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Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Mieke Audenaert, Alex Vanderstraeten and Dirk Buyens

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the field’s understanding of how to raise individual innovation. Specifically, the authors aim to contribute to an understanding of…

1838

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the field’s understanding of how to raise individual innovation. Specifically, the authors aim to contribute to an understanding of the interplay of job characteristics and intrinsic motivation for individual innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses time-lagged survey data of a public service organization in Belgium. The analyses are based on more than 80 jobs and more than 1,000 employees. Hierarchical linear modeling was adopted to test cross-level hypotheses.

Findings

Innovation requirements influence individual innovation efforts by psychologically empowering employees, but the extent to which psychological empowerment translates into individual innovation depends on job complexity.

Originality/value

A more nuanced understanding is developed of when innovation requirements empower individual innovation, by acknowledging the role of job complexity in this relationship. The current findings contribute to a multilevel integrative understanding of the interplay of the job context and intrinsic motivation.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 46 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Mieke Audenaert, Adelien Decramer, Thomas Lange and Alex Vanderstraeten

Drawing on climate theory and social exchange theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how the strength of the expectation climate, defined as the degree of…

2342

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on climate theory and social exchange theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how the strength of the expectation climate, defined as the degree of agreement among job incumbents on what is expected from them, affects their job performance. To explain this relationship, the authors utilize mediating trust-in-the organization effects as an explanatory avenue.

Design/methodology/approach

In a time-lagged data sample of 568 public service employees, whose job performance is rated by their 242 line managers, the authors apply multilevel modeling. The authors employed stratified random sampling techniques across 75 job categories in a large, public sector organization in Belgium.

Findings

The analysis provides support for the argument that expectation climate strength via mediating trust-in-the organization effects impacts positively on the relationship between employee expectations and performance. Specifically, the significant association of the expectation climate strength with trust suggests that the perceived consensus about the expectations among different job incumbents demonstrates an organization’s trustworthiness and reliability to pursue intentions that are deemed favorable for employees. The authors conjecture that expectation climate strength breeds trust which strengthens employees’ job performance.

Practical implications

HRM professionals in general, and line managers in particular, should heed the advice and carefully manage their tools and practices in an effort to signal compatible expectancies to different job incumbents in the same or similar roles.

Originality/value

The results shed new light on the mechanisms through which the strength of collective expectations impacts employee outcomes.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Adelien Decramer, Carine Smolders, Alex Vanderstraeten, Johan Christiaens and Sebastian Desmidt

This paper aims to explore the relationship between external pressures and the adoption of employee performance management systems within academic units of Flemish higher…

4499

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between external pressures and the adoption of employee performance management systems within academic units of Flemish higher education institutions. The literature on contextually based HRM and institutionalism is used to underpin the theoretical propositions.

Design/methodology/approach

A comparative case study is described to provide evidence for the theoretical arguments.

Findings

It has been suggested that academic units face a set of external pressures, which leads to different employee performance management systems. This study finds that academic units imitate their legitimacy‐based reference group and legitimacy‐driven imitation and the adoption of external employee performance management requirements distort the alignment of employee performance management systems.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could formally test the relationship between external drivers and the adoption of strategic and integrated employee performance management systems in academic units by using a survey questionnaire.

Originality/value

This theoretical argumentation uses contextually‐based human resource theory and it is explored empirically through an analysis of the specific context of Flemish academic units to explain how institutional and market pressures affect the adoption and configuration of employee performance management systems.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 November 2020

Geraldine Kennett, Ling Hu, Alex Maritz and He Sun

This study explores the different learning practices of Chinese incubators in Chongqing and Chengdu and delves into how these “learning huddles” influence incubatees' absorptive…

1027

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the different learning practices of Chinese incubators in Chongqing and Chengdu and delves into how these “learning huddles” influence incubatees' absorptive capacity (the ability to apply knowledge) to improve their chance of success (sustainable growth).

Design/methodology/approach

This explorative study uses a qualitative case study approach by means of semi-structured interviews with business incubation managers and incubatees across three business incubators in Chengdu and Chongqing. The data are transcribed, coded and analyzed using an analytic map for the explanation of building and reflecting on the theoretical propositions, leading to a further understanding of the “learning huddle” mechanism.

Findings

The study finds that incubatees perceive that their absorptive capacity is increased through vicarious informal learning practices that promote access to networks and thereby builds social capital to improve their likelihood of success.

Research limitations/implications

This study has limitations in sample size and design. The explorative case study approach uses a nonrandom case selection of three incubators in Chongqing and Chengdu and has a limited number of interviewees, which may lack representation of the general Chinese business incubation population and may not sufficiently be generalized beyond the sample itself.

Practical implications

These findings have important implications for business incubation programs. Business incubators that build learning huddles (networks) create a nurturing shared learning environment, which is suitable for incubatees to collectively absorb knowledge at the early stage of their life cycle and improve their likelihood of sustainable growth.

Social implications

Since this study is limited to a Chinese context, it is also hoped that future researchers use the typology of business incubator learning practices to explore cross-culture variables, as these may influence the business incubation operations and performance.

Originality/value

This study adds to the discussion on how collective learning practices facilitate absorptive capacity and build social capital, which in turn improves incubatees' chance of sustainable growth and as such the authors hope that the learning practice's typology and how incubatees determine their success stimulates further research for measuring the likelihood of incubatees sustainable growth.

Details

Journal of Industry-University Collaboration, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-357X

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 4 August 2015

Abstract

Details

Entrepreneurial Growth: Individual, Firm, and Region
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-047-0

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