Motivational antecedents to high-tech R&D employees' innovative work behavior: Self-determined motivation, person-organization fit, organization support of creativity, and pay justice

Abstract

Employees' innovative work behavior (IWB) contributes to organizational innovativeness in the form of new processes, products, and services, and therefore it is worthwhile to examine motivational antecedents of employees' IWB. This study analyzes the relationship between motivation forms from self-determination theory and the concept of person-organization (PO) fit to provide insight into some of the factors that can influence high-tech R&D employees' IWB. Survey data from R&D employees in three high-tech organizations show that employees with higher levels of PO fit have higher levels of autonomous (identified and intrinsic) work motivation and that autonomously motivated employees engage in more frequent IWB. Autonomous motivation forms mediate PO fit's relationship with IWB. Furthermore, pay justice (i.e., distributive justice) and organization support of creativity are significantly associated with PO fit, indicating that these may be useful for managers to consider in relation to employee fit, motivation, and innovative work behavior. Ultimately, managers interested in fostering innovative behavior of R&D employees would be prudent to seek congruence between employee and organization values and support employees' autonomous motivation.