Informative and affective determinants of pro-innovative behaviours

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of those conditions conducive to employee creativity, expressed in the development of ideas, as well as the initiation and continuation of such activities, leading to the implementation of an innovative solution.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The research was of a qualitative character, and was based on interviewing the authors of those solutions which meet the assumed criteria.

FINDINGS: The research allowed us to identify the cognitive and affective determinants of the creative processes and of their transformation into the implementation of innovative solutions. The research has also shown the high importance of the process of organisational knowledge, and the catalysing influence that the fact of acquiring knowledge from external sources had on the creative processes themselves. The factors influencing the induction and maintenance of the useful emotional state of the authors of the ideas are also indicated. The emotions turned out to be important both for taking the initiative and for continuing the process of implementing the idea in practice. The research also showed the specific role that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation played in the initiation and implementation of the initiative.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The article indicates those organisational conditions which are conducive to the development of ideas and to the taking of initiative to transform them into innovative organisational solutions. The research also shows the role of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in undertaking such creative and innovative activities. Attention is also paid to the influence that the practices of the authors of the projects themselves in the field of knowledge acquisition had on the dynamics of the innovation process.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The article focuses on the transformation of a result of the creative process, namely, the idea of an individual employee, into an innovative organisational process. As a result, such work combines the issues of individual creativity and organisational innovation, which are usually discussed separately. It also helps us understand the conditions necessary for the transformation of spontaneous ingenuity into worthwhile solutions.