Abstract
We draw upon the theory of Conservation of Resources (COR) in positing political skill and role overload as influencing perceptions of either resource loss or conservation not previously studied in innovative work behavior. Based on a survey of 249 junior doctors in the United Kingdom, we found that role overload not only had direct positive effects on innovative work behavior but also negatively affects innovative work behavior, mediated through its effects on perceived organizational support. Political skill was positively associated with innovative work behavior, mediated through role-breadth self-efficacy. Our findings support a growing body of literature suggesting that engaging in innovative work behavior is a problem-focused coping strategy to deal with job demands and stressors. Current theorizing that job demands can have positive effects on innovative work behavior needs to be reconsidered given alternative negative effects suggested by COR.
Highlights
There is widespread agreement that organizations should actively support employee innovative work behavior (IWB) to respond to today’s dynamic business environments (Getz & Robinson, 2003; Unsworth & Parker, 2003; Van de Ven, Polley, Garud, & Venkataraman, 2008)
We examine the effects of role overload, a form of job demands not previously explored in relation to its effects on IWB and which is widely reported as a particular concern in public sector organizations
Role overload was negatively associated with perceived organizational support (POS), and role overload was positively associated with IWB
Summary
There is widespread agreement that organizations should actively support employee innovative work behavior (IWB) to respond to today’s dynamic business environments (Getz & Robinson, 2003; Unsworth & Parker, 2003; Van de Ven, Polley, Garud, & Venkataraman, 2008) This is no less important for public sector organizations that are under enormous pressures to innovate. The increasing number of policy documents both national and international attest to the gravitas attached to the pursuit of this goal (Audit Commission, 2007; Australian National Audit Office [ANAO], 2009; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2012) Alongside this burgeoning policy documentation has been an increasing body of empir- ical research on public sector innovation (Bason, 2010; Borins, 2001; De Vries, Bekkers, & Tummers, 2016). These include, for example, the lack of reward or incentives for employees to innovate, the costs of failure ( in terms of exposure to the media) should things go wrong, the lack of competitive pressure to innovate and strict agency regulation (Borins, 2001; Bysted & Jespersen, 2014). Bos-Nehles, Bondarouk, and Nijenhuis (2017), in a case study of IWB in the Netherlands fire services, high- lighted how strong formalization to secure quality in public services combined with strict agency control impeded IWBs
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