Jol Stoffers

Towards a moderated mediation model of innovative work behaviour enhancement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a moderated mediation model of innovative work behaviour enhancement. Perceived firm (organizational and market) performance was assumed to moderate the relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), on the one hand, and employability, on the other hand. In a preciously validated human resources management (HRM) model, employability appeared to be a full mediator in the relationship between LMX and OCB, and innovative work behaviour, being the outcome measure. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a sample of 487 pairs of employees and their immediate supervisors working in 151 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to confirm the factor structure of the baseline model variables, including LMX, OCB, employability, and innovative work behaviour. The moderating effect of firm performance was tested using multi-group SEM. Findings – Results indicated that firm performance had a substantial influence on the baseline models relationships. More specifically, firm performance appeared to moderate partially a mediation model wherein LMX was assumed to be associated with innovative work behaviour, through employability, being the mediator. Moreover, firm performance also appeared to moderate conclusively a model with employability as a mediator in the relationship between OCB and innovative work behaviour. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this is the very first study that investigates a mediation model of innovative work behaviour enhancement moderated by firm performance. It appears that high- vs low-performance firms present very different organizational environments for an employee to work in. Obviously, these situational factors affect workers’ employability. This study adds particular knowledge to the scholarly literature in this field since not much is known about the science and practice of HRM within SMEs.

Employability and innovative work behaviour in small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract The purpose of this study is to cross-validate HRM measurement instruments for employability (individual competence-based approach) and innovative work behaviour within the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) further. The sample consisted of 487 pairs of employees and their immediate supervisors who work in 151 SMEs. A multitrait-multimethod analysis was performed, and the results suggest that for both instruments, requirements regarding convergent and divergent validity have been met satisfactorily. Structural Equation Modeling was performed in order to confirm the factor structure of the instruments. Paired-samples comparisons showed that all of the inter-method correlations for the two-source (employee and immediate supervisor) ratings and for both instruments were significantly positive. As for the final part of the cross-validation, multiple regression analyses were performed to demonstrate predictive validity. Depending on the stage of innovative work behaviour, different dimensions of employability appeared to play a significant role, although the effect did not always veer towards the direction expected. Investing in employability enhancement appeared to contribute to innovative work behaviour. The measurement instruments of employability and innovative work behaviour can provide SME managers with effective instruments to be used for performance appraisals, assessments, and employee development tools.

Joint effects of job demands and job resources on vocational teachers’ innovative work behavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate interactions of job demands and job resources in the facilitation of innovative work behavior (IWB). In particular, the paper aims at researching interactive effects of psychological empowerment and participative safety and their potential to buffer negative effects of job demands. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional questionnaire study with 239 vocational teachers was carried out. For hypotheses testing, multiple linear regression models were analyzed. Findings The study provides evidence for psychological empowerment and participative safety as individual and interactive predictors of IWB. Furthermore, the findings indicate that effects of job demands are substantially more positive when psychological empowerment is high and, conversely, when participative safety is low. Research limitations/implications Future studies should address the issues of the current study using a longitudinal approach and additional data sources. Moreover, concerning generalizability, future studies could move beyond the current study context of innovative vocational colleges and teachers. Practical implications The paper highlights the importance of creating resourceful work environments, which empower employees and provide fellowship and minority acceptance. Furthermore, the findings call for paying attention to individually varying perceptions of job demands and corresponding needs for compensatory job resources. Originality/value The study adds to closing the gap of lacking insight into interactions among established predictors of IWB. In particular, this regards interactions among demanding and resourceful characteristics of the work environment that need to be balanced in order to activate proactive behaviors such as IWB.

The Co-Creation-Wheel: A four-dimensional model of collaborative, interorganisational innovation

Purpose This study aims to design and validate a conceptual and practical model of co-creation. Co-creation, to design collaborative new products, services and processes in contact with users, has become more and more important because organisations increasingly require multidisciplinary collaboration inside and outside the organisation to respond to challenges and create added value. Design/methodology/approach This is a design and validation study, which uses mixed-methods, a reconstructive design and a semi-structured interview with a questionnaire as validation. The designed model is validated by 14 scholars and practitioners across fields. Findings Designed is a conceptual and practical model, the four-dimensional Co-Creation-Wheel, which contains success factors for co-creation: 12 internal team factors plus 4 external conditions and a core. The validation study of this model, scientifically and as a practical instrument, supported the importance of the components of the model and suggested slight improvements. This resulted in a refinement of the first designed Co-Creation-Wheel. Research limitations/implications Although restricted usefulness to large-scale structured innovation practices was expected, the instrument has a broader reach. First applications demonstrate that this Co-Creation-Wheel is multifunctional and international. It inspires, supports reflection of collaboration, stimulates interventions to enhance co-creation practices and human resource development (HRD) activities and is able to measure the quality of co-creation elements. Further research on its effects in co-creation practices is necessary, especially on the role of HRD in co-creation.. Originality/value This study is the first to design and validate a multifaceted, holistic conceptual and practical model of co-creation that is easy to use for innovators in practice and is multifunctional.

An innovative work behaviour-enhancing employability model moderated by age

This study aims to empirically validate an innovative work behaviour-enhancing model of employability in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to examine possible moderating effects of age.,Data have been collected from 487 pairs of employees and their immediate supervisors who worked in 151 SMEs. Structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used to investigate the predictive validity of employability on innovative work behaviour using a multi-source approach. The moderating effect of employee age on the relationship between, on the one hand, self-ratings and supervisor ratings of employability, and, on the other hand, innovative work behaviour has been tested using multi-group SEM.,Results suggest that self-rated employability correlates positively with supervisor-rated innovative work behaviour, and that supervisor-rated employability correlates positively with self-rated innovative work behaviour. Age appeared to have a weak influence on the relationship between employability and innovative work behaviour; more specifically, in case of a higher age, the relationship was stronger.,The cross-sectional design is a limitation of this study. Another limitation relates to the generalizability of the study findings outside the context in which the research has been undertaken. The relational meaning of employee age might be different in other cultures.,Supervisors appear to play an essential role in providing an age-friendly working life for employees. Moreover, as SMEs often do not employ professionals to manage human resources, supervisors themselves have to carry the responsibility to encourage aging employees to develop themselves the enhancing innovative work behaviour.,This study is the first to investigate the predictive validity of employability on innovative work behaviour and the effects of age on this relationship.

Analysis of Civic Initiatives: Multiparameter Classification of Social Innovations

This paper focuses on the topical and problematic area of social innovations. The aim of this paper is to develop an original approach to the allocation of social innovations, taking into account characteristics such as the degree of state participation, the scope of application, the type of initiations as well as the degree of novelty, which will be elaborated on further in this article. In order to achieve this goal, the forty-two most successful social innovations were identified and systematized. The results of this study demonstrated that 73.5% of social innovations are privately funded, most of them operating on an international level with a high degree of novelty. Moreover, 81% of all social innovations are civic initiatives. Social innovations play an important role in the growth of both developed and less developed countries alike as highlighted in our extensive analysis.