Employee innovative behavior in public sector services

Studies of employee innovative behavior have predominantly focused on private sector employees and their innovative capabilities; however, there is little understanding of its value in the public sector. Nevertheless, some empirical studies explore the factors that foster such behavior and its consequences in public sector services (PSSs). The overall aim of this dissertation is to contribute new knowledge and understanding of employee innovative behavior in PSSs. This dissertation and all four of the appended published papers conceptualize and empirically investigate the fostering factors and consequences of employee innovative behavior. All four papers employ online surveys and questionnaires to gather data, develop empirical models, and test the proposed relationships using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) statistical technique with Stata and SmartPLS statistical programs. This dissertation and the papers acquired empirical data from three branches of the public sector: transport, higher education, and health. This dissertation contributes to the research literature in three ways. First, it extends our current understanding of the three levels of fostering factors — organizational, environmental, and individual—on employee innovative behavior in PSSs by demonstrating the key strategic drivers of successful innovations in the currently changing economic environment. Second, it adds new knowledge about the consequences of employee innovative behavior by revealing the importance of organizational commitment for retaining innovative employees. Third, it contributes knowledge on the benefits for this topic of using more advanced quantitative research techniques. This dissertation reveals the importance of public managers possessing leadership qualities and acquiring skills to encourage, cultivate, and nurture employee innovative behavior. Moreover, this dissertation reveals the significant role of policymakers in acquiring knowledge to improve the guidelines and regulations that promote and enable innovation in work environments. Furthermore, it shows the benefits of employing complex research methods such as PLS-SEM in social science research and advances the scholarly debate on employing such techniques. Overall, the dissertation contributes to the ongoing academic conversation on the vital role of employee innovative behavior in PSSs

The impact of individual creativity, psychological capital, and leadership autonomy support on hospital employees’ innovative behaviour

Purpose The aim of this study is to explore how potentially traumatic events (PTEs) from war and flight influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young refugees after recent resettlement. In a model based on earlier theory, we tested if post-migration stressors and mental distress mediated the effect of PTEs on HRQoL, individually and in serial. We also explored how different types of post-migration stressors influenced different dimensions of HRQoL. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design where 160 Syrian youth recently resettled in Norway completed questionnaires at school between May and December 2018. Correlations between types of post-migration stressors and dimensions of HRQoL were explored and a serial multiple mediator model was tested. Models were adjusted for age and gender, using two types of mental distress; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and general mental distress. Results Higher levels of PTEs reduced experienced HRQoL, but this direct effect was mediated by post-migration stressors alone and in serial with mental distress. Despite high levels of mental distress, this did not affect HRQoL independently, only in serial mediation with increased post-migration stressors. Economic concerns and discrimination were types of post-migration stressors affecting several dimensions of HRQoL. Conclusion Quality of life in refugee is affected by past events from war, stressors in current resettlement and elevated mental distress through complex interrelations. The study reiterates the importance of considering structural and everyday post-migration stressors in policy and intervention to improve the health and wellbeing of refugee youth.publishedVersio

Fostering innovative behavior in health organizations: a PLS-SEM analysis of Norwegian hospital employees

Background:Health organization research is experiencing a strong refocus on employees’individual innovativebehavior (IIB), revealing that many of the influential factors at work remain uncertain. Hence, this study empiricallyexamines fostering of hospital employees’IIB by focusing on direct and indirect relationships of organizationalculture (here labeledinternal market-oriented culture, IMOC), psychological capital (PsyCap), and organizationalcommitment (OC).Methods:The study focused on a sample of 1008 hospital employees, using a partial least squares–structuralequation modeling method to analyze and test the relationships hypothesized in this study. A multigroupcomparison was performed to test the heterogeneity of personal characteristics. The indirect relationships ofPsyCap were tested using mediator analyses.Results:Our results reveal that IMOC has a positive and significant correlation to employees’PsyCap and IIB.PsyCap is directly related to IIB and indirectly related to IMOC and IIB. Furthermore, the study found that IIB isrelated to OC.Conclusions:This study extends the current debate on how IIB is fostered at work by examining PsyCap and IMOCas antecedents of IIB. The study has added to the IIB research area by examining the role of IIB on OC. The study isamong the first attempts in its category to contribute to health organizations and managers by empiricallyexamining the role of IMOC on employees’PsyCap and IIB—and, in turn, their OC.publishedVersio

Precursors and outcomes of work engagement among nursing professionals—a cross-sectional study

Background: Health services organizations must understand how best to lower nursing professionals' turnover intentions, and increase their job satisfaction and the quality of care provided to patients. This study aims to examine whether work engagement (WE) is a significant predictor of the achievement of these preferred organizational goals. The study also aims to examine whether organizational culture and organizational climate can manage the WE of nursing professionals and indirectly contribute to the accomplishment of the preferred organizational goals. Methods: In detail, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey study was conducted through a convenience sampling of a total of N = 164 nurses, from four Norwegian public hospitals. Structural equation modeling was employed in testing the hypothesis in the conceptual model, using Stata software. Furthermore, mediation analyses were achieved through use of the "medsem" package in the Stata software, in testing whether the proposed direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and the type of mediation found. Results: The three key findings from this study are: i) WE of nursing professionals was found to be positively related to service quality of care (β = 0.551) and job satisfaction (β = 0.883). Job satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between WE and turnover intention and in itself explains almost 60% (R 2 = 0.59) of turnover intention; ii) nursing professionals' perception of organizational culture (β = 0.278) and collaboration climate (β = 0.331) were both directly related to their WE; and iii) WE fully mediates the relationship between organizational culture/climate and service quality of care and job satisfaction. Moreover, WE partially mediates the relationship between collaborative climate and job satisfaction. Conclusions: The WE of nursing professionals is highly correlated to their job satisfaction. WE and turnover intentions are (fully) mediated by job satisfaction. Employers should therefore focus on improving the job satisfaction of nursing professionals. The WE of nursing professionals is a common key factor for such improvement. Consequently, leaders and managers should continuously manage nursing professionals' WE, focusing on such areas as organizational culture and climate, because WE is an effective means of enabling multiple desirable outcomes for hospital organizations.publishedVersio

Promoting organizational vision integration among hospital employees

Background: The concept of organizational vision has been little explored in the health-care services research literature. To address this knowledge gap in the literature, the present study examines the factors that may promote organizational vision integration (OVI), which refers to the employees' use of organizational vision as a guiding framework in their work. The roles of organizational commitment (OC), leadership autonomy support (LAS), and organizational culture in relation to hospital employees' OVI are examined. Methods: Hospital employees were surveyed. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling was performed using SmartPLS 3 software to test the proposed hypotheses statistically. A bootstrapping test was used to identify the mediating effects. Results: The main findings show that: (i) OC is the most powerful factor in promoting employees' OVI (β = 0.26), while organizational culture (represented by the concept of internal market-oriented culture) and LAS showed significantly less and almost equal impact (β = 0.16 and β = 0.15, respectively). In total, OC, organizational culture and LAS explain 25% of the variance in the concept of OVI. (ii) LAS and organizational culture both significantly contribute to employees' OC (β = 0.35 and β = 0.29, respectively) and in total explain nearly 40% (R 2 = 0.38) of the variance in the concept of OC. (iii) The relationships between organizational culture, LAS, and OVI are mediated through OC, and (iv) LAS mediates the relationship between organizational culture and OVI, and that between organizational culture and OC. Conclusions: To promote hospital employees' OVI effectively, hospital managers should focus particularly on their employees' OC. Specifically, they should strengthen their employees' OC through building a strong employee-focused organizational culture and ensuring that leaders practice LAS. This contributes to promoting hospital employees' OVI.publishedVersio

Does organizational vision really matter? An empirical examination of factors related to organizational vision integration among hospital employees

Background: There seems to be a consensus that a vision for an organization is a valuable thing for organizations to have. However, research on organizational vision has predominantly been studied from a leadership perspective. In contrast to previous research, organizational vision in this paper takes an employee perspective. Specifically, the purpose is to examine factors associated with the integration of organizational vision among employees in hospital organizations. Consequently, it focuses on a relatively neglected domain within health services research. Methods: A conceptual model, centred on the concept of organizational vision integration, was developed and tested on a sample (N = 1008) consisting of hospital employees. Partial least-squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses, using SmartPLS 3 software. Furthermore, a bootstrapping test was used to inspect potential mediating effects. Specifically, the test assessed whether the proposed direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and at the same time revealed the nature of the mediation effect. Results: The results from the empirical study reveal three key findings: i) organizational vision integration among employees is directly and positively related to creative performance in their respective work role (β = 0.16). Organizational vision integration and employees' psychological capital explains almost 40% (R 2 = 0.36) in employees' creative performance, ii) psychological capital and employees' perception of organizational attractiveness are directly and positively related to employees' organizational vision integration (β = 0.19 and β = 0.40, respectively) and explains about 30% (R 2 = 0.29) of employees' organizational vision integration, iii) employees' organizational vision integration mediates the relationship between employees' psychological capital, perception of organizational attractiveness and employees' creative performance.publishedVersio

The impact of organizational culture and leadership climate on organizational attractiveness and innovative behavior: a study of Norwegian hospital employees

In the domain of health services, little research has focused on how organizational culture, specifically internal market-oriented cultures (IMOCs), are associated with organizational climate resources, support for autonomy (SA), and whether and how IMOCs and SA are either individually or in combination related to employee perceptions of the attractiveness of the organization and their level of innovative behavior. These knowledge gaps in previous research motivated this study. A conceptual model was tested on a sample (N = 1008) of hospital employees. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) was employed to test the conceptual models, using the SmartPLS 3 software. To test the mediator effect, a bootstrapping test was used to determine whether the direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and when combining two tests, to determine the type of mediator effect. The results can be summarized as four key findings: i) organizational culture (referring to an IMOC) was positively and directly related to SA (β = 0.87) and organizational attractiveness (β = 0.45); ii) SA was positively and directly related to both organizational attractiveness (β = 0.22) and employee individual innovative behavior (β = 0.37); iii) The relationships between an IMOC, SA, and employee innovative behavior were all mediated through organizational attractiveness; and iv) SA mediated the relationship between the IMOC and organizational attractiveness as well as that between the IMOC and employee innovative behavior. Organizational culture, IMOC, organizational climate resources, and SA were highly correlated and necessary drivers of employee perceptions of organizational attractiveness and their innovative behavior. Managers of hospitals should consider IMOC and SA as two organizational resources that are potentially manageable and controllable. Consequently, managers should actively invest in these resources. Such investments will lead to resource capitalization that will improve both employee perceptions of organizational attractiveness as well as their innovative behavior. Keywords: Organizational culture, Organizational climate, Internal market-oriented culture, Support for autonomy, Organizational attractiveness, Innovative behavior, Hospital employeesThe impact of organizational culture and leadership climate on organizational attractiveness and innovative behavior: a study of Norwegian hospital employeespublishedVersio

Employee innovative behavior in public sector services

Studies of employee innovative behavior have predominantly focused on private sector employees and their innovative capabilities; however, there is little understanding of its value in the public sector. Nevertheless, some empirical studies explore the factors that foster such behavior and its consequences in public sector services (PSSs). The overall aim of this dissertation is to contribute new knowledge and understanding of employee innovative behavior in PSSs. This dissertation and all four of the appended published papers conceptualize and empirically investigate the fostering factors and consequences of employee innovative behavior. All four papers employ online surveys and questionnaires to gather data, develop empirical models, and test the proposed relationships using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) statistical technique with Stata and SmartPLS statistical programs. This dissertation and the papers acquired empirical data from three branches of the public sector: transport, higher education, and health. This dissertation contributes to the research literature in three ways. First, it extends our current understanding of the three levels of fostering factors — organizational, environmental, and individual—on employee innovative behavior in PSSs by demonstrating the key strategic drivers of successful innovations in the currently changing economic environment. Second, it adds new knowledge about the consequences of employee innovative behavior by revealing the importance of organizational commitment for retaining innovative employees. Third, it contributes knowledge on the benefits for this topic of using more advanced quantitative research techniques. This dissertation reveals the importance of public managers possessing leadership qualities and acquiring skills to encourage, cultivate, and nurture employee innovative behavior. Moreover, this dissertation reveals the significant role of policymakers in acquiring knowledge to improve the guidelines and regulations that promote and enable innovation in work environments. Furthermore, it shows the benefits of employing complex research methods such as PLS-SEM in social science research and advances the scholarly debate on employing such techniques. Overall, the dissertation contributes to the ongoing academic conversation on the vital role of employee innovative behavior in PSSs

Precursors and outcomes of work engagement among nursing professionals—a cross-sectional study

Background: Health services organizations must understand how best to lower nursing professionals' turnover intentions, and increase their job satisfaction and the quality of care provided to patients. This study aims to examine whether work engagement (WE) is a significant predictor of the achievement of these preferred organizational goals. The study also aims to examine whether organizational culture and organizational climate can manage the WE of nursing professionals and indirectly contribute to the accomplishment of the preferred organizational goals. Methods: In detail, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey study was conducted through a convenience sampling of a total of N = 164 nurses, from four Norwegian public hospitals. Structural equation modeling was employed in testing the hypothesis in the conceptual model, using Stata software. Furthermore, mediation analyses were achieved through use of the "medsem" package in the Stata software, in testing whether the proposed direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and the type of mediation found. Results: The three key findings from this study are: i) WE of nursing professionals was found to be positively related to service quality of care (β = 0.551) and job satisfaction (β = 0.883). Job satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between WE and turnover intention and in itself explains almost 60% (R 2 = 0.59) of turnover intention; ii) nursing professionals' perception of organizational culture (β = 0.278) and collaboration climate (β = 0.331) were both directly related to their WE; and iii) WE fully mediates the relationship between organizational culture/climate and service quality of care and job satisfaction. Moreover, WE partially mediates the relationship between collaborative climate and job satisfaction. Conclusions: The WE of nursing professionals is highly correlated to their job satisfaction. WE and turnover intentions are (fully) mediated by job satisfaction. Employers should therefore focus on improving the job satisfaction of nursing professionals. The WE of nursing professionals is a common key factor for such improvement. Consequently, leaders and managers should continuously manage nursing professionals' WE, focusing on such areas as organizational culture and climate, because WE is an effective means of enabling multiple desirable outcomes for hospital organizations

Promoting organizational vision integration among hospital employees

Background: The concept of organizational vision has been little explored in the health-care services research literature. To address this knowledge gap in the literature, the present study examines the factors that may promote organizational vision integration (OVI), which refers to the employees' use of organizational vision as a guiding framework in their work. The roles of organizational commitment (OC), leadership autonomy support (LAS), and organizational culture in relation to hospital employees' OVI are examined. Methods: Hospital employees were surveyed. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling was performed using SmartPLS 3 software to test the proposed hypotheses statistically. A bootstrapping test was used to identify the mediating effects. Results: The main findings show that: (i) OC is the most powerful factor in promoting employees' OVI (β = 0.26), while organizational culture (represented by the concept of internal market-oriented culture) and LAS showed significantly less and almost equal impact (β = 0.16 and β = 0.15, respectively). In total, OC, organizational culture and LAS explain 25% of the variance in the concept of OVI. (ii) LAS and organizational culture both significantly contribute to employees' OC (β = 0.35 and β = 0.29, respectively) and in total explain nearly 40% (R 2 = 0.38) of the variance in the concept of OC. (iii) The relationships between organizational culture, LAS, and OVI are mediated through OC, and (iv) LAS mediates the relationship between organizational culture and OVI, and that between organizational culture and OC. Conclusions: To promote hospital employees' OVI effectively, hospital managers should focus particularly on their employees' OC. Specifically, they should strengthen their employees' OC through building a strong employee-focused organizational culture and ensuring that leaders practice LAS. This contributes to promoting hospital employees' OVI