The influence of organizational culture and HRM on building innovative capability

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to deepen the extant theoretical and empirical knowledge on the mechanisms by which organizational culture and HR practices interact to promote innovative capability in organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study were collected from a sample of 75 companies in two phases. First, the HR managers of those companies responded to a survey that measures organizational culture, HR practices and innovative capability. Second, we obtained additional data from department managers of 36 of those 75 companies. The research model and hypotheses were tested using structured equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results indicate that cultural traits have direct and significant effects on promoting innovative capability and that they have also a strong effect on the effectiveness of implemented HR practices, the latter having a mediation role. The importance of considering both generic and specific (innovation focused) HR practices to obtain a synergistic effect in the promotion of innovation was also demonstrated.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected using a questionnaire at a single point in time, and thus, not allowing cause–effect inferences.Practical implicationsThe results of this study provide evidence for HRM professionals interested in designing a system of HR practices that contributes to enhance organizational innovative capability.Originality/valueThis study advances our understanding of the mechanisms through which HR practices have an incremental effect over organizational culture on organizations' innovative capability, specifically offering a list of innovation-targeted practices. Moreover, it suggests that decision-makers will benefit from combining a range of generic and innovation-focused HR practices, which will display greater effect when embedded on highly effective culture contexts.

The Impact of New Generation Management Approaches on the Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Strategic Human Resource Management Applications

“…Innovation has been found to have a moderator effect on the positive impact of HRM practices on performance (Diaz-Fernandez et al, 2015). In another study, HR practices were revealed to have a moderator effect on the organizational culture's impact on innovation capability (Botelho, 2020). Moussa and El Arbi (2020) examined the relationship between HR and innovation, finding that the use of HR information systems improved the innovation skills of HR employees: Hypothesis 1a (H1a): Innovation capability affects firm performance directly and positively.…”

Exploring Critical Factors for Innovative Capacities: A Life-History Research

“…Consistent with this argument, an increased number of disciplines have perceived the understanding of the processes of innovation as a key concern. Human resource management (HRM) research has primarily focused on understanding the factors that can contribute to building innovative organizations [1][2][3]. Here, focus has predominantly been on top-down models, arguing that factors such as organizational climates [8] in which employees feel psychological empowered are key [9].…”

“…The aim of this chapter is to explore how different socio-cultural factors influence innovative capacities of individual inventors. When exploring innovation, the human research management literature have primarily focused on the management of organizations or organizational culture [1][2][3]. Meanwhile, individuals' background and upbringing is a theoretical and empirical blind spot, even though other disciplines, such as sociology and psychology, have shown that family and upbringing are key indicators of human and social capital known to be influential for individuals' general capacities [4][5][6].…”

Tapping into the underlying strength of organizational culture

“…Yet innovation is such a broad, multi-faceted subject that HR practitioners can struggle to apply it in the context of people and organizations. A research paper by Carlos Botelho (2020) delves into the impact of HR practices and organizational culture on building innovative capability. The study aims to strengthen our understanding of the role of HR management (HRM) and HR practices in encouraging innovation, by proposing beneficial innovation-targeted practices.…”