Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) in the Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) Sector in Malaysia: The Effect of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and Social Capital (SC)

Abstract

Today, innovation is no longer belongs to the research and development (R&D) lab per se. In fact, innovation can be considered more of a product of the human creative mind with an inherent tacit knowledge. In order to be a successful knowledge-based economy, employees must continually be innovative. As such, this research which relates to innovation by and large will assist in creating better understanding of innovation from the behavioral perspective. In the context of business, innovation has long been embraced by organizations seeking to remain viable, effective and competitive in a dynamic business environment. Looking at the perspective of individual level innovation, this study seeks to examine whether employees' innovative work behavior (IWB) can be influenced by leader-member exchange (LMX) and the social capital (SC) in the knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) sector in Malaysia. Using questionnaire mail survey a total of 318 data was obtained from the knowledge workers of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status companies in Malaysia. The findings show that LMX and SC was significantly and positively related to IWB. The result also reveals that SC has a stronger influence on the IWB of employees as compared to LMX. Discussions and implications of the study are discussed.

Modeling team performance from the perspective of politics and ethical leadership

“…LMX) and social capital (e.g. LMC) have been examined and supported by June and Kheng (2014) in the knowledge intensive business services sector in which employees' innovative work behavior is affected by LMX and social capital. This study complements previous research by specifying the theoretical linkage between LMX and LMC in depth from a teaming perspective.…”

The Mediating Effect of Organizational Climate on the Relationship between Leadership Styles and Their Components on Innovative Behaviour

“…In other words, innovative behaviour can be seen as the production or adoption of new and useful ideas, processes, products or procedures within a work role, group or even an organization (De Jong & Den Hertod, 2007). It is important to note that this production or adoption of new and useful ideas is a multistage process of problem recognition (June & Kheng, 2014). As such, innovative employees are those who are consistently searching for and promoting new ideas with the aim of ultimately transforming those novel ideas into commercial product (Singh & Sarkar, 2012).…”

Considering the Farm Workforce as Part of Farmers' Innovative Behaviour: A Key Factor in Inclusive on-Farm Processes of Technology and Practice Adoption

“…From a theoretical view point, researchers should investigate technology and adoption processes on (family) farms beyond a focus on the owner-manager, incorporating workers into the unit of analysis. From a practical view point, support agents (e.g., extension) should pay more attention to workforce management and development (following Malanski et al ., 2017; Nettle, 2012; Nettle et al ., 2018) as well as to farmers’ transformative and inclusive leadership skills (see, e.g., June and Kheng, 2014), as these appear to be important factors in technology and practice adoption and more broadly in farms’ innovation capacity.…”

“…To achieve this, managers must have the abilities to create an atmosphere in the organisation that stimulates workers’ involvement in innovations in technologies and practices (Anderson and West, 1998; Lukeš, 2013). Such abilities include: recognising workers’ good performance, motivating the sharing of knowledge and joint learning, promoting good relationships between workers, communicating the organisation's objectives clearly and proposing new ideas for developing the organisation (June and Kheng, 2014). Anderson and West (1998) have suggested that building an organisational atmosphere where innovation is incentivized entails: (i) promoting a group vision within the workforce, (ii) generating practices for stimulating good interpersonal relationships, (iii) continuously evaluating the innovation process, (iv) motivating workers to correct their mistakes and (v) involving workers in the generation and implementation of new ideas.…”

“…Studies in the corporate management literature on productive sectors other than agriculture have already more extensively explored the relationship between managers and workers regarding managers’ leadership capacities as a key component in the development of new ideas, stimulation of knowledge sharing and participation of workers in the innovation process within firms and adoption of new technologies and practices (Anderson and West, 1998; June and Kheng, 2014). This literature has highlighted some key factors that allow the stimulation and acceleration of the innovation process in enterprises.…”