Determinants of innovative behavior of employees: evidence from Spanish firms

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the presence of communication and knowledge flows influences the creation of a work context that supports innovation, and how this relationship is moderated by labor externalization. Design/methodology/approach - To study these relationships, the authors use a sample of 249 workers from five organizations. The different hypotheses proposed are contrasted using hierarchical regression analysis. Findings - The results obtained show the authors that, when communication flows exist, workers' orientation to innovation is greater; likewise, knowledge transfer influences workers' innovative attitude positively. However, the results are different when externalization of workers acts as a moderating variable. Practical implications -The firm's management should make decisions and foster the production of information flows between employees, as the results obtained indicate that communication and knowledge transfer encourage employee attitudes and behavior favorable to innovation. Originality/value - The main contribution of this study is to provide new empirical evidence on the influence of communication and knowledge flows on workers' orientation to innovation. The authors also analyze how these relationships are affected by the presence of externalization. The evidence obtained in this study permits to deduce what actions foster or inhibit organizations in creating a work context that supports innovation and thus encourages the generation of innovation.