The new director's _____, rather than fostering innovation, stifled creativity by imposing rigid protocols on every aspect of the project.

✓ Correct Answer: Option A

The blank describes a quality that 'stifled creativity by imposing rigid protocols.' 'Authoritarianism' (strict control) and 'inflexibility' (lack of adaptability) both convey this negative trait and are synonymous in this context, making A and C the correct pair for a Sentence Equivalence question.