Abstract
Theoretical perspectives on employee creativity have tended to focus on an individual's capability to generate original and potentially useful ideas, whereas definitions of innovation also include the process of putting those new ideas into practice. This field study therefore set out to test how theoretically distinct types of individual knowledge and skills are related to different aspects of employees' innovative behavior in terms of both their new idea generation and idea implementation. Using a sample of design engineers (n = 169) in a multinational engineering company, measures were taken of different aspects of innovative work behavior (patent submission, real‐time idea submission, idea implementation) and a range of individual capabilities (creativity‐relevant skills, job expertise, operational skills, contextual knowledge, and motivation) and environmental features (job control, departmental support for innovation). Analyses showed that creativity‐relevant skills were positively related to indices of idea generation but not to idea implementation. Instead, employees' job expertise, operational skills, and motivation to innovate demonstrated a stronger role in idea implementation. In terms of environmental factors, job control showed no positive relationship with innovative work behavior while departmental support for innovation was related to employees' idea generation but not idea implementation. The theoretical perspective that correlates of idea generation differ in certain aspects to those for idea implementation are confirmed by the study. Practical implications for organizations wishing to improve their innovativeness are discussed in terms of tailored training, development, motivational, and environmental interventions designed to improve the capabilities of individuals to engage in all parts of the innovation process.
Highlights
The increasingly dynamic and competitive market conditions of the 21st century are raising the need for organizations to develop new products and services more frequently and more effectively, stimulating an upsurge of research interest in the topic (e.g., Dul and Ceylan, 2011; Evanschitsky, Eisend, Calantone, and Jiang, 2012; George, 2007; Pearsall, Ellis, and Evans, 2008; Shalley and Gilson, 2004)
Ation study how a creativity training program led to new ideas generated by participants that had a major impact on organizational performance, in one case saving the company over £120 million
Multiple linear regression was used for the idea implementation measure since the data were not adversely affected by skewness issues and showed acceptable normality
Summary
The increasingly dynamic and competitive market conditions of the 21st century are raising the need for organizations to develop new products and services more frequently and more effectively, stimulating an upsurge of research interest in the topic (e.g., Dul and Ceylan, 2011; Evanschitsky, Eisend, Calantone, and Jiang, 2012; George, 2007; Pearsall, Ellis, and Evans, 2008; Shalley and Gilson, 2004) This desire for greater innovation, defined as the intentional generation and introduction of potentially useful new ideas, products, services, and ways of working into roles, groups, organizations, and society, is an international concern and one that can provide a significant edge (Amabile, 1988; West and Farr, 1989). The theoretical basis of the study is to extend and test the different facets of the widely used Amabile (1983) componential model of creativity in organizations
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