How Flexible Work Arrangements Enhance Creativity in IT Employees: A Study of Psychological Empowerment and Leader-Member Exchange

Abstract

This study proposes to investigate the mechanism and boundary conditions linking Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) to employee creativity within Pakistan's critical Information Technology (IT) sector. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the research posits that FWAs enhance creativity not directly, but through the mediating psychological pathway of psychological empowerment. Furthermore, it hypothesizes that the quality of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) acts as a key moderator, amplifying or diminishing this effect. Employing a positivist, quantitative approach, a cross-sectional survey will be administered to a sample of 384 IT professionals. Data will be analyzed using moderated mediation techniques to test the integrated model. The study is poised to make significant theoretical contributions by validating and extending SDT in an under-researched context, while offering practical, evidence-based insights for IT managers and policymakers on how to strategically implement FWAs and cultivate leadership relationships to unlock the innovative potential of their workforce.