Does Power Distance Necessarily Hinder Individual Innovation? A Moderated-Mediation Model

Abstract

Individual innovation behavior is the driving force for enterprise sustainable development and can be affected by many factors, among which power distance is important. To explore the mediating mechanism and boundary conditions of power distance on individual innovation behavior, this paper constructed a moderated mediation model with task characteristics as the moderator and voice behavior as the mediator from the two-dimensional perspective of individual innovation behavior (innovative idea generation and implementation). Responses to 336 valid questionnaires from 133 technological innovation enterprises in China revealed that power distance has a negative effect on innovative idea generation, but a positive effect on innovative idea implementation. In this process, task characteristics only play a moderating effect in the relationship between power distance and innovative idea implementation, but fail to moderate the relationship between power distance and innovative idea generation. In addition, it was found that voice behavior mediates the relationship between power distance and individual innovation behavior. This study provides useful insight on the mechanism of organizational culture on individual innovation behavior, and suggests leaders take effective measures to improve the enterprise sustainable development ability.

How Does Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership Fuel Employees’ Low-Carbon Behavior? The Role of Environmental Self-Accountability and Power Distance Orientation

“…They are more likely to obey the decisions of their superiors (e.g., even wrong decisions). On the contrary, employees with lower power distance orientation care more about the equal relationship with the leaders and are less grateful to the leaders [ 57 ].…”

“…Thus, when ESS leaders demonstrate the values and attitude associated with protecting the environment in their work, high power distance orientation individuals are more willing to emulate this value and show more environmental self-responsibility. On the contrary, employees with low power distance orientation are more likely to view leaders as equals and not submit to their authority [ 57 ]. Therefore, leadership values are not worth learning for low power distance orientation employees.…”

Sustainable innovation in the context of organizational cultural diversity: The role of cultural intelligence and knowledge sharing

“…Focusing on the innovation behavior of grassroots employees in the workplace may support development opportunities for the organization; similarly, the sustainable innovation of employees requires organizational support. The sustainable innovation of employees requires the support of the organizational system, a supportive organizational culture, and the creative ability and characteristics of employees themselves [19]. Scott and Bruce (1994) viewed innovation as a multistage process, which is a collection of actions taken by individuals to seek, develop, and apply new ideas and solutions in their current situation [45].…”

“…Rather, research on organizational cultural diversity has focused on the impact of cultural diversity and organizational cultural differences on economic effects and sustainable development at the organizational level [ 16 , 17 ]. At the individual level, researchers have focused on the impact of cultural diversity characteristics on employees’ work performance and adaptability [ 18 , 19 ]. However, the impact of individual employee cultural diversity management ability on sustainable innovation has not received corresponding attention.…”

Is air pollution detrimental to regional innovation? An empirical heterogeneity test based on Chinese cities

“…For patent inventors, innovation is seriously restricted by individual factors and environmental factors to some extent. Individual factors include personal characteristics, personal intellectual capital, and so on, while environmental factors mainly refer to organizational culture and team behavior ( 27 ). It cannot be ignored that, in the context of China, severe environmental problems, especially poor air quality, may have impacts on the regional innovation level ( 28 , 29 ); however, the research is insufficient ( 30 – 32 ).…”