A Healthy Balance: The Effects of the Interaction between Work Autonomy and Work Demands on R&D Team Members' Creative Behavior and Taking Charge

ABSTRACT In the era of digital intelligence, how to improve the behavioral quality of R&D team members by granting work autonomy and proposing corresponding work demands is a pressing issue in the transformation of organizational management into digital intelligence. Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study investigates the effects of the interactions among work time autonomy, work method autonomy, and different types of work demands on team members' creative behavior and taking charge. By analyzing the two‐stage data of 233 paired samples of team members and leaders, the results showed that: Work time autonomy was significantly positively correlated with creative behavior and taking charge of team members, and work method autonomy was significantly positively correlated with creative behavior and taking charge of team members, while the interaction between work time autonomy and work method autonomy was significantly positively correlated with the team members' taking charge; the interactions among work time autonomy, work method autonomy and innovative job requirements positively affect team members' creative behavior and taking charge; while the interactions among work time autonomy, work method autonomy and high performance expectations negatively affect team members' taking charge. This study provides a way to realize scientific management in the period of digital intelligence transformation.