Entrepreneurs’ Personal Values and the Innovative Behavior of Their Employees: A Cross-Level Mechanism

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to test the mechanisms that foster innovative behavior in small firms. We propose a model in which small business entrepreneurs, motivated by personal value preferences, shape the work environment for their employees by providing them with job autonomy, which in turn fosters their innovative behavior at work. The cross-level relationships between entrepreneurs’ personal values and their employees’ perceived job autonomy and innovative behavior were examined using a multilevel approach. A sample of 82 small business owners and 685 employees from three European countries participated in the study. Multilevel modeling results indicated that entrepreneurs’ openness to change values were positively, whereas conservation and self-enhancement values were negatively related to employees’ perceived job autonomy. Job autonomy predicted employees’ innovative behavior and was a mediator of the relationships between entrepreneurs’ values and employees’ innovative behavior. Entrepreneurs’ conservation values showed a direct, negative relationship with employees’ innovative behavior. Thus, the results revealed that employees’ innovative behavior can be shaped by small business entrepreneurs’ values and the work environment that they create in an organization. By uncovering such a cross-level mechanism, the findings provide implications for innovation theory and practice.