Linking Structural Empowerment to Employee-Driven Innovation: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

Abstract

This paper aims to link structural empowerment to employee-driven innovation (EDI) with psychological empowerment as a mediation mechanism. Recently, there has been an increase in interest in utilizing all sources of knowledge in an organization to stimulate innovation among all employees. A clear understanding of some of the mechanisms used to achieve this is needed. The paper applies a quantitative approach based on two studies. Study 1 involved a total of 228 employees in a public sector organization, while study 2 involved 60 employees from a private sector organization. We employed structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships among the variables. It was determined that both structural empowerment and psychological empowerment have a direct positive association with EDI. Second, the relationship between structural empowerment and EDI was partially mediated by psychological empowerment. EDI can only happen in an organization if employers and managers empower the ordinary employees to not only generate creative ideas but also to participate in its development and implementation.

Does Islamic Work Ethic Influence Employees Innovation Capability?

“…This study contradicts the research undertaken Sarkar (2009), Nillie, Blomme, & Quarshie (2013), Li, Wei, Ren, & Di (2015), Jha (2017), Echebiri et al, (2020) which states that empowerment has a negative and insignificant effect on innovation capability. Empowerment is not a process for generating new ideas, relevant skills and abilities in solving work problems.…”

“…Employees who generate lots of ideas, ideas and creativity will drive efficiency and effectiveness in their work which in turn can create a competitive advantage for the company. Several studies have been conducted on the importance of innovation ability and the factors that influence it, including Islamic Work Ethics (Kumar & Rose, 2012): knowledge sharing (Kumaraswamy & Chitale, 2012) and Empowerment (Echebiri, Amundsen, & Engen, 2020).…”

“…Empowerment is also an important factor in increasing innovation capabilities. According to Echebiri et al, (2020) Empowerment has a positive influence on the ability to innovate. Empowerment can affect employee participation in innovation.…”

Structural empowerment, formal and informal power, and job performance quality: A moderated mediation analysis

“…Opportunity to learn and grow refers to the possibility for growth and movement within the organisation and the opportunity to increase knowledge and skills. Structural empowerment has been examined concerning various work‐related issues such as stress (Laschinger et al., 2001), work engagement (Amor et al., 2020), employee‐driven innovation (Echebiri et al., 2020), job satisfaction (Orgambídez & Almeida, 2020), organisational commitment (Fragkos et al., 2020) and nurses' intention to leave (Arslan Yürümezoğlu & Kocaman, 2019).…”

Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship—Introduction

“…Comes to respond to increasing interest in utilizing all sources of knowledge in an organization to stimulate innovation among all employees. A clear understanding of some of the mechanisms used to achieve this is needed (Echebiri et al 2020).…”