Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Information & Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/im

Enterprise social networking usage as a moderator of the relationship T

between work stressors and employee creativity: A multilevel study
Guanqi Dingb, Hefu Liua, Qian Huanga, , Jibao Gua
⁎

a
University of Science And Technology of China, School of Management, Jinzhai Road 96#, Hefei, Anhui, China
b
Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, School of Marketing and Logistics Management, Jiangsu Sheng, 210031, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Enterprise social networking (ESN) techniques have been widely adopted by organizations to provide a platform
Enterprise social networking for public communication among employees. Based on the job demand–control–support model and commu-
Challenge stressors nication visibility theory, this study investigates how the relationships between the perceived work stressors of
Hindrance stressors employees (i.e., challenge and hindrance stressors) and their creativity are moderated by team task- and re-
Employee creativity
lationship-oriented ESN usage. We used the hierarchical linear model to test this multilevel model. Results of a
survey of 260 employees in 72 groups indicate that two ESN usage types differentially moderate the relationship
between work stressors and employee creativity. Specifically, task-oriented ESN usage positively moderates the
effects of the two types of stressors on employee creativity, whereas relationship-oriented ESN usage negatively
moderates the relationship between hindrance stressors and employee creativity. Theoretical and practical
implications are also discussed.

1. Introduction limitations [4,9,62]. First, previous studies have typically con-

ceptualized work stressors as a one-dimensional concept, whereas work
Employee creativity is considered as a critical source of organiza- stressors involve both positive and negative elements [79]. Collapsing
tional competitiveness [28,81,86]; however, promoting such creativity such positive and negative elements into one concept may eliminate
“also translate into increasing levels of work stressors such as high job their potentially differential effects [11]. A study that investigates how
demands” [65, p. 141]. The existing literature has empirically ex- different types of work stressors, such as challenge and hindrance
amined the relationship between work stressors and employee crea- stressors, affect employee creativity in a single model will extend our
tivity [9]. However, the findings of these studies have been challenged understanding of this domain. Second, prior research has largely ne-
by the emergence of a new group of information technologies (IT) in the glected the contextual effects of the new workplace condition re-
workplace, especially enterprise social networking (ESN) constructed by IT on the stressors–creativity linkage. Some scholars
[13,16,26,85]. ESN, such as Yammer and Jive, has been widely adopted have explored contingencies, such as the self-regulatory [65] and per-
by organizations to support team members in communicating and col- sonality traits of employees [9] and organizational climate [62], to
laborating with each other [75]. The prevalence of ESN is not only scrutinize the stressors–creativity link [65,88]. However, their findings
changing workplace communication and coordination but also pro- suffer a lack of IT contextualization, thereby limiting our understanding
viding considerable opportunities and challenges in stress management of the digital conditions under which work stressors affect employee
and creativity development [26,45,84]. Thus, scholars have indicated creativity.
that a team’s various usage of ESN may influence the outcomes of team Given the inconsistent findings, promoting creativity among
members perceiving different work stressors; however, such an effect stressed employees under specific contexts presents a considerable
may not be equal among members [15]. Accordingly, they have ques- challenge to managers. To improve the creativity of employees, man-
tioned the relationship between the perceived work stressors of em- agers realized that changes in the workplace such as team’s ESN support
ployees and their creativity to consider under team ESN usage condi- must occur to fit the stressor management of each member. For ex-
tions. ample, a team’s ESN usage could help team members solve problems by
Previous studies have extensively explored the relationship between increasing their access to information and their ability to communicate
work stressors and employee creativity. However, they still had several with other members [18]. However, different usages could cause

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: huangq@ustc.edu.cn (Q. Huang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.04.008
Received 15 August 2016; Received in revised form 17 April 2019; Accepted 23 April 2019
Available online 24 April 2019
0378-7206/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
G. Ding, et al. Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

different reactions in team members and require them to adjust in constructs because they were viewed by employees as opportunities or
various ways [70]. In this view, some scholars have indicated the obstacles for individual creativity in this study.
special role of various ESN usages in the workplace. For example [15], Furthermore, JDCS emphasizes the moderating roles of job control
reported that two facets of IT support (i.e., personal assistance and and social support in the relationship between work stressors and em-
resources support) could be associated with less stress and strain. Cer- ployee outcomes [29]. Job control specifically reflects the extent to
tain scholars have further proposed that using ESN for tasks may fa- which employees can control their tasks and general work activities
cilitate professional knowledge acquisition, distribution, and transfor- [29]. Social support refers to the overall level of helpful social inter-
mation through message transparency, whereas using ESN for action available on the tasks from supervisors and colleagues [36]. The
socialization can help maintain and develop interpersonal relationships JDCS proposes that job control and social support could help employees
through network translucence [6,45,51]. However, few studies have leverage the effect of stressful demands on their outcome [34,35]. For
empirically tested the different moderating roles of various ESN usages example, job control may leverage the effect of stressful demands on
in the stressors–creativity relationship. employee outcome because it enables employees to decide how and
To address the above gaps, the current study aims to explore the when to perform their work tasks or duties [4]. Social support could
moderating role of team ESN usage on the relationship between the moderate the effect of stressful demands on employee outcome by
perceived work stressors of employees and their creativity based on the achieving emotional and practical support from supervisors and col-
job demand–control–support model (JDCS) [34] and communication leagues.
visibility theory [45]. Specifically, JDCS argues that employee perfor- Previous research has applied JDCS to explore the interaction effect
mance is directly determined by their job demands, which refers to the among job demands, job control, and social support [29]. However, few
“psychological stressors involved in accomplishing the workload” [37, studies have specified job control and social support in a certain con-
p. 291]. Accordingly, we propose that work stressors could be directly text, such as the IT context. These two job characteristics have also been
associated with employee creativity. To specify the association, we tested in both group and individual level assessments [17,41,53,80].
further adopt the challenge − hindrance stressor framework introduced For example, Langfred [41] explored the effect of autonomy (i.e., work
by [11]. Challenge stressors are “good” stressors that can be easily control) at individual and group levels on group cohesiveness and
managed; overcoming these stressors could provide employees with Wang, Liu, Zhan and Shi [80] have tested the group-level moderation of
opportunities for growth [11]. By contrast, hindrance stressors are social support on the relationship between family–work conflict and
commonly appraised as “bad” stressors; they are usually difficult to individual alcohol use. Following these research, job control and social
manage and can hinder individual growth [11]. We propose that these support were treated as group-level constructs in the IT contingent
two work stressors could affect employee creativity in various ways. because such IT-enabled job control and social support depend on other
Furthermore, JDCS argued that “job control and social support in- group members’ behavior.
teract with job stressors to reduce levels of employee strain” [14], p. 1]. [45] Proposed communication visibility theory to explore the job
This finding indicates that the stressors–creativity linkage should be control and social support roles of ESN in a team. This theory argues
leveraged by both job control and social support. In this view, we ca- that transparent communication within a team enables employees to
tegorize team ESN usage into task- and relationship-oriented ESN improve their awareness of who knows what and who knows whom
usages [51] and propose that these two could separately incur job [45]. Thus, ESN could ensure message transparency and network
control and social support in a team based on communication visibility translucence in the team, which are necessary for the job control and
theory. This theory indicated that ESN usage could increase message social support of employees [10,19,45]. Specifically, ESN ensures
transparency and enhance network translucence [45]. From this per- message transparency in the team by enabling previously created and
spective, task-oriented ESN usage typically focuses on completing tasks published content to remain visible and permanently accessible [78].
and assisting employees to control their tasks with increased message Under this condition, employees in a team with high ESN usage would
transparency, whereas relationship-oriented ESN usage emphasizes find it easier to seek and collect useful knowledge and experience with
maintaining and developing social relationships and provides social transparent messages and to approach appropriate members to ask for
support for employees with enhanced network translucence. To test the knowledge [45]. Thus, team ESN usage could allow employees to have
proposed model, the current study uses a data set obtained from teams increased options to rearrange their work schedule and to decide how
in various industries in China. This data set is used to develop a mul- to accomplish creative tasks with rich knowledge and experience. In
tilevel model that examines how the task- and relationship-oriented short, team ESN usage gives employees more decision authority to forge
ESN usages of a team shape the influence of the perceived work stres- ahead with their tasks. What’s more, message transparency in team
sors of employees on their creativity. increases ESN users’ belief and ability to identify, understand, and ask
for the specific skills he/she needs [44,46]. Thus, team ESN usage may
2. Theoretical background and literature review improve employees’ skill discretion, which reflects the opportunity to
utilize specific job skills at work [20]. Skill discretion and decision
2.1. Job demand–control–support model and communication visibility authority are two components of job control so that task-oriented ESN
theory usage gives expression to employees’ control of their job.
Meanwhile, ESN ensures network translucence by visualizing the
Scholars have increasingly emphasized the research on the potential behaviors, preferences, and communication networks of team members
moderators of the influence of work stressors on employee outcomes [72], thereby facilitating them to achieve social support. In brief, the
[9,62,65,88]. The notions of control and support have been extensively feature of ESN, network translucence, provides a primary way that
investigated as moderators of the stressor–outcome relationship, and it users of ESN build, enhance, and maintain their social relationship
is depicted by JDCS [37]. The JDCS specifies three essential job char- [23]. Scholars have shown that network translucence can increase
acteristics, namely job demands, job control, and social support, which employee engagement as users learn about the personal and profes-
can vary in a workplace setting and influence individual attitudinal and sional contexts of their colleagues and, thus, have both the impetus and
behavioral reactions [29,37,52]. Based on this model, job demands useful information with which to approach to relationships develop-
reflect the psychological stressors involved in accomplishing workload ment [67,68,82]. Network translucence also enables ESN users to ex-
demands, dealing with time pressures, and handling job-related per- pand the range of members through reactivate dormant ties and
sonal conflict that employees perceived in the workplace [12]. Such maintain a set of “latent ties” [23,49,58]. The establishment of a
demands have been widely proposed as the significant factors influen- “connection” with someone through ESN suggests that the user is in-
cing employee outcomes. Demands were treated as individual-level terested in initiating or reinforcing a social relationship. Connections

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G. Ding, et al. Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

among peers often produce a form of homophily, which has also been members to “(1) communicate messages with specific coworkers or
associated with stronger network ties among virtual teams and im- broadcast messages to everyone in the organization; (2) explicitly in-
proved providing social support through ESN [87]. This paper therefore dicate or implicitly reveal particular coworkers as communication
suggested employees could benefit from the translucent social interac- partners; (3) post, edit, and sort text and files linked to themselves or
tion through ESN and achieve social support, including emotional and others; and (4) view the messages, connections, text, and files com-
practical support. In summary, team ESN usage would help employees municated, posted, edited, and sorted by others in the organization at
control their job better and achieve social support from supervisors and any time.” [45, p.799]
colleagues because of message transparency and network translucence Although preceding technologies, such as email and video con-
in the team [45]. ferencing, have allowed employees to do one of the first three activities,
ESN is unique and transformational in supporting these three activities
2.2. Work stressors and making them visible at the team level, rather than at the individual
level [72,76]. As communication visibility theory indicates, using ESN
Work stressors are derived from job demands that could evoke stress in a team could facilitate team members to control tasks and achieve
processes and require adaptive responses [50]. Scholars have in- social support by message transparency and network translucence [45].
vestigated the effect of work stressors on job satisfaction, turnover, Message transparency in the team could specifically facilitate each ESN
organizational commitment, productivity, and creativity. Empirical user to generate ideas, solve problems, and coordinate tasks [63],
evidence supports the negative effects [27] and positive outcomes of whereas network translucence in the team allows each ESN user to
work stressors [24]. Some scholars have attributed such mixed findings demonstrate the social ties with each other, thereby building and
to the existing one-dimensional conceptualization of work stressors maintaining network relationships [6]. In this view, the literature in-
[11,47,50]. The literature indicates that employees could perceive dicates that team ESN usage could be categorized into task- and re-
certain work stressors that could be manageable because they regard lationship-oriented ESN usages [40].
these stressors as under their control [11]. Thus, such stressors could Task-oriented ESN usage reflects the extent to which a team applies
result in opportunities for growth if employees overcome them. How- ESN to plan, clarify, and monitor tasks, such as setting their team’s
ever, some stressors could be perceived as unmanageable, and these goals, planning how a task is completed, and deciding on the best
stressors could hinder opportunities for employee growth [11]. course of action when problems arise. Such usage could help realize
Accordingly, categorizing work stressors into challenge and hin- message transparency in the team, thereby facilitating each user to
drance stressors is considered the best approach to understand work flexibly arrange work and consequently enhance job control [40,45].
stressors [47,50,57]. Challenge stressors stem from job demands that Relationship-orientated ESN usage refers to the extent to which the
involve workload, time pressure, and responsibility, which could pro- team implements ESN to build and maintain personal relationships by
mote mastery, personal growth, and achievement [11,47,83,88]. Hin- listening, encouraging, and supporting each other. Such usage could
drance stressors emerge from job demands that involve role ambiguity help improve network translucence in the team, thereby enabling each
and job insecurity that potentially constrain personal development and user to easily achieve social support from supervisors and colleagues
work-related accomplishments [11,47,83,88]. Existing literature in- [6]. This categorization indicates that task- and relationship-oriented
dicates that challenge stressors lead to positive outcomes, whereas ESN usages are not mutually exclusive. However, understanding the
hindrance stressors are negatively related to similar outcomes [47,59]. various roles of task- and relationship-oriented ESN usages in the
Findings on the negative effects of hindrance stressors on employee workplace, especially their moderating roles in the relationship be-
performance are fairly consistent, but results on the role of challenge tween the work stressors perceived by employees and their creativity,
stressors are inconsistent [65]. Thus [33], stated, “it is also proposed in remains limited.
most models, either explicitly or implicitly, that the relationship be-
tween workplace stressors and such outcomes is moderated by a 3. Research framework and hypotheses development
number of different factors (i.e., demographic characteristics, personal
traits, the social environment, etc.).” In this section, we develop a research model to explain the role of
Table 1 shows that scholars have widely explored the potential team ESN usage in setting a contextual condition under which em-
moderators in the relationship between work stressors and employee ployees’ perceived work stressors affect their creativity in multilevel, as
outcomes. Although these studies have helped in understanding the depicted in Fig. 1. We applied the JDCS model and stressor literature to
relationship between stressors and outcomes, few studies have con- propose that challenge stressors are positively related to employee
sidered the new change in the current workplace brought by the creativity, whereas hindrance stressors are negatively related to em-
emergence of ESN in workplace [16,26]. An increasing number of ployee creativity. Furthermore, we integrated JDCS with communica-
scholars have realized that the implementation of IT has broad and tion visibility theory to propose that team task- and relationship-or-
indirect organizational effects [13,55,69]. [1], for example, presented iented ESN usages could serve as job control and social support to
that IT usage could help improve the knowledge and adaptability of differently moderate the relationship between work stressors and em-
employees [45]. Further indicated that the introduction of ESN into the ployee creativity.
workplace could facilitate the visibility of communication and co-
ordination within a team. Unfortunately, no study has empirically in- 3.1. Work stressors and employee creativity
vestigated the potentially moderating role of ESN usage in the influ-
encing mechanism of work stressors on employee creativity. As the JDCS model proposed, various job demands may incur dif-
ferent reactions from employees, thereby influencing their creativity
2.3. Enterprise social networking usage [37,52]. In the existing literature, challenge stressors have been widely
appraised as employee-perceived manageable stressful demands with
Team ESN usage refers to the extent to which a team implements the potential for personal growth and goal attainment [11,47,83,88].
ESN inside an organization for business or commercial purposes. Many When stressors were perceived manageable, they could evoke positive
leading firms, such as General Motors, IBM, HP, Microsoft, and Deloitte, reactions from employees, such as attentiveness, eagerness, and con-
implemented ESN to encourage employees to share professional and fidence, which lead to active problem-solving [64,79]. Thus, em-
personal information [43,56]. The allure of these technologies is often ployees’ perceived high challenge stressors, such as responsibility, are
seen in an increased ability to foster team communication and colla- more likely to consider creative activities to effectively deal with a task
boration within organizations [45]. Team ESN usage enables team [62]. Therefore, when engaged in challenging tasks, challenge stressed

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Table 1
Summary of major study on the moderating roles on the relationship between stressors and varies employee outcome.
Source Methodology Independent Variable Dependent Variable Moderator Context

[88] Survey Challenge stressors Hindrance stressors Employee Job Performance Leadership: Transactional leadership 339 employees and 88 supervisors in China
Transformational leadership automobile manufacturing And pharmaceutical
organizations
[79] Survey Challenge Stressor Hindrance Stressor Role-based Performance Organizational Support 215 employees of the Louisiana Office of Motor
Vehicles
[65] Study 1: Challenge Stressors Creativity Promotion Focus Prevention Focus Study 1: 150 UK students
Experiments; Study 2: 123 R&D team members and 36 leaders
Study 2: Survey
[2] Survey Experienced Creative Time Pressure Creativity Openness to Experience 170 employees
Support for Creativity

4
[42] Survey Felt Accountability (viewed as stressor) Job Satisfaction Commitment Work Intensity Employee Perceptions of P-E fit Sample 1: 534 employees
Depressed Mood Sample 2: 190 employees
[31] Survey Interpersonal Conflict (a work stressor) Negative Affect Agreeableness Social Support 82 US employees
[4]　 Survey Positive Affect Negative Affect Time Pressure Situational Creativity Job Control 90 GER employees
Constraints
[33] Survey Work-related stressors: Work Overload Work Hours Task Job satisfaction Organizational Commitment Self-efficacy Group-level Collective 2273 US army soldiers
Significance Self-efficacy Group-level Collective Efficacy Psychological Strain Physical Symptoms Efficacy
[39] Web-based survey Perceived Training Intensity (viewed as stressor) Knowledge Sharing Intrinsic Motivation Social Exchange 914 Norway employees
Economic Exchange
[9]　 Meta-analysis Stress Stimuli Creative Performance Uncontrollability 76 studies
Social–evaluative threats Trait anxiety
[48] Survey Challenge Stressors Hindrance Stressors Task Performance Charismatic Leadership Study 1: 149 US enlisted Marines and 33 unit leaders
Study 2: 270 US enlisted Marines and 92 unit leaders
[38] Survey Role Ambiguity Role Novelty Job Satisfaction Task Performance Work Perceived Organizational Support 125 Japanese expatriate managers in Germany
Adjustment Perceived Supervisor Support
[7] Survey Perceived Training Intensity Knowledge Sharing Perceived Supervisor Support Perceived 230 employees
Job Autonomy
Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165
G. Ding, et al. Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

Fig. 1. Research model.

employees would as much as possible try creative solutions, which stressed employees were motivated to engage in creative tasks because
enhance creativity [8]. Meanwhile, challenge stressors could bring they perceived these tasks to be manageable [11,47,83,88]. Team task-
potential benefits for employees, which motivate them to recruit re- oriented ESN usage could show all issues, such as plans, schedules,
sources to fully engage in creative tasks and sustain their efforts. These changes, and statuses of creative tasks, thereby realizing message
positive reactions have important implications for employee creativity transparency in the team [45,63]. Such message transparency facilitates
[2,54]. For example, time pressure can push employees to increase ef- challenge stressed employees to acquire important information to
forts and concentrate on creative tasks, thereby promoting creative manage these tasks and encourages them to contribute to teamwork
thinking. In summary, employees’ perceived challenge stressors could and to provide creative suggestions to solve team problems. Thus, in a
be positively related to their creativity by triggering positive reactions. team with low task-oriented ESN usage, challenge stressed employees
may assume they have low job resources to manage their jobs and
Hypothesis 1. Employees’ perceived challenge stressors are positively
become less likely to engage in complex problem solving and creativity
related to their creativity.
to meet stressful demands. By contrast, in a team with high task-or-
By contrast, hindrance stressors have been defined as stressful de- iented ESN usage, where messages are transparent, challenge-stressed
mands beyond manageable by employees and might obstruct opportu- employees would regard such usage as a platform through which job
nities for personal benefit and future gain [11,79]. Specifically, when resources are achieved to manage task and to engage in creativity.
stressors were perceived unmanageable, they would induce negative Second, challenge-stressed employees were motivated to engage in
reactions such as anger, fear, and frustration among employees [25]. creative tasks because they perceived that they can achieve potential
For example, employees who feel that their role is ambiguous and that benefits [47,50,57]. Message transparency brought by team task-or-
their job is insecure may resort to passive behaviors, such as avoiding iented ESN usage allows employees to acquire and evaluate colleagues’
work or performing tasks passively on purpose. Under this condition, messages, including task plans and updates, requests for help, and
hindrance-stressed employees would encounter difficulty in exerting summaries of past tasks, when they want to conduct creative tasks
any effort on creative tasks. Meanwhile, hindrance stressors may hinder [40,45]. Message transparency would help challenge stressed em-
opportunities for employee growth [11], which makes employees ployees obtain insightful understanding about the potential benefits of
withdraw from the current situation. Such negative motivation may creative tasks, such as promotion or personal development [45]. In
prevent employees from developing and using creative thinking. For summary, in a team with high task-oriented ESN usage, challenge
example, employees who faced job insecurity would experience diffi- stressed employees would have a clear understanding of stressful de-
culty increasing their efforts and concentrating on creative tasks, mands, thereby enhancing their motivation to invest time and efforts to
thereby preventing creative thinking. In summary, employees’ per- undertake creative activities [3].
ceived hindrance stressors, which trigger their negative motivations,
Hypothesis 3a. Team task-oriented ESN usage could strengthen the
may be negatively related to their creativity.
positive relationship between the perceived challenge stressors of
Hypothesis 2. Employees’ perceived hindrance stressors are negatively employees and their creativity.
related to their creativity.
For hindrance stressors, the reason for their lesser influence on
employee creativity in teams with higher task-oriented ESN usage is the
3.2. Moderating role of team task-oriented ESN usage same as that for challenge stressors: the greater the message transpar-
ency, the more job control is present for addressing stressful demands.
Based on JDCS, job control could help employees acquire necessary For hindrance stressed employees, their motivation of engaging in
job resources, which enable them to manage and actively cope with creative tasks would be limited because they perceived such tasks as
stressful demands [29]. Communication visibility theory further in- unmanageable [11,47,83,88]. In teams low in task-oriented ESN usage,
dicates that team task-oriented ESN usage could provide ESN-enabled the absence of message transparency and the associated job control may
job control to help employees acquire information resources due to the increase uncertainty about the appropriate means to engage in creative
message transparency in the team [45]. In this view, we propose that tasks. To avoid role ambiguity and job insecurity, hindrance-stressed
team task-oriented ESN usage could help employees leverage their employees tend to avoid creative tasks in the team.
perceived challenge stressors to improve creativity. First, challenge By contrast, in teams high in task-oriented ESN usage, the details of

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creative tasks posted by colleagues would enable employees to imitate the team and the associated social support may increase the frustration
effective means of addressing stressful demands. Message transparency of hindrance stressed employees on ways of handling creative tasks.
in a team may stimulate or at least make hindrance-stressed employees Thus, these employees would hesitate to engage in creative tasks in the
worry less about role ambiguity and job insecurity when they engage in team because of their worry about role ambiguity and job insecurity.
creative tasks [63]. Under this condition, hindrance-stressed employees By contrast, in teams high in relationship-oriented ESN usage, net-
would face less dispositional barriers in trying new approaches and work translucence in the team may facilitate hindrance stressed em-
easily clarify uncertainties by team discussion and problem solving ployees to seek help, support, and encouragement from others in order
[29]. In summary, team task-oriented ESN usage that facilitates job to validate the appropriateness of their emotions and reduce their fear
control could diminish the negative consequences of employees’ per- and anxiety [66], thereby buffing the negative effect of hindrance
ceived hindrance stressors on their creativity because such usage rea- stressors on creativity. Specifically, relationship-oriented ESN usage
lizes message transparency and encourages team members to discuss could help employees easily and rapidly identify someone to turn to for
different approaches. support and help within a translucent network. The ESN-enabled social
support not only provides employees with encouragement and assis-
Hypothesis 3b. Team task-oriented ESN usage could weaken the
tance, it also conveys expectations of creativity [2]. For example, net-
negative relationship between the perceived hindrance stressors of
work translucence could help set some expert employees as positive
employees and their creativity.
role models to other members for how they might revaluate hindering
situations, thereby weakening the perception that they are threatening
3.3. Moderating role of team relationship-oriented ESN usage [48]. In sum, relationship-oriented ESN usage that facilitates social
support could diminish the negative relationship between hindrance
According to JDCS, social support could help stressed employees stressors and employee creativity because such usage realizes network
enhance positive emotional reactions to cope with stressful demands translucence and motivates team members to engage in creative tasks.
[29,36]. Communication visibility theory further indicates that team
Hypothesis 4b. Team relationship-oriented ESN usage could weaken
relationship-oriented ESN usage could act as the ESN-enabled social
the negative relationship between the perceived hindrance stressors of
support to enable employees acquire emotional and practical support
employees and their creativity.
based on network translucence in the team [6,45]. In this perspective,
we expect that challenge stressors will improve employee creativity.
However, this potential can be further released when the team has 4. Research methods
higher relationship-oriented ESN usage. First, team relationship-or-
iented ESN usage could make all relationships between team members 4.1. Sample and data collection
visible, thereby leading to network translucence in the team [45]. Such
network translucence could facilitate challenge-stressed employees to A questionnaire survey was conducted to test our hypotheses. We
achieve emotional and practical support, such as encouragement, ap- identified organizations that allow employees to apply ESN. These or-
proval, recommendation, and comments from supervisors and collea- ganizations are located in eastern China, which is one of the most de-
gues in order to manage creative tasks. Both emotional and practical veloped regions in the country. An increasing number of organizations
support would further motivate them to engage in teamwork and to are adopting social networking in their routine work. We invited 100
share creative ideas. Thus, in a team with low relationship-oriented ESN organizations to participate in the survey, and 36 agreed. We collabo-
usage, challenge-stressed employees may assume they cannot achieve rated with the department managers of these organizations. We in-
social support to manage creative tasks; thus, they become less likely to troduced the research topic to all potential respondents and assured
engage in such tasks. However, in a team with high task-oriented ESN them of data confidentiality. We examined functional departments be-
usage, network translucence makes challenge-stressed employees re- cause such departments (1) formed their smallest functional unit, (2)
gard such usage as an effective approach to achieve social support from reported directly to the same supervisor, and (3) worked together on a
supervisors and colleagues in order to manage creative tasks; thus, they permanent basis.
tend to engage in such tasks. Data collection was accomplished through e-mail and web-based
Second, network translucence caused by team relationship-oriented survey. We received 340 responses from employees in 96 departments,
ESN usage allows challenge-stressed employees to realize the potential which is equivalent to a 44.10% response rate. We eliminated depart-
benefits of engaging in creative tasks. In teams with higher relationship- ments with fewer than three completed questionnaires. Our final
oriented ESN usage, challenge-stressed employees would have a higher sample consisted of 260 individuals from 72 departments. The size of
feeling of being connected to others and a higher sense of belonging- departments ranged from 3 to 9 members, and the average size was
ness, thereby facilitating them to realize the potential benefits of 3.61 members. Table 2 shows the demographic information of the
stressful demands [71,77]. Enhancing the emotional energy of em- participants.
ployees such as vigor and enthusiasm is beneficial to challenge demand, We tested potential nonresponse bias in the current study by com-
thereby motivating them to engage in creative processes. In this view, paring key measures of the first and final 25% of the respondents. No
in a team with high task-oriented ESN usage, challenge-stressed em- significant differences were observed between these two groups, which
ployees tend to perceive their team members to be facilitative of their indicate that nonresponse bias was not relevant.
efforts to be creative and feel more comfortable directing their attention
and efforts toward creative activities. 4.2. Measures
Hypothesis 4a. Team relationship-oriented ESN usage could
Measurement was developed based on previously validated mea-
strengthen the positive relationship between the perceived challenge
sures in related literature. To ensure the face and content validity of the
stressors of employees and their creativity.
questionnaire, we invited three researchers from information systems
We expect that the negative influence of hindrance stressors on and human resources to conduct a review. Revisions were made based
employee creativity would be attenuated because of network translu- on their comments and suggestions. Revisions included clarifying cer-
cence. Hindrance stressors lead to individually focused cognitions and tain words of several items, changing the format of the questionnaire,
mental separation from team knowledge structures because negative and re-sequencing the questions. We translated the original English
emotions and motivations are induced [27,50]. In teams low in re- version instrument into Chinese following the translation committee
lationship-oriented ESN usage, the absence of network translucence in approach suggested by [73]; this approach was adopted because the

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Table 2 oriented ESN usage), we assessed within- and between-group homo-

Sample demographic. geneity to determine if aggregation is viable within naturally occurring
Individual Group groups [5]. First, we assessed within-group homogeneity using rwg (j)
statistic. According to [32], an rwg (j) equal to or greater than 0.70 in-
Freq. Percent Freq. Percent dicates sufficient within-group agreement. The result indicates that
task- and relationship-oriented ESN usages were normally distributed,
Gender Group size
Male 157 60.4 1–5 11 15.3 and their rwg (j) means were 0.75 and 0.77, respectively.
Female 103 39.6 6–10 30 41.6 Second, we computed the variance and associated infraclass corre-
Age 11–15 26 36.1 lation coefficients (ICCs) to assess homogeneity. ICC (1) indicates the
Less than 30 174 66.9 16 or more 5 7.0 proportion of variance explained by group membership, whereas ICC
31–40 82 31.5 Group history
(2) estimates the reliability of the means [61]. If ICC (2) is greater than
More than 40 4 1.6 6 months or less 5 7
Education 6–12 month 14 19.4 or equal to 0.70, we can assume that group means are reliably different.
Associate degree 24 9.2 1–3 years 22 30.6 We use the formulas reported in [5], in which ICCs for team task-or-
Bachelor 149 57.3 3 years or more 31 43.0 iented ESN usage were given as ICC (1) = 0.22 and ICC (2) = 0.51;
Master/PhD 87 33.5
ICCs for team relationship-oriented ESN usage were ICC (1) = 0.12 and
Department
Production 10 3.8
ICC (2) = 0.35. All other indices supported aggregation. A small ICC (2)
R&D 121 46.5 value could be attributed to small group sizes, whereas a subpar ICC (2)
Marketing 36 13.8 score was compensated for by a high rwg .
Human Resource 13 5.0 To provide a comprehensive test of a multilevel data structure, we
Purchasing 3 1.2
applied an advanced analytical technique called multilevel factor ana-
Financing 11 4.2
Administration/Logistics 14 5.4 lysis [22]. We used a five-step procedure [22] to assess data structure.
Others 52 20.1 First, we used LISREL to perform confirmatory factor analysis on the
Total 260 100.0 72 100.0 constructs of challenge and hindrance stressors, task- and relationship-
oriented ESN usages, and employee creativity. We constructed a model
with these five factors, and the fit indices were acceptable (five-factor
research was conducted in China. A committee translated the original model: χ2 = 629.26, df = 2242, p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.079, CFI =
English questionnaire into Chinese and then translated it back to Eng- 0.96, IFI = 0.96, and NFI = 0.94). The model fit with five factors was
lish, thereby ensuring the equivalence of meaning between the English compared with the fit of four potential alternatives. The first alternative
and Chinese versions. model was a four-factor model that collapsed challenge and hindrance
The scales used to measure work stressors, team ESN usage, and stressors into one stressor (four-factor model: χ2 = 1158.67, df = 246,
employee creativity are shown in the Appendix A. The items used to p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.120, CFI = 0.92, IFI = 0.92, and NFI = 0.90).
measure challenge and hindrance stressors were adapted from [11]. All The second alternative was a three-factor model that collapsed task-
items were scored using a response scale, in which “1″ means “no and relationship-oriented ESN usage into one ESN usage (three-factor
stress” and “7″ means “a great deal of stress.” An example of the 6-item model: χ2 = 2396.10, df = 249, p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.182, CFI =
challenge stressors scale was “The volume of work that must be ac- 0.83, IFI = 0.83, and NFI = 0.81). We then tested a two-factor model
complished in the allotted time.” One item in the four-item hindrance by collapsing all moderators and independent variable in one factor
stressor scale was “The lack of job security I have.” (two-factor model: χ2 = 4332.47, df = 251, p < 0.01, RMSEA =
We measured task- and relationship-oriented ESN usage using the 0.251, CFI = 0.70, IFI = 0.71, and NFI = 0.69) and a one-factor model
items developed based on [30,40], and [51]. The items were scored (one-factor model: χ2 = 4915.73, df = 252, p < 0.01, RMSEA =
using a Likert response scale, in which “1″ means “strongly disagree” 0.267, CFI = 0.66, IFI = 0.67, and NFI = 0.65). Data modeled at the
and “7″ means “strongly agree.” An example of the 10-item scale for individual level demonstrated that the five-factor model provided good
task-oriented ESN usage is “Deciding how to go about our team’s work.” fit that was better fit than those of the other models.
An example of the eight-item relationship-oriented ESN usage scale is Table 3 shows the mean values, standard deviations, and correla-
“Encouraging team members when they’re upset.” tions among variables. One interconstruct correlation was higher than
We measured employee creativity by using the three-item scale re- the benchmark of 0.60. Furthermore, we conducted multicollinearity
ported by [21]. The items were scored using a Likert response scale, in test, which showed that the highest variance inflation factor (VIF) was
which “1″ means “strongly disagree” and “7″ means “strongly agree.” A 1.641 and the lowest tolerance value was 0.610. The VIF values were all
sample item is “I believe I am usually very creative in my solutions to less than 10, and the tolerance values were all higher than 0.10.
work problems.” Therefore, multicollinearity was not a significant problem in our study.
Employee creativity may be affected by certain group or individual
characteristics. We included two group-level control variables, namely 4.4. Hypotheses test
group history and group size, as well as four individual-level control
variables, namely gender, age, education level, and department. We use hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the hypotheses
on cross-level interaction about the moderating influence of ESN usage
4.3. Validation of multilevel data structure on the relationship between job stressors and employee creativity. HLM
has been widely applied to test variance in outcome variables when
Perceptual data were collected from a single source at one point in predictors are at hierarchical levels. Following [60], we grouped mean-
time. Thus, common method bias might be an issue in this study. We centered individual-level (Level 1) variables, except for gender vari-
applied Harmon’s one-factor test to assess common method bias. ables. Team-level (Level 2) variables were not centered to reduce pos-
Results showed that all items could be categorized into five constructs sible problems with multicollinearity [61]. Table 4 summarizes the
with eigenvalues greater than 1.0, thereby accounting for 77.02% of results of HLM analysis. First, we tested a null model without entering
variance. The first construct did not account for majority of the var- predictors. We then introduced individual- (Step 1) and team-level
iance (32.76%), which suggests that common method bias was not a variables (Step 2), and we simultaneously tested all cross-level inter-
serious issue in our study. actions (Step 3).
This study included individual- and group-level constructs. For H1 predicted that challenge stressors are positively related to em-
group-level constructs (task-oriented ESN usage and relationship- ployee innovation. Results indicated that challenge stressors had a

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G. Ding, et al. Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

Table 3
Mean, standard deviations, and correlations among study variables.
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1. Gender 1.40 0.490 NA

2. Age 2.35 0.508 −0.181** NA
3. Education 3.24 0.619 −0.007 0.043 NA
4. Department 3.87 2.494 0.209** −0.227** 0.000 NA
5. Group size 2.39 1.142 0.021 0.014 −0.055 −0.021 NA
6. Group history 3.97 1.233 0.027 0.239** 0.035 −0.043 0.110 NA
7. Task-oriented ESN usage 3.65 1.720 0.005 −0.229** −0.116 0.235** 0.071 −0.087 0.947
8. Relationship-oriented ESN usage 4.48 1.652 0.083 −0.216** −0.125* 0.132* 0.009 −0.042 0.556** 0.939
9. Challenge stressors 4.63 1.187 −0.109 0.043 −0.064 −0.024 0.041 0.061 0.209** 0.172** 0.931
10. Hindrance stressors 3.56 1.401 −0.090 −0.096 −0.011 0.153* 0.079 0.040 0.202** 0.119 0.233** 0.838
11. Employee creativity 4.93 1.173 −0.028 0.056 −0.086 −0.039 −0.037 −0.101 0.154* 0.242** 0.382** −0.112 0.868

Note. n = 260. Task-oriented ESN usage and relationship-oriented ESN usage scores were calculated as group-level means and assigned back to individual employees.
Internal consistency estimates (i.e., coefficient alpha) are shown on the diagonal in bold. (*p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01).

Table 4 moderating effects.

HLM Results.
Variable Coefficient S.E. t X2 Model 5. Discussion
Deviance
The present study develops a multilevel model in which the team-
Null model
Intercept 4.928 *** 0.081 60.820 71 0.000
level contextual factors of ESN usage moderate the effects of individual-
Level 1 variables level relationship between work stressors and employee creativity. We
Gender 0.010 0.145 0.066 253 0.948 explored the different influences of challenge stressors and hindrance
Age 0.195 0.180 1.086 253 0.279 stressors on employee creativity and the various moderating roles of
Education −0.112 0.154 −0.723 253 0.470
task-oriented ESN usage and relationship-oriented ESN. Theoretical and
Responsibility 0.020 0.053 0.370 253 0.711
Challenge stressors 0.414*** 0.073 5.665 253 0.000 practical implications are outlined below.
(ChalS)
Hindrance stressors −0.129* 0.063 −2.057 253 0.040 5.1. Theoretical implications
(HindS)
Level 2 variables
Group size −0.014 0.104 −0.138 67 0.891 As the JDCS proposes, work stressors stem from stressful job de-
Group history −0.036 0.086 −0.422 67 0.674 mands and play a critical role in affecting employee outcomes [37,52].
Task-oriented ESN usage 0.144 0.098 1.464 67 0.148 Despite extensive previous research from this perspective, the nature of
(TESN)
the relationship between work stressors and employee creativity re-
Relationship-oriented 0.031 0.111 0.278 67 0.784
ESN usage (RESN) mains equivocal. Previous studies rooted in JDCS have indicated a
Cross-level interactions negative relationship between stressful job demands and employee
ChalS*TESN 0.179* 0.090 1.992 245 0.047 outcomes. Transcending the traditional conceptualization of work
HindS*TESN 0.240** 0.084 2.867 245 0.005 stressors as a unidimensional construct, the current study distinguishes
ChalS*RESN −0.142 0.094 −1.506 245 0.133
HindS*RESN −0.233* 0.093 −2.498 245 0.013
challenge and hindrance stressors in the IT-supported workplace con-
text. Our findings include three primary contributions to extant litera-
No. of Employees = 260; No. of groups = 72. ture.
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). First, the current study provides insightful understanding on work
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). stressors research by resolving inconsistent findings regarding the re-
lationship between work stressors and employee creativity. Specifically,
significant and positive relationship with employee innovation JDCS mainly indicate the negative outcomes of stressful demands.
(γ = 0.414, p < 0.05). Thus, H1 was supported. Hindrance stressors However, [11] and [79] pointed out that the existing literature has
were also significantly related to employee innovation (γ = -0.129, largely ignored the positive effects of work stressors; thus, they re-
p < 0.05). Hence, H2 was also supported. present an oversimplification of the context in which stressors operate.
H3a proposes that task-oriented ESN usage strengthens the re- By applying the challenge-hindrance stressors framework [11], we de-
lationship between challenge stressors and employee creativity. Results viate from the unidimensional conceptualization of work stressors by
indicate that the interaction between task-oriented ESN usage and examining the differential roles of challenge and hindrance stressors in
challenge stressors was significant (γ = 0.179, p < 0.05), thereby affecting employee creativity. Our findings confirm that challenge
supporting H3a. H3b predicted that task-oriented ESN usage weakens stressors are positively related to employee creativity, whereas hin-
the negative relationship between hindrance stressors and employee drance stressors are negatively related to employee creativity. These
creativity. This interaction was positive and significant (γ = 0.249, findings enrich the stressors–creativity literature by addressing the call
p < 0.01). Thus, H3b was supported. for “different stress stimuli may work through distinct mechanisms to
In addition, H4a states that relationship-oriented ESN usage differentially affect creativity” [9, p2].
strengthens the positive relationship between challenge stressors and Second, the current study developed and tested an IT contingent
employee creativity. Results showed that this interaction was nega- view of work stressors by accounting for the moderating roles of task-
tively significant (γ = -0.142, p > 0.05). Thus, H4a was not supported. and relationship-oriented ESN usages. By combining the JDCS model
H4b predicted that relationship-oriented ESN usage weakens the ne- and communication visibility theory, the present study expands our
gative relationship between hindrance stressors and employee crea- understanding on the moderating effect of two types of ESN usage by
tivity. We found that this interaction was negative and significant (γ = exploring the job control and social support role of ESN in a team. The
-0.233, p < 0.05), thereby not supporting H4b. As shown in Figs. 2 and findings present that task-oriented ESN usage could act as the positive
3, we followed the graphical procedure to analyze further the job control to strengthen the positive relationship between challenge

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Fig. 2. Moderating effect of task-oriented ESN usage on the relationship between work stressors and employee creativity.

interruption and decrease productivity, but it is only effective for hin-

drance-stressed employees. By contrast, task-oriented ESN usage would
not interrupt employees and could increase their creativity, regardless
of whether employees are challenge- or hindrance-stressed. The present
study helps us understand whether ESN actually provides value to or-
ganizations and extends our understanding about the role of ESN usage
in the workplace.
Finally, the current study offers additional empirical insights be-
yond JDCS and communication visibility theory. Although JDCS pro-
posed the moderating role job control and social support in the influ-
encing mechanism of job demand, few studies have specified the
control and support in the IT context. By investigating the moderating
role of task- and relationship-oriented ESN usage, we integrate the
perspective of communication visibility theory with JDCS, which not
only enriches the JDCS but also extends communication visibility
Fig. 3. Moderating effect of relationship-oriented ESN usage on the relationship
theory to the stress literature.
between hindrance stressors and employee creativity.

stressors and employee creativity, as well as weaken the negative re- 5.2. Practical implications
lationship between hindrance stressors and employee creativity. These
findings are consistent with the perspective of JDCS, which proposes Our findings offer several implications for managers to apply ESN to
the positive role of job control in leveraging the influence of job de- inspire creativity among stressed employees. First, we suggest that
mands [4,29]. Meanwhile, the findings extend communication visibility managers be aware of the need to distinguish between challenge and
theory to the stressors literature and enrich the JDCS literature; that is, hindrance stressors when promoting employee creativity. Not all
task-oriented ESN usage could serve as an important job control factor stressful demands lead to poor performance. Managers could help em-
through its provision of message transparence. ployees perceive the responsibility and workload of their job demands
However, our findings present that relationship-oriented ESN usage when they conduct creative tasks. Meanwhile, we suggest that man-
cannot leverage the positive relationship between challenge stressors agers be cautious about hindrance stressors that prevent employees
and employee creativity, whereas it strengthens the negative relation- from proposing creative thinking. Specifically, managers should do
ship between hindrance stressors and employee creativity. These find- their best to clarify the role of each employee and decrease the con-
ings are inconsistent with our hypotheses and the perspective of JDCS fusion about each role relative to the team. This clarification would
and communication visibility theory. The findings indicate the negative motivate employees to engage in creative tasks, which then improve
role of relationship-oriented ESN usage in the workplace. Thus, al- their creativity. Furthermore, managers should be cautious in threa-
though relationship-oriented ESN usage could result in social support tening employees when promoting them to engage in creative tasks.
for employees, it could also make employees lose their focus, thereby Such threats would make employees perceive high job insecurity,
possibly eliminating the positive role of relationship-oriented ESN thereby negatively influencing their creativity.
usage [74]. For example, personal communication posts on ESN may Second, our findings indicate that the effect of work stressors de-
attract employee attention and promote frequent browsing and pends on team ESN usage. Managers should adapt their stress sources to
checking of nonwork-related information and communication. Such a reflect the implementation of ESN. Thus, managers should focus and
form of distraction tend to limit the employees’ attention on creative promote team task-oriented ESN usage, which helps all employees
tasks, which, in turn, leads them to exert reduced effort and persistence achieve job control and addresses the challenge of stressful demands.
at work, thereby decreasing the positive role of social support that they For example, managers could digitalize task-related processes and en-
attained from relationship-oriented ESN usage. courage employees to use ESN to plan, clarify, and monitor team tasks.
Thus, our findings indicate that for challenge-stressed employees, Meanwhile, managers can arrange ESN training to help employees to
the social support achieved from relationship-oriented ESN usage is not learn how to use ESN to address their tasks and better use it to control
their prior concern when they engaged in creative tasks because of the their job. However, managers should control the relationship-oriented
potential negative effects. However, for hindrance-stressed employees, ESN usage in the team. Although team relationship-oriented ESN usage
the negative effects of relationship-oriented ESN usage became domi- may provide social support for stressed employees, such support cannot
nant compared to their achieved social support. These findings extend help them effectively address stressful demands. Managers should set
our understanding about the controversy of using ESN in the workplace the rules for relationship-oriented ESN usage in the team and train
[13,55]. Thus, relationship-oriented ESN usage could increase employees to focus on acquiring social support from such usage.

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G. Ding, et al. Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

5.3. Limitations and future research 4 Foster a cohesive department atmosphere.

5 Be positive role models to new members of the depart-
The contributions of the findings of this study should be considered ment.
in light of its limitations. First, although this study applied multilevel Employee creativity
data to test the hypotheses, the cross-sectional nature of the data pre- 1 Innovativeness is a must in my work.
vented us from testing the causal relationship in our model. A long- 2 Most of the time I am quite innovative in solving work
itudinal study would enrich our understanding by offering information problems.
on the causal relationships between independent and dependent vari- 3 I believe I am usually very creative in my solutions to
ables. work problems.
Second, this study investigated departments in Chinese firms, which
may limit the generalizability of our findings. However, China’s high References
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teams: behavioral, cognitive, and affective outcomes, Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Guanqi Ding is a lecturer in School of Marketing and Logistics Management at Nanjing
Process. 109 (1) (2009) 18–28. University of Finance and Economics. She earned her PhD degree with the University of
[58] A.H. Pitafi, H. Liu, Z. Cai, Informatics, investigating the relationship between Science and Technology of China. She has been doing research on enterprise social media,
workplace conflict and employee agility: the role of enterprise social media, knowledge management. She has published in Journal of Knowledge Management, and in
Telemat. Inform. 35 (8) (2018) 2157–2172. the academic conference ICIS and PACIS.
[59] N.P. Podsakoff, J.A. LePine, M.A. LePine, Differential challenge stressor-hindrance
stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover, and

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G. Ding, et al. Information & Management 56 (2019) 103165

Hefu Liu is a professor in School of Management at the University of Science and Qian Huang is an associate professor in School of Management at the University of
Technology of China. He earned his PhD degree with the University of Science and Science and Technology of China. She earned her PhD degree with the University of
Technology of China and City University of Hong Kong. He has published in Journal of Science and Technology of China and City University of Hong Kong. She has published in
Operations Management, Decision Support Systems, Information and Management, Information and Management, Information Systems Journal, and International Journal of
International Journal of Operations, and Production Management, and in the academic Electronic Commerce, and in the academic conference ICIS and PACIS.
conference ICIS, PACIS, and AMCIS.

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