Impact of ambidextrous human resource practices on employee innovation performance: the roles of inclusive leadership and psychological safety
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 15 April 2022
Issue publication date: 29 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Human resource practices are transforming at a varying pace for different businesses to meet the increasingly intensified external challenges. The pursuit of innovation while balancing the tensions between flexibility and efficiency has become a core challenge for survival in this globally competitive era. The literature identifies ambidexterity as a realistic choice to manage these tensions during transformation towards diversified and innovative human resource practices. Based on social exchange theory (SET), this study explores the impact of ambidextrous human resource practices (AHRPs) on organization members' innovation performance while examining the mediating effect of psychological safety.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected for this cross-sectional study in three waves, and the final sample included 788 employees from 32 companies across different industries in China.
Findings
The results of data analysis indicate support for all the hypothesized relationships. AHRPs positively affect employee innovation performance; employee psychological safety mediates this relationship; inclusive leadership moderates the direct effect of AHRPs on employee psychological safety and the indirect effect of AHRPs on employee innovative performance through psychological safety. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are also presented.
Originality/value
This study examines AHRPs’ influence on employee innovation performance mediated by psychological safety and the moderating role of inclusive leadership in the above relationship to clarify the boundary conditions of AHRPs' effect on innovation performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the advice and support received from Dr. Naveed Ahmad Faraz (Hunan University) and Professor Yun Chen (Wuhan University of Technology) during this research and its write-up.
Availability of data: Available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author
Ethics and consent: The researchers met the HR and administrative personnel to explain the academic nature of the study and obtained approval to proceed with this study. The questionnaire included a clear statement assuring participants of complete anonymity, confidentiality, the right to withdraw anytime and that proceeding to fill in the questionnaire shall deem their informed consent. The study was not invasive, did not involve any intervention or manipulation and participants were not vulnerable to any physical or psychological harm.
Author contributions: Conceptualization – Wei Hu (WH), Fawad Ahmed (FA) and Haoyu Huang (HYH); data curation – WH and HYH; formal analysis – WH and FA; investigation – HYH and WH; methodology – HYH, WH and FA; project administration – HYH and WH; resources – Fuqiang Zhao (FZ), HYH and WH; software – FA; supervision – FZ; writing original draft – FA and WH; writing-revised draft – FA.
Funding: This research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant number, 2019-YB-034), P.R. China.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Citation
Zhao, F., Hu, W., Ahmed, F. and Huang, H. (2023), "Impact of ambidextrous human resource practices on employee innovation performance: the roles of inclusive leadership and psychological safety", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 1444-1470. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-04-2021-0226
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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