Riding two Horses at Once: The Combined Roles of Mastery and Performance Climates in Implementing Creative Ideas

Posted on by Miha Škerlavaj

Innovation paradox is a reason behind much of trouble within and around innovation processes. What works on the front end of creative process, does not necessarily contribute to the innovation outcomes. Continuing our work that started with exploring role of perceived supervisor support and more extensive Capitalizing on creativity book project, we now present finding from Chinese and Slovenian employees on the role of motivational climates for innovation. Below you will find the abstract of our recent publication in the European Management Review:

Not all creative ideas end up being implemented. Drawing on micro-innovation literature and achievement goal theory, we propose that the interplay of two types of work motivational climates (mastery and performance) moderates a curvilinear relationship between the frequency of idea-generation and idea-implementation behavior. Field studies in two non-Western countries (China, with a study of 117 employees nested within 21 groups, and Slovenia, with a study of 240 employees nested within 34 groups) revealed a three-way interaction of idea generation, performance climate, and mastery climate as joint predictors of idea implementation. Specifically, results of random coefficient modeling show that when combined, mastery and performance climates transform the relationship between the frequency of idea generation and idea implementation from an inverse U-shaped curvilinear relationship to a positive and more linear one. These findings suggest that ideas are most frequently implemented in organizational contexts characterized by both high-mastery and high-performance climates. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Source: Škerlavaj, M., Černe, M., Dysvik, A., Nerstad, C. G. L., and Su, C. (2017): Riding two Horses at Once: The Combined Roles of Mastery and Performance Climates in Implementing Creative Ideas. European Management Review, doi: 10.1111/emre.12151.

 

System view on training and development for broadened impact

Posted on by Miha Škerlavaj

What is the impact of training and development activities at work? In the chapter (Dysvik, Carlsen, & Skerlavaj, 2017) published recently in Cambridge handbook of workplace training and employee development, we investigate how training can contribute to development of systems thinking of trainees as seen through three lenses of building impact: the realm of business impact, the realm of beneficiary impact, and the realm of societal impact. Knowledge creation is socially constructed through the development of shared meaning between employees participating in training, their trainers, and their respective colleagues and beneficiaries during and after training program completion. In short, training should be aligned and integrated with the core drivers for organizational performance, and provide employees with a holistic and systemic understanding to act autonomously and proactively in applying relevant training content when deemed relevant.

Source: Dysvik, A., Carlsen, A., Skerlavaj, M. (2017): Rings of fire: Training for systems thinking and broadened impact. In: Brown, K. G. (Ed.): The Cambridge Handbook of Workplace Training and Employee Development. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9781316091067: p. 471-494.