Towards enhancing innovation capability of teams: a conceptual perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 352-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Dilip Tikas ◽  
Akhilesh K.B.

Purpose This conceptual paper aims to explain the unidirectional cross-level impact of five “organizational-level” factors on “team-level” innovation capability through two “team-level” mediating factors. This multivariate model consists of five organizational-level factors (higher-level) factors – leadership, culture, structure, networks and knowledge – and team-level (lower-level) factors – “innovation capability”, “team-level focus” and “team-level intensity” towards innovation. Understanding the top-down influence of higher-level factors on lower-level ones gives this study a cross-level and unidirectional nature. Design/methodology/approach A keyword-based approach was used to select “relevant” articles from major journals to collect evidences and develop a conceptual model. All factors in the conceptual model were chosen from the organizational- and the team-level literature. Theoretical background for each of the chosen “factors” has been presented under relevant headings. Findings First is the conceptualization of team-level mediators – intensity and focus – towards innovation. Second is the conceptualization of innovation capability as a team-level factor, characterized by two sub-dimensions: customer orientation and manifestation. Research limitations/implications This conceptual paper does not contain any empirical data analysis. The authors have not considered individual-level factors like individual excellence, personalities, etc., which may impact team-level innovation. They are specifically looking at the top-down “unidirectional” cross-level impact of “higher-level” (organizational-level) factors on “lower-level” (team-level) factor, not the other way around. Practical implications Innovation-driven organizations can use this model to build long-term “innovation capabilities” by developing the right kind of “intensity” and “focus” of their R&D teams towards innovation. R&D teams can be encouraged to work closely with their “target” customers and manifest their innovation capabilities (to them) to ensure market success. Social implications Top management can design organizational-level policies to improve their leadership, culture, structure, networks and knowledge to encourage better innovation. Future researchers who wish to study the “cross-level” influence of organizational-level factors on team-level innovation capability may find this paper useful. Originality/value This study’s original contributions include: first, the conceptualization of a multivariate “cross-level” model to understand team-level innovation capability. Second is proposing the mediating role of “team-level” factors like focus and intensity while building innovation capability. Third is conceptualizing innovation capability as a team-level construct, with sub-dimensions: customer orientation and manifestation.

Author(s):  
Olivier Wurtz

PurposeExpatriation is known to be stressful. The purpose of this paper is to examine stress as an antecedent of substance use (SU) during expatriation and related effects on expatriates’ work adjustment. Moreover, the study sheds light on individual-level moderators (i.e. gender and prior international experience) and organizational-level moderators (i.e. organizational social support) that might condition the stress–SU link.Design/methodology/approachThis work adopts a quantitative survey approach. It is based on two studies, one of 205 expatriates and one of 96 expatriate–supervisor dyads. The data were collected through personal networks and with the help of multinational companies.FindingsThis research shows that stress at a medium- to high-level increases SU among male expatriates, but not among female expatriates. Expatriates with substantial prior international experience were identified as being more prone to react to stress by resorting to SU. It also provides evidence that SU to aid coping harms professional adjustment. Moreover, some implications relating to professional adjustment are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsSU was self-reported; this may have deterred users from accurately reporting their consumption levels. Moreover, convenience samples have been used. Preventive actions limiting SU, such as well-being programs, could be sponsored by local human resource managers in order to limit this phenomenon.Originality/valueThis work is one of the first to analyze SU among expatriates. It shows that some expatriates are more at risk than others of resorting to such use to cope with the hardships of expatriation.


Author(s):  
Heather Getha-Taylor ◽  
Alexa Haddock-Bigwarfe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine public service motivation (PSM) and the connection with collaborative attitudes among a sample of homeland security actors representing the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Design/methodology/approach – This study examines relationships between measures of PSM and collaboration using original survey data and hierarchical multiple regression. Findings – Findings reveal strong positive relationships between PSM measures and attitudes toward collaboration at the individual and organizational level. Research limitations/implications – Survey results are cross-sectional and are from respondents participating in a single state's homeland security summit. Practical implications – It is expected that results can be used to enhance collaboration at the individual and organizational levels. At the organizational level, results can be used for matching individuals with collaborative opportunities. At the individual level, results can be used for enhanced self-reflection and effectiveness purposes. Originality/value – This study provides insights on the relationship between PSM measures and collaborative attitudes. The research contributes to the body of scholarly work connecting PSM and correlates of interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jestine Philip

Purpose Emerging technologies are capable of enhancing organizational- and individual-level outcomes. The organizational behavior (OB) field is beginning to pursue opportunities for researching emerging technologies. This study aims to describe a framework consisting of white, black and grey boxes to demonstrate the tight coupling of phenomena and paradigms in the field and discusses deconstructing OB’s white box to encourage data-driven phenomena to coexist in the spatial framework. Design/methodology/approach A scoping literature review was conducted to offer a preliminary assessment of technology-oriented research currently occurring in OB. Findings The literature search revealed two findings. First, the number of published papers on emerging technologies in top management journals has been increasing at a steady pace. Second, various theoretical perspectives at the micro- and macro- organizational level have been used so far for conducting technology-oriented research. Originality/value By conducting a scoping review of emerging technologies research in OB literature, this paper reveals a conceptual black box relating to technology-oriented research. The essay advocates for loosening OB’s tightly coupled white box to incorporate emerging technologies both as a phenomenon and as data analytical techniques.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Misbah Hayat Bhatti ◽  
Umair Akram ◽  
Muhammad Hasnat Bhatti ◽  
Tabassum Riaz ◽  
Nausheen Syed

Purpose The effect of empowering leadership on knowledge sharing is well defined, but factors that stimulate employees for knowledge sharing are still limited. Therefore, this study aims to address to what extent empowering leadership is desirable to create a trustful and fair environment that is conducive for an employee’s knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Through integration of social exchange, equity and uncertainty management theories develop a moderating mediating model that links empowering leadership to knowledge sharing. Three-wave data collection from the sample of 375 managers–subordinates’ dyads was done in Pakistan textile industries. Findings Hierarchal regression analysis and bootstrapping method were applied to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that affective trust partially mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and knowledge sharing. More especially, the findings demonstrate that the relationship between empowering leadership and knowledge sharing becomes strong with high level of distributive and procedural justices. Practical implications This research study uses empowering leadership as a proposed motivational pathway for stimulating employee’s knowledge sharing through development of affective trust and buffering effect of distributive and procedural justices. Originality/value Most of previous research in knowledge sharing just cynosure organizational-level elements like leadership and organizational justices but deteriorate individual factors like trust. Therefore, this study will combine both organizational- and individual-level factors for urging employees for knowledge sharing.


2021 ◽  
pp. 227797522110105
Author(s):  
Latha Poonamallee ◽  
Simy Joy

Compassion involves feeling others’ pain, being moved by it, and acting in a manner that eases the suffering. Originally conceptualized as an individual-level phenomenon, organization scholars extend the concept to the organizational level as ‘collective compassion’ and call for expanding it to societal levels. We note that the dynamics of rousing collective compassion, however, may be different in organizational as opposed to societal contexts: the observers and the sufferers are in personal or close contact in the former context, whereas mass media is often the bridge connecting both in the latter. In this paper, we seek to deepen the understanding of the dynamics of rousing collective compassion at the societal level, by delineating the elements in media reports that can feed into compassion rousing processes. Based on a thematic analysis of newspaper reports from India on the first seven days after the Asian Tsunami, we identify four groups of elements—‘attention drawing elements’, ‘cognitive framing elements’, ‘affective arousal elements’ and ‘behaviour modelling elements’—which can respectively influence each of the four individual compassion subprocesses, namely noticing, appraising, feeling and acting. We offer a conceptual model to comprehensively represent collective compassion rousing at societal level, integrating our findings with prior research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyao Sun ◽  
Sophie Hennekam

PurposeThis study examines the effects of COVID-19 on individual, organizational and societal level as perceived by nurses in China.Design/methodology/approachWe draw on two qualitative studies consisting of 483 qualitative surveys and 28 in-depth interviews with nurses in China.FindingsThe pandemic has enhanced the profile of the nursing profession in Chinese society and has led to an increase in recognition, respect and visibility of nurses. In addition, participants point to an improved workplace culture in which there is a strong sense of pride in the collective effort they put. Simultaneously, however, nurses reported how COVID-19 was perceived to be detrimental to their own psychological well-being, while also interfering with their work–life balance.Originality/valueThe data reveal the paradoxal effects of COVID-19 on nurses in China. On societal and organizational level, the pandemic seems to have had a positive effect, while on individual level a range of perceived negative effects is identified.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2005-2027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yi Yong ◽  
M.-Y. Yusliza ◽  
Olawole Olanre Fawehinmi

Purpose Green or environmental human resource management (HRM) has in recent years attracted much attention from academia and practitioners all over the world. However, a thorough analysis of green or environmental HRM has not been made so far. To address this gap, the present study provides a systematic and comprehensive literature review. The purpose of this paper is threefold: to review Green HRM literature of various scopes, approaches and contexts; to identify different focus areas in the Green HRM literature; and to propose areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach The paper follows a systematic literature review approach. The selected journal articles are categorized on the basis of five focus areas in the Green HRM derived from the extant literature. Findings Research has grown significantly over the past 12 years that has focused on Green HRM. A total of 70 articles were reviewed and most of these articles employed quantitative method and were carried out in developing countries. Based on the five focus areas identified in this literature review, the performance outcome of Green HRM at both the organizational level and individual level received the greatest attention from the researchers. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited to a review of academic articles obtainable from online databases, containing the words “Green human resource management”, “Green HRM”, “Green human resource”, “Environmental HRM”, “Green training” and “Environmental training” in the title. Additionally, only papers from high quality, peer-reviewed journals were evaluated. Other academic sources such as books and conference papers were not included in this study. Originality/value The paper presents a structural overview of 70 peer-reviewed articles published in leading academic journals from 2007 until early 2019. This review provides an increased understanding of the existing state of current research, trends and future research directions in the Green HRM discipline.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunghan Ryu ◽  
Ayoung Suh

PurposeThis study examines how individual contributors' evaluation of the two aspects in reward-based crowdfunding—service and community—influences the formation of platform loyalty. It also seeks to determine the conditions under which the evaluation is positive.Design/methodology/approachWe collaborated for data collection with two reward-based crowdfunding platforms in South Korea that primarily promote crowdfunding campaigns in the creative domains. We combined the survey data collected from 578 contributors and campaign data from the platforms, empirically examining the formation of platform loyalty and its antecedents.FindingsThe results suggest that service satisfaction with a platform and a sense of belonging to it are positively associated with platform loyalty. We also found that an individual contributor's self-image congruence with the crowdfunding platform is positively associated with service satisfaction and a sense of belonging, while the experience of greater campaign success moderates the relationship in different ways.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the crowdfunding literature by establishing a theoretical background for understanding reward-based crowdfunding platforms, which combine service and community. It also extends the scope of the literature on crowdfunding by examining the role of platform loyalty at the platform level.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that service and community are both critical for building a sustainable crowdfunding platform. Platform operators are expected to provide high-quality services and foster a sense of community. Identifying and developing contributors with higher self-image congruence with the platforms is essential.Originality/valueWhile previous literature on reward-based crowdfunding has focused on individual contributor- and campaign-level analyses, platform-level knowledge is lacking. This study is among the first to focus on platform loyalty of individual contributors toward reward-based crowdfunding platforms. Moreover, we use both individual-level perception and campaign-level performance variables to examine the formation of platform loyalty.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Wójcik ◽  
Mariola Ciszewska-Mlinarič

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how individual-level cognitive and organizational-level behavioral factors influence the level of firms’ export performance as firms adapt to the challenges of foreign expansion. Design/methodology/approach Based on the literature on dynamic capabilities (DCs) and international business, the study introduces a multi-level model of DC to internationalize and test it empirically on a sample of 93 Polish exporting firms using structural equation modeling. Findings The results show a strong and positive impact of the “strategy as stretch” managerial mind-set on two behavioral elements, namely, business modeling and partnering capability. Global mind-set has a strong and positive impact on business modeling and learning about foreign markets and a negative but insignificant effect on partnering capability. Only two of the three behavioral elements of the conceptualized DC have significant and positive impacts on export performance. In contrast to the expectations, the direct path coefficient from learning about foreign markets to export performance was found to be positive but insignificant. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by offering a coherent, multi-level framework of DCs. The study goes beyond previous conceptualizations of DCs and considers various individual-level cognitive and organizational-level behavioral elements of DC for the internationalization of exporting firms. In particular, this study shows the interplay between them and their combined impact on export performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1082-1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaithen Abdullah Al Harbi ◽  
Saud Alarifi ◽  
Aissa Mosbah

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the effect of transformational leadership on followers’ inventiveness and organizational innovation. It studies transformational leadership and innovation at the organizational level and creativity at the individual level. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model was created, which entailed the development of variables and hypotheses. A survey instrument was used to obtain data, through a self-completion questionnaire. The final sample was made up of 503 individuals, recruited using a random sampling technique. Findings The results showed that transformational leadership has a significant positive relationship with both followers’ creativity and organizational innovation. Furthermore, a significant positive relationship was found between followers’ creativity and organizational innovation. In addition, the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ creativity, through the mediating role of employees’ psychological empowerment, support for innovation, workplace relationships and employee learning, was also found to be both positive and significant. However, the data showed that intrinsic motivation does not significantly affect the relationship between transformational leadership and creativity. Practical implications The study provides guidance to organizations that need to change their leadership style and approach, as well as their innovation and creativity mechanisms, at a strategic level. The resulting guidance provides organizations with insight into how they can improve the creativity of their employees through motivating, supporting and inspiring them. Originality/value This study is an attempt to illustrate the extent to which transformational leadership can affect organizational innovation in Saudi Arabia, specifically in the public sector, and to explore how employees’ creativity can be improved. This research is beneficial for academics, organizations and policy makers, especially in the Gulf countries.


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