Boosting Employee Creativity in SMEs: Double Mediation of Knowledge Management and Competitive Work Environment

Despite existing studies on creativity, examining human resource management practices alongside knowledge management models for constructing creativity remains lacking. This study investigates employee creativity in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia, using data from 508 respondents within a 254-sample frame and employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that human resource management practices and technological innovation significantly influence knowledge management and cultivate competitive work environments that foster creativity. The PLS-SEM model confirmed that human resource management practices and technological innovation have a significant direct effect on employee creativity, as well as indirect effects through knowledge management and competitive work environments. Knowledge management and competitive work environment served as double mediators in the mediation mechanism tested in this model. The findings provide practical insights for managers seeking to optimize human resources and technological innovation to enhance knowledge management and create competitive work environments that boost creativity.