Linking middle-managers' ownership feelings to their innovative work behaviour: the mediating role of affective organisational commitment

Abstract

Middle-managers' innovative behaviours are considered an essential determinant of firm-level innovativeness. While prior research has traditionally focused on the contextual determinants of middle-managers' innovative work behaviour (IWB), research regarding individual-level determinants continues to remain scant. Particularly lacking is research which explores how middle-managers' ownership feelings influence their IWB. This study investigates whether middle-managers' affective commitment mediates the relationship between their psychological ownership and their IWB. Data are collected from 110 middle-managers – supervisor dyads in a large Malaysian IT organisation. Findings from this study contribute to enhancing our understanding of the individual-level determinants of middle-managers' IWB.

Inclusive leadership and innovative work behaviors: a moderated mediation model

“…Organizations that want to succeed in an environment characterized by globalization and increasing competition are now more reliant than ever on their employees' innovative work behavior (IWB) (Mustafa et al, 2022). However, it remains unclear why some employees are willing to engage in IWB while others avoid it (Bos-Nehles and Veenendaal, 2019).…”

“…Although the inclusive leadership behaviors exhibited by managers are among the main determinants of IWB, the psychological characteristics of the employees also create a driving effect for them to engage in IWB (Mansoor et al, 2021). Surprisingly, studies aimed at identifying the psychological mechanisms that facilitate IWB have not attracted sufficient attention from researchers (Mustafa et al, 2022). As previously stated, IWB is a complex and risky process consisting of non-routine behaviors; therefore, to be successful in the challenging process of IWB, employees must also be psychologically resilient.…”

The consequences of face-threatening feedback on innovators’ psychological safety, affect, and willingness to engage in future innovation projects

“…The commitment manipulations were drawn from research associating commitment with both effort and psychological ownership (Sauermann and Cohen, 2010;Montani et al, 2017;Mustafa et al, 2022) What followed was the face manipulation. We initially operationalized the face conditions based upon Daly et al (2012) framework highlighting moves that were seen as especially facethreatening and face-sensitive as well as prior research (Jenkins and Dragojevic, 2013) on forceful language (controlling and demeaning language choices).…”

“…The commitment manipulations were drawn from research associating commitment with both effort and psychological ownership ( Sauermann and Cohen, 2010 ; Montani et al, 2017 ; Mustafa et al, 2022 )…”

How does perceived respect affect innovative behavior? The role of thriving at work and spiritual leadership

“…Internal emotional factors have a stronger and more lasting effect than external factors on promoting the new generation of employees’ inherent initiative to conduct positive behavior for the organization ( Zhou et al, 2014 ), which is the basic driving force of employees’ innovative behavior ( Bani-Melhem et al, 2018 ). Most research on the antecedents of employees’ innovative behavior has focused on factors at the individual level such as employees’ personality ( Baer, 2010 ; Anderson et al, 2014 ; Gu et al, 2015 ; Liang et al, 2022 ) and external motivation factors such as organizational culture and supportive investment ( Lin, 2011 ; Swart et al, 2014 ; Tan et al, 2021 ; Mustafa et al, 2022 ), while the influence of positive emotions on employees’ innovative behavior and the mechanism of this influence remain unaddressed. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the internal mechanism explaining the impact of perceived respect on innovative behavior.…”