Innovation Onset: A Moderated Mediation Model of High-Involvement Work Practices and Employees' Innovative Work Behavior.

Abstract

PurposeBased on the componential theory of creativity, this study examined the link between high-involvement work practices and employees’ innovative behavior by further investigating the moderating and mediating role of leadership humility and employees’ personal initiative.MethodologyTo test the hypothesized model, the data were gathered from 255-line staff and 119 supervisors working in the textile industry in Pakistan via the time lag technique. The proposed hypotheses were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling using Smart-PLS software.FindingsThe results indicated that high-involvement work practices were significantly related to employees’ innovative work behaviors. Additionally, the moderation findings revealed that a higher level of leadership humility strengthens the relationship between high-involvement work practices and employees’ personal initiative. Furthermore, employees’ personal initiative mediates the relationship between high-involvement work practices and their innovative work behavior. The findings of the moderated mediation model indicated that a higher level of leadership humility leads to higher innovative behavior of employees in the presence of high-involvement work practices via employees’ personal initiative.Practical ImplicationsThis study’s findings are helpful for the management of organizations to understand the factors that enhance innovative work behaviors in high-involvement work practices. Moreover, managers should establish humble behaviors in their leadership style to influence employees’ personal initiative, which indirectly influences their innovative work behavior.Originality/ValueThe present study highlights the importance of leadership humility and employees’ personal initiative in the relationship between high-involvement work practices and innovative work behaviors of employees in the textile industry of Pakistan.