The Dual-Edged Sword Effect of Didactic Leadership on Employee Creativity in Chinese Military Technology Enterprises

This study investigates the impact of didactic leadership on employee creativity in Chinese military technology enterprises. Drawing on social information processing theory, the study examines the mediating roles of exploitative learning and exploratory learning, and the moderating effect of proactive personality. A sample of 426 employees and their leaders was surveyed using a three-stage, employee-leader 1:1 pairing method. The results show that didactic leadership has a positive effect on exploitative learning but a negative effect on exploratory learning. Both exploitative and exploratory learning significantly impact employee creativity, serving as mediating variables. Furthermore, proactive personality positively moderates the relationship between didactic leadership and exploitative learning, while negatively moderating the relationship between didactic leadership and exploratory learning. The findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the dual-edged sword effect of didactic leadership on employee creativity and offer practical implications for Chinese enterprises to enhance creativity through leadership and personal development strategies.