Rights statement: ©American Psychological Association, 2019. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/str0000081
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential Effects of Workplace Stressors on Innovation
T2 - An Integrated Perspective of Cybernetics and Coping
AU - Fay, Doris
AU - Bagotyriute , Ruta
AU - Urbach, Tina
AU - West, Michael Alun
AU - Dawson, Jeremy
N1 - ©American Psychological Association, 2017. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/str0000081
PY - 2019/2
Y1 - 2019/2
N2 - It is now consensus that engaging in innovative work behaviours is not restricted to traditional innovation jobs (e.g., research and development), but that they can be performed on a discretionary basis in most of today's jobs. To date, our knowledge on the role of workplace stressors for discretionary innovative behaviour, in particular for innovation implementation is limited. We draw on a cybernetic view as well as on a transactional, coping-based perspective with stress to propose differential effects of stressors on innovation implementation. We propose that work demands have a positive effect on innovation implementation, whereas role-based stressors - i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, and professional compromise - have a negative effect. We conducted a time-lagged, survey-based study in the health care sector (Study 1, UK: N = 235 nurses). Innovation implementation was measured two years after the assessment of the stressors. Supporting our hypotheses, work demands were positively, role ambiguity and professional compromise negatively related to subsequent innovation implementation. We also tested organizational commitment as a mediator, but there was only partial support for the mediation. To test the generalizability of the findings, we replicated the study (Study 2, Germany: employees from various professions, N = 138, time lag 2 weeks). Again, work demands were positively, role ambiguity and professional compromise negatively related to subsequent innovation implementation. There was no support for strain as a mediator. Our results suggest differential effects of work demands and role stressors on innovation implementation, for which the underlying mechanism still needs to be uncovered.
AB - It is now consensus that engaging in innovative work behaviours is not restricted to traditional innovation jobs (e.g., research and development), but that they can be performed on a discretionary basis in most of today's jobs. To date, our knowledge on the role of workplace stressors for discretionary innovative behaviour, in particular for innovation implementation is limited. We draw on a cybernetic view as well as on a transactional, coping-based perspective with stress to propose differential effects of stressors on innovation implementation. We propose that work demands have a positive effect on innovation implementation, whereas role-based stressors - i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, and professional compromise - have a negative effect. We conducted a time-lagged, survey-based study in the health care sector (Study 1, UK: N = 235 nurses). Innovation implementation was measured two years after the assessment of the stressors. Supporting our hypotheses, work demands were positively, role ambiguity and professional compromise negatively related to subsequent innovation implementation. We also tested organizational commitment as a mediator, but there was only partial support for the mediation. To test the generalizability of the findings, we replicated the study (Study 2, Germany: employees from various professions, N = 138, time lag 2 weeks). Again, work demands were positively, role ambiguity and professional compromise negatively related to subsequent innovation implementation. There was no support for strain as a mediator. Our results suggest differential effects of work demands and role stressors on innovation implementation, for which the underlying mechanism still needs to be uncovered.
KW - innovation
KW - implementation
KW - stressors
KW - innovative work behaviour
KW - cybernetic stress theory
U2 - 10.1037/str0000081
DO - 10.1037/str0000081
M3 - Journal article
VL - 26
SP - 11
EP - 24
JO - International Journal of Stress Management
JF - International Journal of Stress Management
SN - 1072-5245
IS - 1
ER -