Intellectual capital and innovative work behaviour: Opening the black box

Abstract

Continuous improvement initiatives have proliferated among manufacturing and services organizations. In this context, knowledge has been claimed to play a key role, as a significant antecedent of an organization's ability to continuously improve its performance. At the same time, attempts to implement knowledge management initiatives prove fruitless if employees are not fully motivated and engaged, and our present understanding of how to promote and facilitate such behaviours remains limited. This study introduces and empirically tests a theoretical model that links intellectual capital dimensions to employees innovative work behaviour and specifically suggests knowledge sharing behaviour among employees as a key mediator. A survey was used to collect data from 135 employees in three healthcare organizations. The results of our structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis indeed support the notion that intellectual capital is conducive to innovative behaviour by means of knowledge sharing among employees. These findings contribute to the understanding of how behavioural factors operate in organizations, highlighting the relevance of a microfoundation of continuous improvement, and also suggesting some preliminary guidelines that managers in healthcare organizations can apply to promote employee innovative work behaviour. © 2012 Mura et al.