Keywords

Employee Empowerment Strategy, Organizational Ambidexterity, Creative Behavior, Jordanian Communications Companies.

Introduction

The world has witnessed many changes as a result of the revolutions in the fields of knowledge, technology and communications, which have produced a state of rapid growth, intense competition and expansion towards international business supremacy, which consequently led to the change of many of the previously prevailing concepts in the business sectors, and the emergence of new concepts and new data that did not emerge. It changed the mechanisms of work and competition and created new pressures, especially in the financial aspects and the ability to achieve returns that ensure survival and continuity, which prompted organizations and individuals alike to search for new tools, methods and strategies. It enables them to face those challenges, and then survive. Accordingly, the organizations had to increase their level of interest in their human elements more, therefor these elements represent as cornerstone in its operations, in order to achieve organizational efficiency and effectiveness &improve the level of individual, group, institutional performance, which is ultimately reflected in Increase the quality of product and services provided to their customers.

There are several modern methods and approaches to developing creativity, including the interest in the human resource and the work to improve and develop its capabilities by finding qualified individuals and granting them additional powers and supporting them with the necessary capabilities and means that facilitate the performance of their tasks and allow them to invent new methods and methods of work. And sophisticated help the organization to face its challenges, so empowering workers is one of the modern and effective administrative methods that aim to exploit the latent energies of workers and push them towards creativity and make more effort. Where empowerment is to give workers more powers and responsibilities and to motivate them to participate and initiate bold and effective decisions, in addition to granting them the freedom to determine appropriate ways to perform the tasks assigned to them, and this study aims to highlight the importance and role of empowering workers in promoting creativity through Applying some administrative practices such as: sharing information with employees and facilitating their access to it, granting them more independence in carrying out tasks related to their jobs, in addition to encouraging teamwork by relying on teams.

Beside, organizational ambidexterity is one of the topics that occupied a prominent position in the field of strategic management, as it contributes in improving the performance of organizations, through their ability to form flexible organizational structures capable of responding to rapid environmental changes, to keep pace with developments in the work environment, Identifying and satisfying customer needs, through its attempt to create new markets and develop modern distribution channels besides research and development programs, which leads to increasing the efficiency &effectiveness of these organizations and maintaining their sustainability and continuity (Eliz et al., 2018) .

In order for organizations to achieve a qualitative leap and distinguished performance, they must adopt a creative behavior that helps them develop their products and increase their profit rates, and achieve a suitable competitive advantage that enables them to survive and sustain in the labor market, by exploding the creative energies of their employees and directing their behavior. Accordingly, the ability of business organizations to achieve organizational ambidexterity depends mainly on the presence of a trained and empowered human resource with full powers to meet the needs of customers by satisfy their desires with continuous improvement, which leads to the creation of the appropriate organizational environment that motivates working individuals to do more performance and achieve the required creativity (Jan & Yang, 2012).

Therefore, the current study came to know the role of the employee empowerment strategy in achieving organizational ambidexterity in Jordanian telecom companies, with the existence of creative behavior as a mediating variable. The current study derives its theoretical importance from its discussion of vital, important and contemporary administrative issues that have a significant impact on the performance of business organizations in general and the performance of telecom companies in particular, especially these axes (employee empowerment, organizational ambidexterity and creative behavior) in addition to what the study can offer of creative productions and innovative work methods that can achieve a value addition for these companies to increase their capabilities and competitiveness. This study is distinguished from previous studies that its direct focus on the role of the strategy of empowering employees in achieving organizational ambidexterity through creative behavior in Jordanian telecom companies, due to the importance of the work of these companies and the kind of some of their goals related to social responsibility, where it is noticed by the researchers that it's the first study that links all these variables.

Likewise, previous studies have dealt with the issue of the strategy of empowering employees in terms of its effect on other variables other than organizational ambidexterity, in addition to the fact that foreign studies were conducted in organizational environments different from the Jordanian organizational environment, whose results do not give scientific indicators that can be generalized on the Jordanian environment.

This study is also distinguished from previous studies in terms of its independent variables which they dealt with, namely (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority). In terms of its dependent variables, which is organizational ambidexterity in its following dimensions (exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation and flexible organizational structure), and in terms of the mediating variable creative behavior with its following dimensions (flexibility and fluency), as none of the previous studies exposed these factors together.

Literature Review

Administrative Empowerment

The concept of Administrative Empowerment appeared at the end of the last century, Afandi (2003) defined it as “the process of giving individuals more power in exercising censorship, taking responsibilities and using their abilities by encouraging them to make a decision”, while Goetsch & Stanley (2006) indicate it as “the decree that provides employees with the authority, knowledge and resources to achieve the desired goals”. Quiz (2008) defines it as a new organizational strategy and skill aimed at giving employees the necessary powers and authority to perform their work without direct interference from management, after qualifying them professionally and behaviorally. Dora & Al-Sabbagh (2010) considers that empowerment is “giving employees the freedom, responsibility and full authority to make decisions related to their work and jobs”. While, Goetsch & Stanly (2006) defined it as “the decision that provides employees with the authority, resources and knowledge leading to the achievement of goals”.

Empowerment has many advantages and benefits that potential organizations and their employees can perceive, such as Employees’ feeling of job satisfaction and their ability to freely express their opinions and ideas, develop the sense of responsibility and enhance organizational loyalty (Judah, 2016). Increase the spirit of initiative, perseverance of employees in dealing with tasks and Increase the competitiveness of the organization by improving the type of products provided and the speed of response to customer needs (Brown, 1997).

Previous research efforts included several attempts to measure administrative empowerment among which we mention The studies of Al-Abdullah (2018); Baird & Haiyan (2009); Hechanova et al. (2006) and Ugboro & Obeng (2000) focused on administrative empowerment, The results of the study of Al-Abdullah (2018) mentioned that the dimensions of administrative empowerment (delegation of authority, teamwork, training and motivation) have an impact on improving the job performance levels of the employees of this company, but there is no such effect for effective communication. As for the study of Baird & Haiyan (2009 ) found there is an average level of employee empowerment in Australian organizations, as it showed that each of the organizational and cultural factors has a clear effect on the general level of employee empowerment, while the another study found that the University of Jordan Hospital adopts a strategy of administrative empowerment to update the level of TQM implementation, in addition to having a statistically significant impact of administrative empowerment on the application of TQM. But the study of Hechanova et al. (2006) concluded that there is a positive relationship between psychological empowerment on the one hand and job satisfaction and performance on the other hand, in addition to that male employees are more empowered than females, also that there are differences in the levels of empowerment according to the type of sector, where the level of empowerment increases in the hotel sector, airlines, food establishments and banks, and decreases in communication center s. Also the study of Ugboro & Obeng (2000) concluded that there is a strong relationship between Total Quality Management and all the subjects surveyed.

Organizational Ambidexterity

The main idea of organizational ambidexterity is based on the ability to deal simultaneously with the organization's various activities, ability to adapt with the changes taking place to achieve efficiency and flexibility in all administrative levels. Organizational ambidexterity has been mention as “the organization's ability to exploit the competencies available, in addition to their ability to explore new opportunities” (Danzinger & Dumbach, 2011), also considered as “the organization's ability to work two different things at the same time” (Walrave et al., 2010) and initiate that it is “the organization’s endeavor to achieve simultaneous exploration and exploitation systems for the market opportunity”.

As shared by researchers Shoo (2010) and Abu Zaid (2019) dimensions of organizational ambidexterity are represented in the following dimensions firstly Optimal investment of available opportunities It is represented in the organization's ability to meet the needs of existing customers in the current markets by increasing the distribution channels, or by creating new needs for the existing customers, or creating new uses for the existing products, which represent the potential for growth and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Secondly looking for new opportunities it represents the organization's ability to make optimal use of the new opportunities and the ability to adapt with market fluctuations; this requires introducing new products and searching for new customers. Finally Flexible organizational structure to increase the organization's ability to adapt with the accelerating environmental changes, by concentrate on the use of work teams in their various forms and by providing the opportunity for employees to participate in decision-making and empower them functionally.

Several studies have addressed the organizational ambidexterity in their titles, Abu Zaid (2019) found that the surveyed companies apply strategic thinking at a medium level, and the degree of organizational ambidexterity in them is also average. As for the results of the study Ibrahim (2019) indicated that the surveyed banking leaderships possessed the required organizational skill, which enabled them to achieve strategic success required. Whereas Sweis & Abdin (2019) the results of the study showed a positive correlation between the components of business intelligence systems and organizational ambidexterity.

Counsel et al. (2018) considered that organizational ambidexterity contributes significantly in improving the job performance of employees in these companies. As for the conclusion of Radi & Qasim (2018) which showed a correlation and a positive effect between strategic orientation and organizational ambidexterity. Study of Li (2016), it initiate that the diversity of the upper management team enables companies to combine the contradictory activities (exploration and exploitation) thus enhances the organizational ambidexterity of these companies.

Creative Behavior

Creative behavior is a major tool in the hands of organizations that seek ambidexterity, excellence and distinction, as it helps these organizations to optimize the use of their human and material resources alike. Organizations can increase the levels of creative behavior in them by creating the appropriate organizational climate and by encouraging and stimulating the creative energies of their employees (Qatawneh & Abu Taya, 2016). Noam (2017) defines creative behavior “as the distinctive behavior that an individual or group performs at the work site and it does not necessarily lead to the creation of new goods or services”. As for Narayanan (2001), she believes that “a distinct behavior of the individual or group which provides new concepts and ideas, may later be translated into goods and services”, while Linke & Zerfass (2011) defines it as “a process of creating new, unconventional ideas with added value, that helps to discover and exploit opportunities”.

Researchers agree that the elements of creative behavior are include firstly Fluency which means the ability of a person to give the largest possible number of good ideas to solve a problem during a certain period of time , secondly Flexibility which means the ability of a person to generate diverse, unconventional ideas (Al-Banna, 2017). Thirdly, authenticity means the ability of a person to find new, unprecedented or unfamiliar ideas. Fourthly, risk through the tendency to take the initiative in adopting new ideas, methods and ways of working and the willingness to take on the responsibilities that result from tha Finally sensitivity to problems which means the awareness of the existence of problems and the ability to diagnose them and provide appropriate solutions to them (Kreitner et al., 2003).

On the other hand there are many Studies focused on creative behavior, Riaz et al. (2018) mention that the progress of these organizations in their work depends primarily on the enthusiasm that the employees have in these organizations and their creative behavior. Although the study of Al-Qatawneh & Abu Tayeh (2017) considered a positive effect of administrative communication by its following dimensions (mission communication, performance communication, job communication, personal communication and response to communication) at the creative behavior of employees in Jordanian business organizations. While Rashwan (2017) initiated that there was a relevant relationship which has positive effect between the different leadership patterns and the creative behavior of employees in the surveyed banks. Also the results of Muhammadiyah (2016) mention that the level of job empowerment among employees in this board was high, and also that there is a positive impact of administrative empowerment in its various dimensions on the creative behavior of these employees beside the results of the study of the demonstrated a relationship to the culture of job empowerment in the creative thinking skills of these employees, It also showed that there are no differences attributed to the two variables (gender and educational qualification), while there are differences attributed to the variable of age in the following fields (participation in information, problem-solving and decision-making).

Model and Hypotheses:

Based on the previous literature, field contents of the study problem and towards developing systematic treatments for it, a hypothetical model was designed in Figure 1, which indicates the study variables and the logical relationships between them, as an expression of the temporary solutions proposed by the researchers, which can be reviewed as follows:

Study Variables

A-Independent Variables (Affecting) Exogenous Variables:

1- Empowering employees (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority).

2- Creative behavior (fluency, flexibility).

B-Dependent Variables (Affected): Organizational ambidexterity (exploratory innovation, investment innovation and flexible organizational structure).

Direct and Indirect Affects of the Study Variables

A-Direct effect

1. The direct impact of the employee empowerment strategy by its dimensions (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority) on organizational ambidexterity by its dimensions (exploratory innovation, investment innovation and flexible organizational structure).

2. The direct effect of the employee empowerment strategy by its dimensions (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment, delegation of authority) on creative behavior.

3. The direct effect of creative behavior on organizational ambidexterity by its dimensions (exploratory innovation, investment innovation and flexible organizational structure).

B-Indirect effect

The indirect effect of the employee empowerment strategy by dimensions (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority) on organizational ambidexterity by its dimensions (exploratory innovation, investment innovation and flexible organizational structure) through creative behavior as a mediating variable

Procedural Definitions of the Study Concepts

Job empowerment

It is a strategy based on training human resources and delegating the appropriate powers and authorities, as well as their participation in the decision-making process and strengthening mutual trust between management and employees in addition to enriching their jobs and increasing their knowledge.

Organizational ambidexterity

It is the endeavor to exploit the current resources of the organization and try to explore new potentials and resources, or it is the attempt to reconcile between the needs of the markets on the one hand and the resources of the organization on the other hand.

A creative behavior

It is the behavior practiced by the individual or group at the work site and it does not necessarily result in a new good or service, it is a behavior that precedes creativity in its final form and this behavior may be creativity in itself when the individual practices it for the first time.

Main Research Hypotheses

In line with the objectives of the study and a test of its proposed model, the study adopted the following main and sub-hypotheses:

The first main hypothesis

Exploratory innovation is significantly affected by creative behavior (H1.1), employee training (H1.2), organizational confidence (H1.3), job enrichment (H1.4) and delegation of authority (H1.5).

The second main hypothesis

Investment innovation is significantly affected by creative behavior (H2.1), employee training (H1.2), organizational confidence (H1.3), job enrichment (H1.4) and delegation of authority (H1.5).

The third main hypothesis

A flexible organizational structure is significantly affected by creative behavior (H3.1), employee training (H1.2), organizational confidence (H1.3), job enrichment (H1.4) and delegation of authority (H1.5).

Material and Methods

The current study relied on the descriptive and analytical approach, and various methods were used in collecting data, as the various previous literatures such as books, letters, theses, research and working papers were relied upon and determining how to be used in the content and context of the current study. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers developed a specific questionnaire to this study, depending on the previous various research efforts. The questionnaire was presented to professional and academic experts for development and testing. In order to reach comprehensive and accurate data on the study variables, its dimensions, and the relationships between them, the researchers adopted various methods in collecting field data, as quantitative data were collected through the questionnaire that was distributed to (210) respondents and this data was strengthened based on qualitative data collected through a set of interviews that were conducted with (13) experts in the surveyed sector, the axes of which were formulated based on previous literature in the field of study, and the questionnaire contained (27) paragraphs that covered the study variables and their main dimensions, as all variables were measured by the five-dimensional Likert scale.

The Study Population and its Sample

This study aimed to test the effect of the administrative empowerment strategy in achieving organizational ambidexterity in Jordanian telecom companies in the presence of creative behavior as a mediating variable. The Jordanian telecommunications sector was adopted as a study population, while the analysis unit consisted of all individuals employees in supervisory functions, the whole population study reached (290) employees and a simple random sample of (210) employees was drawn from this population.

Measurement

A multi-paragraph scale was used to measure the study variables and their dimensions by relying on a group of previous studies related to the subject of the current study. The following Table 1 shows the variables of the study and its paragraphs, in addition to the sources that were relied upon in its preparation.

Table 1 The Main Study Variables and the Dimensions Used to Measure Them
Variables	Number of paragraphs	Sources
Employee training	3	Baird & Haiyan (2009)
Organizational confidence	3	Al-Abdullah (2018)
Job enrichment	3	Hechanova et al. (2006)
Delegation of authority	3	Ugboro & Obeng (2000)
Fluency	3	Kreitner et al. (2003)
Flexibility	3	Al-Qatawneh & Abu Tayh (2017); Linke & Zerfass (2011)
Exploratory innovation	3	Li (2016)
Investment innovation	3	Abu Zaid (2019); Counsel et al. (2018)
Flexible organizational structure	3	Bodwell & Chermack (2010)

Data Analysis

After collecting the data, it was coded and classified by researchers, then entered into a computer based on the statistical software (SPSS): 20), a random sample of (8%) of the entered data was tested to ensure the accuracy of the coding and its validity, in order to the purposes of describing the study variables and the relationship between them, the arithmetic mean, standard deviations and percentages were relied upon, as well as the Pearson correlation. Table 2 Shows the arithmetic averages, standard deviations and values of the correlation coefficients for the study variables. Structural equation model (SEM) has been used to test the structural factor validity of the study tool and its various paragraphs (study dimensions) by identifying indicators of the quality of conformity acceptable in such type of studies, which are (X 2) RMSEA) (TLI ) (GFI) (AGFI) (NFI) (CN)).

Table 2 The Arithmetic Means, Standard Deviations and A Correlation Matrix for the Study Variables
variable	Arithmetic mean	standard deviation	Employee training	Organizational confidence	Job enrichment	Delegation of authority	Creative behavior	Exploratory innovation	Investment innovation	Flexible organizational structure
Employee training	3.91	0.95	1
Organizational confidence	3.82	0.94	0.368**	1
Job enrichment	3.69	0.92	0.744**	0.485**	1
Delegation of authority	3.73	1.09	0.617*	0.362**	0.560**	1
Creative behavior	.328	.592	0.475**	0.316**	0.463**	0.674*	1
Exploratory innovation	3.82	0.83	0.570*	0.380*	0.534**	0.619**	0.730**	1
Investment innovation	3.89	0.89	0.347**	0.180**	0.263**	0.674*	0.678**	0.653**	1
Flexible organizational structure	3.88	0.97	0.449**	0.272**	0.396**	0.619*	0.839**	0.708**	0.631**	1

Measurement Model

The measurement model includes validity and reliability tests for the different sections of the study tool and its different dimensions, as each of the reliability, constructive reliability, convergent and discriminant validity was tested, and Cornbach's alpha coefficients were used to determine the stability of the study variables as it achieved all values of Cornbach's alpha parameters greater than (70%). The download coefficients for all paragraphs of the study tool were also higher than (0.70). In order to measure the validity of the study tool, the convergent validity was tested by testing both Composite reliability and average variance extracted (AVE), where the values of Composite reliability (CR) reached between (0.70-0.90), which are acceptable values while they were All average values of average variance extracted (AVE) are higher than (0.50), which indicates the convergence of the items of the study instrument with each other. Finally, the discriminatory validity was tested by comparing the square root of (AVE) with the square root of the correlation for the paragraphs within the same variable, and it was found that all the values of the square root of (AVE) are greater than the correlation square of the paragraphs within the same variable, and finally all the values of the match quality indicators achieved acceptable values. (X²) (392), RMSEA (0.052), GIF (0.932), AGFI (0.917), NFI (0.968), TLI (0.988). Table 3 shows validity and reliability tests (measurement model) for the items and variables of the study tool.

Table 3 The Measurement Model
Variable	Paragraph	Loading	CR	α	AVE	SQRT (AVE) COOR2
Administrative empowerment
Employee training	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.80 0.85 0.83	0.88	091	0.64	0.80 > 0.53
Organizational confidence	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.85 0.86 0.84	0.88	0.83	0.62	0.79 > 0.63
Job enrichment	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.92 0.93 0.92	0.92	0.90	0.53	0.72 > 0.50
Delegation of authority	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.88 0.89 0.85	0.71	0.81	0.72	0.87> 0.45
Creative behavior
Creative behavior	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Paragraph 5	0.89 0.90 0.88 0.89 0.90	0.89	0.86	0.65	0.81 >  0.77
Organizational ambidexterity
Exploratory innovation	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.92 0.88 0.86	0.87	0.79	0.64	0.80 > 0.48
Investment innovation	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.90 0.92 0.93	0.88	0.82	0.66	0.82 > 0.52
Flexible organizational structure	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3	0.92 0.89 0.90	0.90	0.85	0.77	0.88 > 0.39

The Structural Model

The structural model illustrates the overall effects and relationships between the study variables through the values of the path parameters (β) and their level of significance and the values of (t). Which the values of the path parameters point to the level of direct and indirect effects between the study variables, as the values that exceed (0.3) point to the high level of effects While the values are centered around (0.3) indicating a moderate effect, while values less than (0.1) point to a low effect. Table 4 shows the direct and indirect effects between the variables of the proposed study model depending on Path Analysis using (Amos ver) program. 21), within the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program, to determine the direct and indirect effect of the strategy of empowering employees in its combined dimensions on organizational ambidexterity in its dimensions through creative behavior as an intermediate variable.

Table 4 The Results of Testing the Study Hypotheses
Path direction	Direct effect	T value	N direct effect	The overall effect	The result of the hypothesis
H1					H1
Creative behavior → Exploratory innovation	0.553	9.22	-	0.553	Acceptance
Employee training  → Exploratory innovation	0.27	3.144	0.004-	0.266	Acceptance
Organizational confidence       Exploratory innovation	0.084	1.804	0.03	0.087	Refusal
Job enrichment → Exploratory innovation	0.058	0.929	0.0425	0.101	Acceptance
Delegation of authority → Exploratory innovation	0.027	0.458	0.418	0.445	Acceptance
H2					H2
Creative behavior → Investment innovation	0.359	6.871		0.359	Acceptance
Employee training → Investment innovation	-0.007	-0.088	-0.003	-0.01	Refusal
Organizational confidence → Investment innovation	-0.0032	-0.793	0.0225	-0.009	Refusal
Job enrichment → Investment innovation	0.144	2.652	0.0422	0.278	Acceptance
Delegation of authority → Investment innovation	0.354	6.94	0.32	0.674	Acceptance
H3					H3
Creative behavior → Flexible structure	0.673	13.855		0.673	Acceptance
Employee training → Flexiblestructure	0.037	0.525	-0.0042	0.033	Refusal
Organizational confidence → Flexible structure	-0.007	-0.188	0.003	-0.004	Refusal
Job enrichment → Flexible structure	-0.079	-1.555	0.0625	-0.016	Refusal
Delegation of authority → Flexible structure	0.23	4.841	0.475	0.705	Acceptance

Table 4 shows the results of the partial analysis test for the main and sub-study hypotheses, according to the following:

The path coefficients of the first main hypothesis and its sub-hypotheses indicate that “exploratory innovation is significantly affected by creative behavior ( H1.1), employee training (H1.2), (organizational confidence (H1.3), job enrichment (H1.4) and delegation of authority (H1.5)”, to the presence of a statistically significant effect of both creative behavior (H1.1), and the training of employees, ((H1.2, job enrichment ((H1.4, and delegation of authority ((H1.5 in Exploratory innovation, through the values of the total impact of (.553) (0.266) (0.101) (0.445 ) respectively, all of which are significant values, while organizational confidence (H1.3) had no significant effect on exploratory innovation with a value of ( 0.087) which is a non-significant value, the direct effect of creative behavior on exploratory innovation reached (.553), the direct effect of each of the employee training reached (0.270), job enrichment (0.0425), and delegated authority (0.418), while the indirect effects of employees’ empowerment dimensions (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority) in exploratory innovation through creative behavior was (0.004 -) (0.03) (0.0425) (0.418), which is evidence that creative behavior exerts a mediating role only in the impact of delegating authority in exploratory innovation, while creative behavior has not exercised any mediating role in the impact of (employee training, organizational confidence and job enrichment) on exploratory innovation in Jordanian telecom companies.

In addition, the path coefficients refer to the second main hypothesis and its sub hypotheses, which states: Investment innovation is affected significantly by creative behavior (H2.1), employee training (H2.2), organizational confidence ((H2.3, job enrichment), (H2.4)). The delegation of authority ((H2.5), to the existence of a statistically significant effect of each of the creative behavior (H2.1), job enrichment ((H2.4) , and delegation of authority ( (H2.5) in investment innovation, through the values of the overall effect which reached (0.359) (0.278) (0.674) respectively, all of which are significant values, while the training of employees (H2.2) and organizational confidence (H2.3) did not have any significant effect on investment innovation with values of (0.01-) (0.009) respectively, which are non-significant values. On the other hand, the direct effect of creative behavior on investment innovation was (0.359) and the direct effect of each of the employee training reached (-.007), organizational confidence (-032) and job enrichment (0.144). 354), finally the delegation of authority (354), as for the indirect effects of the employee empowerment dimensions (employee training, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority) on investment innovation through creative behavior, it reached (0.003-) (0.0225) (0.0625) (0.32), which is evidence that the creative behavior exerts a mediating role only in the impact of delegating authority in investment innovation while the creative behavior did not exert any mediating role in the effect of (employee training, organizational confidence and job enrichment) in investment innovation in Jordanian telecom companies.

While the path coefficients refer to the third main hypothesis and its sub-hypotheses, which states: “Flexible organizational structure is affected significantly by creative behavior (H3.1), employee training ((H3.2), organizational confidence (H3.3), job enrichment (H3.4).) and delegation of authority (H3.5)” to the existence of a statistically significant effect of each of the creative behavior (H3.1) and delegation of authority (H3.5) in the flexible organizational structure through the values of the total effect of (.673) (0.705), respectively, which are significant values, while employee training (H3.2), organizational confidence (H3.3) and job enrichment (H3.4) did not have any significant impact on the flexible organizational structure, through a value of 0.033. (0.004-) (0.016-) respectively, which is a non-significant value. The direct effect of creative behavior on the flexible organizational structure reached (.673), while the direct effect of employee training reached (.037), organizational confidence (-.007), job enrichment (-.007) and finally delegation of authority (.230 ). As for the indirect effects of the employee empowerment dimensions (employee training,) organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority) on the flexible organizational structure through creative behavior, it reached (0.0042-) (0.003) (0.0422) (0.475), which is evidence that creative behavior only exerts a mediating role in the effect of delegating authority in the flexible organizational structure, while it did not exert any mediating role in the effect of (employee training, organizational confidence and job enrichment) on the flexible organizational structure in Jordanian telecom companies.

Conclusion and Limitations

Based on the analysis of the study data, the following results were reached:

1. There are positive trends for members of the study sample towards all the elements of the employee empowerment strategy (employee training, increasing employees’ knowledge, organizational confidence, job enrichment and delegation of authority) all higher than the average measurement tool. This proves the interest of the surveyed companies to implement the empowerment strategy among their employees, due to the positive results that they achieve towards both of the employee and the organization alike.

2. The attitudes of the study sample were positive towards all variables of organizational ambidexterity (exploratory innovation, investment innovation and flexible organizational structure), as all of their arithmetic averages were higher than the average of the measurement tool. This shows the extent of the interest of the surveyed companies in achieving organizational ambidexterity among their employees to improve the levels and quality of productivity and increase the level of customer satisfaction with the services provided to them.

3. The attitudes of the study sample individuals were positive towards all the variables of creative behavior on (fluency, flexibility), where all their arithmetic averages were higher than the average of the measurement tool, and this shows the extent of the surveyed companies ’interest in the creative behavior of their employees to achieve a qualitative leap and distinct performance in their activities.

4. The results of the study showed that there is a statistically significant effect of the elements of the employee empowerment strategy to achieve organizational ambidexterity in the companies surveyed, as empowering employees in these companies helps them achieve their goals efficiently and effectively.

5. The results of the study showed that there is a significant impact of the employee empowerment strategy in its various dimensions in achieving organizational ambidexterity, as increasing the skills and capabilities of individual’s employees in the surveyed companies will contribute in improving the performance level of these companies and maintain their survival and continuity in the long term.

6. The results of the study showed that the employee delegation strategy exerts a moral influence in the exploratory innovation in the companies surveyed through creative behavior, which shows the interest of these companies in the strategy of delegating employees to create job satisfaction and to increase the spirit of initiative and innovation, and to achieve the optimum utilization of their creative capabilities, which is reflected in a positive way for the efficiency and effectiveness of these companies, in exploiting the available opportunities and avoiding the threats they face.

7. The results of the study showed that the creative behavior exerts a mediating effect on the impact of the strategy of delegating employees to investment innovation, while the creative behavior did not exert any mediating role in the impact of (employee training, organizational confidence and job enrichment) on investment innovation in the surveyed companies, which however proves that the creative behavior is considered a major tool in the hands of business organizations that seek to achieve organizational ambidexterity, leadership and excellence.

8. The results of the study showed that creative behavior exerts a mediating role in the impact of the strategy of delegating authority in the flexible organizational structure, while this variable did not play any mediating role in the impact of (employee training, organizational confidence and job enrichment) on the flexible organizational structure in the surveyed companies, which indicates The interest of these companies in adapting to the rapid environmental changes by providing the opportunity for their employees to participate in decision-making and empower them professionally.

The study has a number of limitations. First, the current study was mainly of an exploratory nature and focused on one sector only. Therefore, the results need confirmation in other sectors. Second, the sample size and the respondents were not high enough, so relying on a larger sample size would enhance the results of the current study.

Recommendations

Depend on the previous results, the study recommends the following:

1. Considering the important of implementing the employment empowerment strategy in its various dimensions, spreading its concepts to all employees of Jordanian telecom companies and educating the senior management of the importance of this strategy and its impact on enhancing performance and increasing organizational effectiveness and efficiency to achieve the required organizational ambidexterity.

2. Improving the organizational climate and creating the appropriate conditions for implementing the employment empowerment strategy in Jordanian telecom companies by supporting and enhancing training programs, providing appropriate incentives and rewards, simplifying work procedures and providing the opportunity for employees to participate in developing plans, drawing policies and participating in decision-making.

3. Atentioning the need for Jordanian telecom companies to hold workshops, seminars and training programs to familiarize employees with the importance of adopting creative behavior and enhancing this behavior in them by adopting new ideas and methods of work.

4. Noticing the necessity of the Jordanian telecom companies 'interest in achieving organizational ambidexterity by increasing their ability to meet the needs of their customers by increasing the number of distribution channels first, and through appropriate promotional programs secondly, and by quickly responding to customers' needs by providing new products suitable for their needs.

5. Enhancing organizational confidence among individuals working in Jordanian telecom companies by creating the appropriate organizational climate, encouraging methods of teamwork and strengthening organizational relationships based on respect, trust and cooperation.

6. Enhancing the job enrichment strategy for employees in Jordanian telecom companies, by providing the opportunity for employees to participate in developing plans, drawing policies, participating in decision-making and solving problems, and by adopting flexible organizational structures capable of responding to environmental changes, such as the structure of work teams or the structure of educated organizations.

7. Noticing the advantage of the trust available between employees by proposing new ideas in a way that contributes in reducing costs and making continuous improvements on products provided by the surveyed companies.

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