The dimensional linkage between public service motivation and innovative behavior in public sector institutions; the mediating role of psychological empowerment
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 26 July 2021
Issue publication date: 2 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Innovations are imperative for organizational growth and sustainability. This study focuses on the employees' innovative behavior, a source of organizational innovations, which has received substantial attention from the researchers. Based on the psychological empowerment theory, the study exposes the effect of the various dimensions of public service motivation (PSM) on employees' innovative behavior (IB) in public sector institutions especially in the context of developing countries such as Pakistan. Moreover, the study also investigates the mediating role of psychological empowerment (PSE) between the dimensions of PSM and IB.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the cross-sectional research design. By using random sampling, the adapted survey questionnaires were used to collect data from 346 faculty members of public sector universities located in provincial capitals of Pakistan. A partial least square–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) tool was used to assess the proposed hypotheses through SMART-PLS software.
Findings
Results revealed that attraction to policymaking (APM), compassion (COM), self-sacrifice (SS) have a significant impact on employees' PSE and their innovative behavior, while the relationship of commitment to the public interest (CPI) with PSE and IB was found insignificant. Moreover, PSE partially mediated the relationship between PSM dimensions and employees' IB.
Originality/value
There was a scarcity of research on IB especially in public sector institutions such as academia. This study theoretically contributed to the literature by providing a refined picture in assessing the proposed relationship of the constructs. This is also one of the original studies that examine the relationship between the dimensions of PSM and IB.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support of esteemed faculty members for providing the data for research purposes. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments to improve the manuscript.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there are no known conflicts of interest.
Financial/Funding Statement: Funding from Prof. Hou Yumei has been provided by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (G2019203387). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views.
Citation
Rafique, M.A., Hou, Y., Chudhery, M.A.Z., Gull, N. and Ahmed, S.J. (2023), "The dimensional linkage between public service motivation and innovative behavior in public sector institutions; the mediating role of psychological empowerment", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 207-229. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-02-2021-0098
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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