Innovative work behavior (IWB) in the knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) sector in Malaysia: The effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) and social capital (SC)

Abstract

Today, innovation is no longer belongs to the research and development (R&D) lab per se. In fact, innovation can be considered more of a product of the human creative mind with an inherent tacit knowledge. In order to be a successful knowledge-based economy, employees must continually be innovative. As such, this research which relates to innovation by and large will assist in creating better understanding of innovation from the behavioral perspective. In the context of business, innovation has long been embraced by organizations seeking to remain viable, effective and competitive in a dynamic business environment. Looking at the perspective of individual level innovation, this study seeks to examine whether employees' innovative work behavior (IWB) can be influenced by leader-member exchange (LMX) and the social capital (SC) in the knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) sector in Malaysia. Using questionnaire mail survey a total of 318 data was obtained from the knowledge workers of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status companies in Malaysia. The findings show that LMX and SC was significantly and positively related to IWB. The result also reveals that SC has a stronger influence on the IWB of employees as compared to LMX. Discussions and implications of the study are discussed.