachelor
Work Experience
Year
Employer
Job Title
2019 - Present
University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business
Professor of Management
2019 - Present
University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business
Vice-dean for Research and Doctoral Studies
2019 - 2021
BI Norwegian Business School
Adjunct Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior
2015 - 2018
BI Norwegian Business School
Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior
2013 - 2018
University of Ljubljana
Adjunct Associate Professor in Management
2013 - 2015
BI Norwegian Business School
Associate Professor
2013 - 2013
University of Ljubljana
Associate Professor in Management
2011 - 2013
BI Norwegian Business School
Adjunct Associate Professor
2008 - 2013
University of Ljubljana
Assistant Professor in Management
2010 - 2011
University of Ljubljana
Head of the Quality Assurance Committee and CEQUAL (Center for Quality Assurance and Learning)
2010 - 2010
University of Castilla, La Mancha, Spain
Visiting Professor
2008 - 2009
University of Ljubljana
Project Manager for AACSB Assurance of Learning Goals