Prior research has linked the innovative behavior of public sector employees to desirable outcomes such as improved efficiency and higher public service quality. However, questions regarding the drivers of innovative behavior among employees have received limited attention. This article employs psychological empowerment theory to examine the underlying processes by which entrepreneurial leadership and public service motivation (PSM) shape innovative behavior among civil servants. Based on three‐wave data from 281 Chinese civil servants and their 59 department heads, entrepreneurial leadership is found to positively influence subordinates' innovative behavior by enhancing two dimensions of psychological empowerment: meaning and impact. Additionally, PSM was found to influence subordinates' innovative behavior by enhancing the dimensions of meaning and competence. These findings suggest that to facilitate innovative behavior among employees, public organizations should consider introducing training that encourages leaders to serve as entrepreneurial role models and recruit employees with high levels of PSM.
Based on insights from social exchange and social identity theories, this paper examines the influence of three dimensions of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM), namely legal compliance HRM, employee-oriented HRM and general CSR facilitation HRM, on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Structural equation modelling of dyadic data collected from Chinese employees and their direct supervisors in three phases revealed that whilst organizational identification fully mediated the relationship between employee-oriented HRM and employee OCB, general CSR facilitation HRM had a direct effect on employee OCB. In contrast, legal compliance HRM neither influenced employee OCB directly, nor indirectly through organizational identification. The findings highlight the important but complex role played by SR-HRM in eliciting positive employee work outcomes, and contribute to our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying this relationship.
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