Employee innovative performance in science and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises: A triadic reciprocal determinism perspective

Abstract

We formulated a conceptual model based on triadic reciprocal determinism theory, to explain the relationships among organizational innovative climate, employee work involvement, creativity, and innovative performance. We used data from 5,242 employees at science and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tianjin, China. Results of the structural equation modeling show that (a) employee innovative performance is a function of three determinants, namely, employee work involvement and creativity, and organizational innovative climate; (b) employee work involvement and creativity mediated between organizational innovative climate and employee innovative performance; and (c) employee creativity was the strongest predictor of innovative performance. The results of importance-performance map analysis indicate that team building was a specific weakness. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the factors affecting employee innovative performance, and the internal mechanism underlying the above relationships. Our results identify weaknesses in the enterprises' organizational climate, and we recommend how to improve performance.