There is growing evidence available to suggest that HR practice is an important predictor of organisational performance. In this article, we argue that HR practices also have the potential to promote organisational innovation. We describe a longitudinal study of 22 UK manufacturing companies and examine the relationship between such practices and product and technological innovation. Results reveal that training, induction, team working, appraisal and exploratory learning focus are all predictors of innovation. Contingent reward, applied in conjunction with an exploratory learning focus, is positively associated with innovation in technical systems. Furthermore, training, appraisal and induction, combined with exploratory learning focus, explain variation between companies in product and technological innovation above and beyond the main effects observed.
There is growing evidence available to suggest that Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is an important predictor of organizational performance. Drawing upon organizational learning perspectives, we argue that HRM systems also have the potential to promote organizational innovation. We present longitudinal data from thirty-five UK manufacturing organizations to suggest that effective HRM systems -incorporating sophisticated approaches to recruitment and selection, induction, appraisal and training -predict organizational innovation in products and production technology. We further show that organizational innovation is enhanced where there is a supportive learning climate, and inhibited (for innovation in production processes) where there is a link between appraisal and remuneration.
Studies on the effects of transformational leadership on employee innovative behaviour have yielded mixed results. The authors argue that one possible explanation for these mixed findings is that researchers have assumed a linear relationship between these constructs. In contrast, they suggest that the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour is non‐linear. Specifically, the authors argue that the positive effects of transformational leadership on innovative behaviour will be stronger at low and high levels of transformational leadership. Moreover, they examine whether the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour is mediated by knowledge sharing within and between teams. The authors undertake a constructive replication by testing these hypothesized relationships in two studies: (1) a multi‐actor team‐level study conducted in the USA, and (2) a longitudinal employee‐level study of teachers in the Netherlands. Results of both studies reveal that knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour, and that the indirect relationship is curvilinear. The authors link these findings to leader substitution theory, proposing that employees turn to their peers and other parties when there is an absence of effective leadership.
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