Project Leadership Competence and Knowledge Sharing as Predictors of Creative Work Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Team Collaboration in Pakistan’s IT Project Teams

This study investigates how project leadership competence and knowledge sharing enhance creative work behaviour among employees working in Pakistan’s information technology (IT) project teams. The study further examines the mediating role of team collaboration, aiming to identify how collaborative project environments translate leadership and knowledge dynamics into creativity. A quantitative survey method was used to gather data from IT project coordinators, team leads, software developers, and system analysts employed in software houses across Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi. Using purposive sampling, 420 usable responses were collected. Smart-PLS 4.0 was employed to assess the measurement and structural models. The study utilized two independent variables (project leadership competence and knowledge sharing), team collaboration as a mediating variable, and creative work behaviour as the dependent variable. Team collaboration emerged as a strong partial mediator, indicating that leadership and knowledge initiatives become more impactful when supported by a collaborative project culture. The model demonstrated strong explanatory power and predictive accuracy, confirming its robustness within IT project settings in Pakistan.