Individual Innovation Performance Research Articles

The role of boundary-spanning behaviour in enhancing individual innovation performance: a cross-level investigation

The role of boundary-spanning behaviour in enhancing individual innovation performance: a cross-level investigation

The influence of bootleg innovation on individual innovation performance: The mediating effect of cognitive flexibility and the moderating effect of leadership's emotional intelligence.

Based Correctly handling the creativity of employees who have not been adopted is not only conducive to continuously stimulating employees' creativity and improving individual innovation performance, but also conducive to making the best use of organizational resources. This study integrates conservation of resource theory (COR) and social information processing theory to explore the influence of bootleg innovation behavior in organizations on individual innovation performance, as well as the mediating role of cognitive flexibility and the moderating role of leadership emotional intelligence. A three-stage time-lagged research design is used to obtain a valid sample of 327 employees from China. The PROCESS macro for SPSS was applied to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings demonstrated that bootleg innovation is positively related to individual innovation performance; cognitive flexibility mediates the relationship between bootleg innovation and individual innovation performance. Moreover, leadership emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between bootleg innovation and individual innovation performance and between bootleg innovation and cognitive flexibility and between cognitive flexibility and individual innovation performance respectively. The conclusion of the study not only provides a theoretical basis for individuals and leaders to deal with employees' creative abortion, but also provides a new thinking mode for how to maximize the effectiveness of unaccepted ideas and promote individual innovation performance.

Literature Review of the Influence of Organizational Incentives on Individual Innovation

One of the keys to the stable development of enterprises is to stimulate individual innovation consciousness and innovation behavior. The improvement of individual innovation performance can enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. This paper sorts out the relationship between organizational incentives and individual innovation, points out the shortcomings of existing related research, and looks forward to future research.

How does leaders' information-sharing behavior affect subordinates' taking charge behavior in public sector? A moderated mediation effect.

Taking charge behavior (TCB) of civil servants is an important part of individual innovation performance, which is not only a key step for innovation in the public but also a real need for high-quality cadres construction in the public sector in the new era. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth discussion on civil servants' taking charge behavior. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this paper constructs the framework of"cognition-motivation-behavior" to deeply explore the relationship between public sector leaders' information-sharing behavior and subordinates' taking charge behavior, as well as the mediating and moderating effects of subordinates' public service motivation and emotional trust. This study collected 200 civil servants' questionnaires by online survey, and conducted regression analysis through SPSS/AMOS/PROCESS. The empirical study finds that the information-sharing behavior of leaders in the public sector can significantly affect the TCB of subordinates; the public service motivation partially mediates the relationship between them; emotional trust positively moderates the mediation effect of public service motivation in the relationship between leaders' information-sharing behavior and subordinates' TCB in the public. This study not only enriches the research on civil servants' TCB theoretically but also provides meaningful enlightenment for promoting civil servants' taking charge behavior.

Flexible human resource management systems and employee innovation performance in China – based on the moderated mediation effect

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the impact of flexible human resource management system (FHRMS) on employee innovation performance in Chinese context. The boundary conditions of employability and organizational identity are also discussed.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on 322 questionnaire survey from employees in China. The questionnaires were collected at two time points. This study used the method of multi-level linear model analysis for empirical test.FindingsThis study has three conclusions. First, FHRMS have a significant positive impact on employee innovation performance, with employability playing a mediating role. Second, organizational identity plays a moderating role between employability and employee innovation performance. Third, organizational identity moderates the mediating effect of a human source management systems on employee innovation performance through employability.Originality/valueThe results are helpful to open the “black box” of the influence of FHRMS on employees’ individual innovation performance. This study provides a reference for enterprises to establish flexible human source management system to improve employee innovation performance.

The Impact of Motivating Knowledge-Based Employees in Shanghai it Industry on their Individual Innovation Performance

The Impact of Motivating Knowledge-Based Employees in Shanghai it Industry on their Individual Innovation Performance

Knowledge-sharing hostility, knowledge manipulation, and new product development performance.

New product development is an important driver of sustainable enterprise development. It is necessary to promote the knowledge sharing of heterogeneous individuals such as design, technology, market, and sociologists. This paper discusses the influence of negative individual knowledge management from the perspective of knowledge-sharing hostility and knowledge manipulation on the performance of new product development. To examine our hypotheses, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 438 employees in China. The results show that although knowledge manipulation contributes to individual innovation performance, it has an inverted U-shaped curve relationship with the team's product development performance. The hostility of knowledge sharing induces knowledge manipulation, which indirectly influences the performance of new product development. The coordination flexibility of R&D teams positively moderates the impact of knowledge manipulation on new product development. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Psychological Factors and Innovation Performance of Scientific and Technological Personnel: The Mediating Role of Proactive Behavior and the Moderating Role of Organizational Support

The personal innovation of scientific and technological personnel not only provides the fundamental power for the innovation of enterprises, but also lays a solid foundation for enterprises innovation. In current study total 1050 scientific and technical staff questionnaires, empirical analysis of individual psychological contracts, psychological capital on personal proactive behavior of the employees, and a unique performance mechanism were used. The result can be drawn that the psychological contract of an individual and psychological capital factors on personal proactive behavior are more meaningfully and positively linked to innovation performance, intermediary between individual innovation performance, organizational support in individual psychological contracts, psychological capital, and proactive behavior.

Challenge-hindrance stressors and innovation: A meta-analysis

<p id="p00005">Employee innovation is the focus of current organizational behavior research, and the high demand for employee innovation and change in enterprises lead to the high pressure that employees face at work. Several studies have been conducted by researchers on the relationship between work stressors and employee innovation. Current empirical research findings on the relationship between challenge-hindrance stressors and employee innovation vary, for example, in terms of relationship strength and relationship direction. Employee innovation is found to have positive, negative, and nonlinear relationships with the challenge-hindrance stressors. Furthermore, the mechanism and boundary conditions for the challenge-hindrance stressors that affect employee innovation have not been fully revealed. Based on the current state of research on the relationship between the challenge-hindrance stressors and employee innovation, this study used the challenge-hindrance stressors model to investigate the relationship between different types of challenge-hindrance stressors and employee innovation through the meta-analysis method. <p id="p00010">According to literature retrieval and screening, keywords such as challenging stressor(s) (workload, job complexity, task conflict, and time pressure), hindrance stressor(s) (role stress, interpersonal conflict, and job insecurity), and innovation (individual creativity, individual innovation behavior, and individual innovation performance) were included. Finally, 149 independent studies with 141 articles were included for the analysis, with a total sample size of 46,261. For the analysis, we used the psychmeta meta-analysis package in R, which included publication bias tests, main effect tests, heterogeneity tests, and moderating effect analyses. <p id="p00015">The publication bias results showed that the <italic>p</italic> values of Egger’s regression coefficient and Begg rank correlation test for challenging stressor, hindrance stressor, and their subgroups were insignificant (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05). The heterogeneity test was significant, indicating that the random effect model was suitable for the study. The main effect results showed that the task complexity and task conflict in challenge stressor and subgroups had a positive effect on employee innovation. Hindrance stressor had a negative impact on employee innovation. Cultural differences, data sources, and data collection time had different moderating effects on the relationship between different stressors and innovation, which can be expressed as follows. (1) Compared with individualism orientation, under the background of high collectivism orientation, high power distance, and a long-term orientation, the hindrance stressor had a stronger and significantly negative correlation with employee innovation, while under the background of high collectivism orientation, the hindrance stressor had a significantly positive correlation with employee innovation. (2) Compared with other-rating, when the data comes from employee self-rating, challenge stressor had a stronger and significantly positive correlation with innovation, and hindrance stressor had a stronger and significantly negative correlation with innovation. (3) compared with longitudinal study, in the cross-sectional study, challenging stressor has a stronger positive effect on employee innovation, while data collection time has insignificant moderating effect on the relationship between hindrance stressor and employee innovation. <p id="p00020">Consequently, we aimed to investigate the strength and direction of the relationship between binary work stressors and employee innovation in a large sample and consider the potential moderating effects of cultural differences, data sources, and data collection time points. The results of this study will provide a reference model for future enterprise management practices, such as maintaining a reasonable pressure level and category control, encouraging employee innovation within the organization, and improving the innovation performance and core competitiveness of individuals and organizations.

The Impact of Network Embeddedness on the Innovation Performance of New Generation of Employees in the Post-COVID-19 Era-The Mediating Role of Psychological Contract.

The innovation activities of new generation of employees have the characteristics of double network embeddedness, and the degree of psychological contract fulfilment is an important factor that affects their innovation performance. Based on the attributes of internal network embeddedness and external network embeddedness, this paper builds a hypothesis model of the relationship between network embeddedness, psychological contract and innovation performance. It explores the impact and mechanism of network embeddedness on the innovation performance of new generation of employees and the mediating role of the psychological contract. Empirical research shows that network embeddedness has a positive effect on the innovation performance of new generation of employees. The psychological contract has a mediating role in network embeddedness on innovation performance of new generation of employees. These conclusions continue and deepen the research on network embeddedness and innovation performance and further enrich and expand the application of social networks in the research of individual innovation performance of new generation of employees.

DISTANCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER: SEARCHING COMBINATORIAL POTENTIAL THROUGH KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS

This study conceptualises inventors as agents that connect knowledge elements within a knowledge network. Inventors’ searches thus focus on a knowledge element’s combinatorial potential–its suitability for combination with other knowledge elements to generate innovation. Using a survey-based network approach with scientists in the R&amp;D department of a leading US oil and gas company, we find that internal search on combinatorial potential in a knowledge network has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation but external search on combinatorial potential has a positive relationship with individual innovation performance. No reinforcement effect between internal and external search was found. Instead, our study reveals the search strategy through knowledge networks that inventors are likely to reduce their effort on internal search but maintain external search to identify the combinatorial potential of knowledge elements, making them more likely to create fruitful knowledge combinations for innovation.

Empowering leadership and leadership effectiveness: A meta-analytic examination

<p id="p00010">With the ever-changing organizational environment, more and more business managers choose to empower their subordinates in exchange for more responsibilities and better performance, in order to help companies gain sustainable competitive advantages. For this reason, empowering leadership has received extensive attention from management practitioners and academic researchers, and has achieved fruitful research results. However, there are still have some disagreements about the effectiveness of empowering leadership in Chinese and foreign studies. Although Kim et al. (<xref xml:base="bibr" rid="b152">2018</xref>) and Lee et al. (<xref xml:base="bibr" rid="b167">2018</xref>) took the lead in conducting meta-analysis research on the impact of empowering leadership, their research objects were limited to English literature before 2016, and the samples based on the Chinese context were seriously small. As the second largest economy in the world and the “Cultural suzerain” of the Confucian Culture Cluster, China has a huge number of enterprises and labor force. Therefore, the meta-analysis should fully absorb research samples based on the Chinese context to more truly reflect the effectiveness of empowering leadership. <p id="p00010">Based on 183 empirical studies (120 in English and 63 in Chinese), the authors use meta-analysis method to comprehensively examine the relationship between empowering leadership and leadership effectiveness, including individual work attitudes and individual performance (145 samples, 50509 employees), team performance (47 samples, 4856 teams) and organizational performance (9 samples, 1090 companies). The research results show that empowering leadership is significantly positively correlated with individual positive work attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and subjective well-being), and significantly negatively correlated with individual negative work attitudes (turnover tendency, burnout &amp; stress), and significantly positively correlated with individual (team) performance and its various dimensions, and is significantly negatively correlated with individual counterproductive behavior, but the positive correlation with organizational performance is not significant. Among them, the sample literatures of subjective well-being, team performance and team task performance may have publication bias, so that the meta-analysis results of empowering leadership with these variables are likely to be overestimated. In addition, the authors also examine the boundary effects of sample differences between East and West, measurement scales of empowering leadership, types of research data, and industry types of research sample on the relationship between empowering leadership and some performance indicators. <p id="p00010">In terms of the differences between the Eastern and Western samples, the correlation between empowering leadership and individual (team) performance and individual (team) task performance are stronger in the East Asian samples and weaker in the European and American samples, but its relationship with individual (team) innovation performance and individual (team) contextual performance has no significant difference. However, the western sample of team innovation performance and the East Asian sample of team contextual performance are only one, so that the meta-analysis results of East-West comparison about team innovation performance and team contextual performance may be unstable and unreliable. In addition, the measurement scale of empowering leadership and types of research data are significantly moderated the relationship between empowering leadership and individual performance, but the industry types of research sample had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between empowering leadership and individual performance. The conclusion of this study provides a more comprehensive stage conclusion for the research on effectiveness of empowering leadership.

How Does Education Influence Individual Innovation Behavior? A Mediation Model

Although individual innovation and education economics are analyzed in many publications separately, the mechanism of how education influences individual innovation is missing. We analyze individual innovation for 2,078 employees in 3,976 value engineering projects (VEPs) over 6.5 years and build multilevel models to explain how education measured by earned degrees of employees improves innovation performance. Activeness, creativity and teamwork act as mediators and then contribute to enhance individual innovation performance, measured by three indicators: 1) the total number of VEPs which the employee proposed as an applicant, 2) the total numbers of VEPs which the employee joined as either an applicant or a follower, 3) the total number of patent applications from the VEPs which the employee joined. This mediation effect is statistically significant in two models whose dependent variables (DVs) are the first and second indicator respectively and there is direct association in the third model whose DV is the third indicator. This triangulation shows how education has a positive relationship with individual innovation performance with reliability and validity. We show that employees in science or engineering are more innovative, which contributes to explain the “engineer dividend” in China and how managers can improve innovative practices.

Searching Combinatorial Potential Through Knowledge Networks

Individual search behaviors evolve to fit the conditions in which the search is performed and the goals of the search. Taking a survey-based network approach, this study conceptualizes inventors as agents that connect knowledge elements within a knowledge network; inventors’ searches focus on a knowledge element’s combinatorial potential—its suitability for combination with other knowledge elements to generate innovation. Our results, gleaned from a survey of top chemical scientists in the R&D department of a leading US oil & gas company, show that internal search in a knowledge network has an inverted U–shaped relationship with innovation and external search has a positive relationship with individual innovation performance. No reinforcement effect between internal and external search was found. Instead, our study reveals the search strategy through knowledge networks that inventors are likely to reduce their effort on internal search but maintain external search to identify the combinatorial potential of knowledge elements, making them more likely to create fruitful knowledge combinations for innovation.

Research on the Improvement of Employee’s Innovation Performance Under Moral Leadership

With the rapid development of technology and economy, more and more local Chinese enterprises are gradually growing and becoming prominent in all walks of life. However, the environment is complex and changeable, and various competitors and pressures make the importance of business management more prominent. One of the main purpose of business management is to improve enterprise performance so as to obtain more profits. Therefore, enterprise managers began to take a variety of measures in order to obtain higher performance. As an effective source to improve performance, innovation has become a goal that enterprise managers are chasing. The level of innovation performance has thus become one of the standards to measure the development of enterprises. Employees are the driving force of enterprise development, many a mickle makes a muckle, so in this process, their individual innovation performance is crucial, which is directly affected by the leadership style. Leadership has always been one of the hot topics in the field of business management and it has a direct impact on the effectiveness of business management. The main purpose of our study is to explore the underlying mechanisms that how moral leadership impacts employees’ innovation performance by examining positive psychological safety’s moderating role and voice behavior’s mediating role of subordinates. We found that moral leadership is positively correlated with employee’s innovation performance and this relationship is mediated by employees’ voice behavior. Our results also demonstrate that employees’ psychological safety moderates the positive relationship between moral leadership and voice behavior. Compared with a high level of psychological safety, this relationship is stronger when it is low.

Bireysel Yenilikçiliğin İş Performansına Etkisi: Bir İşletme Örneği

Individual innovation is in its simplest definition; it is the desire to research and find innovations individually. In other words, it can be defined as developing, accepting or implementing an innovation. Work performance can be defined as the effective behaviors of the staff in order to contribute to the effort of the enterprise to reach its goals and objectives. In more general terms, it is the qualitative and quantitative expression of what an employee can achieve for the intended purposes related to his or her work. In this context, the aim of the study is to determine the effect of individual innovation on work performance. For this purpose, 200 volunteers with white and blue collars were reached in a company manufacturing machinery in the city center of Konya. As a result of the findings, the positive and meaningful impact of individual innovation and its sub-dimensions (excluding the sub-dimension of resistance to change) on work performance was determined. Gender information from demographic variables; no significant difference was found between individual innovation and work performance. A significant difference was found between marital status information, another demographic variable, individual innovation and work performance.

조절초점이 종업원 혁신성과에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구: 종업원의 창의성의 매개효과와 창의적 자기 효능감의 조절효과를 중심으로

[연구목적] 본 연구에서는 종업원 혁신성과를 효율적으로 개선하는 방법에 대한 문제를 바탕으로 조절초점과 종업원 혁신성과의 관계를 살펴보고 종업원의 창의성이 이들 사이에서의 매개효과와 창의적 자기 효능감의 조절 효과를 검증하여 조직관리에 이론적 근거와 의견을 주고자 한다.BR[연구방법] 이론적 연구를 바탕으로 본 논문은 4가지 연구 가설을 제시하고 연구 모델을 수립하여 설문조사 방식으로 중국 조직 구성원을 대상으로 실증분석하고SPSS와 AMOS로 연구 모델의 가설을 검증하였다.BR[연구결과] 조절초점은 종업원 혁신성과에 상당한 영향을 미치고 있으며 종업원의 창의성과 창의적 자기 효능감은 조절초점 혁신성과 관계에 있어 중간 매개효과와 조절효과를 하고 있다.BR[연구의 시사점] 관리자는 직원의 주체작용을 충분히 발휘하여 종업원의 창의성을 향상시키도록 노력해야 하며 또 적극적으로 종업원의 창의적 자기 효능감을 키워 혁신의 성과를 이루도록 해야 한다.

G-SECI model-based knowledge creation for CoPS innovation: the role of grey knowledge

PurposeThis paper aims to propose a new knowledge creation model called Grey SECI (G-SECI), study the knowledge creation mechanism and the relationship between knowledge creation models and innovation performance during complex product systems (CoPSs) development. Research and development of CoPSs relies heavily on knowledge creation. However, most scholars have studied CoPS innovation stages from the view of design process of system products, focussing on functional management and project management during the R&D process for CoPS. Attention is lacking with regards to the key and essence of creating a complex technology: the creation of knowledge.Design/methodology/approachModified from the classic SECI model’s spiral process of knowledge creation, a grey-SECI (G-SECI) knowledge creation model is here proposed vis-à-vis three knowledge categories: explicit knowledge, grey knowledge and tacit knowledge. Then, this paper further analyzes the effects of knowledge creation from the perspective of individual and the view of organization. Besides, an empirical study is conducted.FindingsStatistical analysis indicates that there are three main paths of knowledge creation: individual experience knowledge acquisition, individual communication and reflection and organizational knowledge learning. Results further suggest that knowledge internalization by practice (KIP) is the key mode of knowledge creation, as well as the most important step for high-quality CoPS performance. Moreover, individual innovation performance is influenced by knowledge internalization by reflection and KIP; and organization innovation performance is influenced by knowledge combination and knowledge systematization.Research limitations/implicationsThe coverage of geographical distribution is limited. Therefore, there are no data from foreign enterprises. The impact of different geographical cultures on CoPS knowledge creation model could be further investigated; in addition, the statistical analysis results of this study need to be further verified in other industries.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a series of insights for CoPS project leaders. The results may also provide practical guidance for the related management personnel in the fields of human resource training, project planning, project quality and technology R&D in CoPS R&D management.Originality/valueThe paper’s main contribution is to modify classic SECI knowledge conversion model by introducing grey knowledge and build a new G-SECI knowledge creation model. Besides, the paper adds empirical evidence on the knowledge creation paths in CoPS and reveals that internalization by practice is the key mode of knowledge creation.

Antecedents and effects of individual absorptive capacity: a micro-foundational perspective on open innovation

PurposeThe paper aims to understand how individuals differ in individual absorptive capacity – their ability to recognize, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge. These individual absorptive capacities are a key knowledge management building block for an organization’s open innovation practices. The study examines individual antecedents – human capital, social capital and cognition – and innovation outcomes of individual absorptive capacity.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quantitative study of 147 employees in a single medium-sized Dutch industrial firm. Based on a survey and structural equation modeling, the antecedents’ prior knowledge diversity, network diversity and cognitive style are examined in relation to individual absorptive capacity. Further, the mediating effects of individual absorptive capacity on its antecedents and innovation outcome are investigated.FindingsThe main findings are that prior knowledge diversity, external network diversity and a bisociative cognitive style explain differences in individual absorptive capacity. A bisociative cognitive style appears to be the most important factor. Also, this study finds that individual absorptive capacity mediates between its antecedents and individual innovation performance and is therefore a relevant factor to capture value from external knowledge sources.Research limitations/implicationsThe study extends open innovation theory by exploring individual-level factors that explain the ability to capture value from external knowledge. It suggests that differences in open innovation practices are explained by heterogeneity at the individual level. Further, it explains how individuals’ potentials for open innovation are mediated by their absorptive capacities. These insights enable future researchers to further examine individual-level factors in knowledge management practices and to explore cross-level individual-organizational interactions for open innovation.Practical implicationsThis paper highlights that individuals’ engagements in open innovation practices are explained not only by individuals’ motivations but also by their abilities to absorb external knowledge. Further, it helps managers to design knowledge management practices to promote employees’ absorptive capacities, to improve open innovation processes.Originality/valueThis study investigates the neglected individual-level factors of open innovation practices from a micro-foundational and knowledge management perspective. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to examine individual-level antecedents and outcomes of individual absorptive capacity.

Soft skills, hard skills, and individual innovativeness

This paper contributes to the literature on skills and innovativeness of employees at the individual level. Based on a properly designed empirical analysis, the findings improve our understanding of the relation between soft skills, hard skills and individual innovativeness. Cross-sectional data of Indonesian firms from different industries are used from an online survey on manager and worker perceptions related to individual innovation performance on the one hand and individual skills on the other hand. The results show that soft skills and hard skills are significantly and positively associated with individual level innovativeness. However, no complementarity (positive interaction effect) is found between soft skills and hard skills.