Organisational Culture and Work–life Balance as Facilitators of Service Innovation: Study in a Technology Knowledge-Intensive Business Services Firm

Abstract

This study aimed at analysing the relationship among organisational culture, work–life balance, and service innovation in a technology-based Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (t-KIBS) firm. This quantitative, survey-typed, and cross-sectional research was performed in a sample of 278 respondents. Data were analysed using structural equation modeling by partial least squares. Our results showed that the adhocracy culture is positively related to work–life balance and service innovation. The results also showed a positive effect of work–life balance in the development of service innovations. Contributions of this study are focused on the understanding of the direct and indirect effects of organisational culture on the service innovation and work–life balance fields in a highly competitive industry as the t-KIBS’. Due to the dynamism of this market, urgent execution deadlines for demanding projects cause high levels of employee stress, making work–life balance policies more necessary, as they emerge on the leadership and organisational culture and impact its innovation. Thus, it is recommended to create a long-term sustainable competitive advantage in companies and promote service innovation, that organisational culture should be treated in synchrony with the strategic corporate objectives and simultaneously with programs and incentives to promote the balance between employees’ professional and personal lives.

Innovative technology services: the human side of knowledge

“…WLB is a HCM construct divided into three LOCs: Temporal Flexibility, Supportive Supervision and Operational Flexibility. The items of the scale were adapted from Clark (2001) and validated in the Brazilian context by Tambosi et al (2021). Temporal Flexibility was assessed with five items.…”

“…The article extends the literature showing that in addition to the firm providing an environment of trust for innovation, it is necessary to improve the trust at the micro level of the individuals. More than an OC (Tambosi et al. , 2021; Bomm et al.…”

“…In turn, TL, by aligning personnel with common organizational goals (Voon et al, 2011), acts as an essential factor in an employee's engagement (Rahmadani and Schaufeli, 2020). Thus, leadership (Gomes et al, 2020;Bomm et al, 2022) and OC (Tambosi et al, 2021;Bomm et al, 2022) in T-KIBS provide internal trust to balance the uncertainty inherent to this group of firms.…”

“…The article extends the literature showing that in addition to the firm providing an environment of trust for innovation, it is necessary to improve the trust at the micro level of the individuals. More than an OC (Tambosi et al, 2021;Bomm et al, 2022) and leadership (Gomes et al, 2020;Bomm et al, 2022), which inspire innovation, people in the firm through WLB (Syrek et al, 2013) must feel trust (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985) that their personal tasks will be respected along with their professional jobs.…”

Unpacking the Organizational Culture as a Sustainable Distinctive Competence in Knowledge Intensive Firms: The Harvestplus Case in Colombia

“…In knowledge-intensive organizations there is a predominance of the adhocratic culture, which is characterized by an egalitarian, dynamic and creative environment, where workers can expose their ideas to find solutions to specific customer needs, likewise, leaders are visionaries and innovators and are also responsible for promoting a culture that allows generating new knowledge and implementing innovative products and services (Junior et al, 2021).…”