Influence of knowledge sharing, innovation passion and absorptive capacity on innovation behaviour in China

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to address the question of what can significantly impact employees' IB and how employees' IB may be effectively stimulated by investigating key factors such as employees' knowledge sharing, innovation passion, absorptive capacity and risk-taking behaviour on workplace innovation. The moderating role of risk-taking behaviour on the link between absorptive capacity and innovation behaviour is also investigated.Design/methodology/approachBased on the principles of social exchange theory, the study design explores the complex relationship among knowledge sharing, innovation passion, absorptive capacity and risk-taking vis-à-vis employees' innovation behaviour within a unified analysis framework. Methodologically, employees in the information technology industry in China were surveyed via a questionnaire instrument, with a total of 318 valid questionnaires being collected online. Following a reliability and validity test of the questionnaire, the Smart PLS was used to verify the research model.FindingsStatistically significant results reported were as follows: (1) employees' innovation behaviour is positively impacted by knowledge sharing, innovation passion and absorptive capacity; (2) employees' innovation behaviour is negatively impacted by risk-taking behaviour; (3) knowledge sharing is positively impacted by innovation passion; (4) absorptive capacity is positively impacted by innovation passion; and (5) risk-taking behaviour regulates the relationship between absorptive capacity and innovation behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to limited research resources, 318 front-line employees were surveyed via an online questionnaire vis-à-vis the sampling method only, specifically taking knowledge sharing, innovation passion, absorptive capacity and risk-taking behaviour as antecedent variables with implications on how employees' innovation behaviour may be stimulated.Originality/valueThe mechanism of augmenting employees' innovation behaviour is chiefly explained from the perspective of innovation passion and risk-taking behaviour, which are conducive towards promoting employees' willingness to improve knowledge sharing and innovation behaviour. The social exchange theory is used as a basis to form an integrated model for the research, contributing to a cumulative theoretical perspective for future work on the impact of innovation passion and risk-taking behaviour on innovation.

The Influence of Personal Motivation and Innovative Climate on Innovative Behavior: Evidence from University Students in China

“…Innovative behavior at the individual level has long been a concern. 5 , 6 Innovative behavior is defined as the process of asking questions and conceiving solutions, seeking support for one’s ideas, and realizing one’s innovative ideas. 14 In view of the above, students’ innovative behavior is defined as a series of changes in which they generate innovative ideas and try to put them into practice in the process of learning and participating in scientific and technological activities.…”

“…Our study findings have theoretical implications for the literature on innovative behavior. Previous research has focused on employees, 6 and there are few specific studies from the perspective of students. Further, personal motivation and innovative climate’s effects on innovative behavior have been studied insufficiently.…”

“…Previous research on innovative behavior has focused on the individual and organizational levels. The individual level includes such abilities as creative self-efficacy, 4 intrinsic motivation, 5 knowledge sharing, innovative passion, and absorptive capacity, 6 while the organizational level comprises such factors as creative leadership and innovative climate. 7 The influence of personal motivation and innovative climate on innovative behavior has received more attention recently.…”

The absorptive capacity process: an exposition and update

“…Ergo, although many researchers acknowledge the ACAP process as a complex process (Aribi and Dupou€ et, 2016;Martinkenaite and Breunig, 2016), they accept the ACAP process as a given process. They use ACAP as tools, such as to catalyse the capacity of leaders (Ali et al, 2013;Castillo and Trinh, 2019), empower psychological ownership (Ye et al, 2021), boosting innovation behaviour (Tsai, 2021) and so on. Indeed, several previous types of research do bring relevant points about the ACAP, such as Filippini et al (2010) and Vasconcelos et al (2019) used qualitative case studies that described the progress of the ACAP process their participant's view.…”

How to stimulate employees’ innovative behavior: Internal social capital, workplace friendship and innovative identity

“…Existing research has begun to pay attention to the role of social capital in organizational innovation. Some scholars have pointed out that internal social capital (ISC), such as internal cooperation, employees’ common experiences, employees’ interactive identity, etc., has a positive impact on organizational innovation ( Campbell, 2020 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ), and ISC affects EIB through relational psychological contracts, knowledge sharing, and dual learning ( Ng et al, 2010 ; Dong et al, 2017 ; Cohen and Ehrlich, 2019 ; Kiazad et al, 2019 ; Li H. H. et al, 2021 ; Ye et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2022 ). Although the influence of ISC on innovation behavior has been examined, the discussion on the relationship mechanism between the two has yet to be deeply explored, and the influence mechanism between ISC, innovative identity, and innovative behavior needs to be further studied.…”