约束限制员工创新行为吗?——基于约束类型化的解读

Do Constraints Limit Employees’Innovative Behavior?Interpretation Based on Constraint Typing

约束会限制员工创新行为吗?为揭示约束与员工创新行为之间的关系,本文借助7S模型将信念约束、边界约束、纠偏约束及互动约束划分为软约束和硬约束两类,其中,信念约束和互动约束归类为软约束,边界约束和纠偏约束归类为硬约束。通过对210名员工的有效样本进行数据分析,文章发现了两类约束影响员工创新行为的差异化路径。具体而言,以创新为核心的软约束分别通过赋权、行为示范影响员工创新行为,硬约束正向调节软约束与员工创新行为之间的关系。在促进员工创新行为方面,软约束和硬约束之间存在互补关系。通过挖掘不同约束对员工创新行为的作用机制,为管理者厘清约束的作用、更好地激发员工创新提供启示。

Constraints help organizations achieve goals and operate efficiently,while employees'innovation drives the organization's sustainable development.However,two basic ideas are currently being adopted in research in the innovation literature.One is that employees'innovative behavior is the expression of subjective ideas.Only when employees can express their thoughts and put them into action without any misgivings can organization seffectively stimulate employees'innovative behavior.Therefore,the organization should provide an atmosphere as loose and free as possible and minimize the constraints on employees so as to stimulate their innovative behavior.The other is that constraints do not always inhibit employees'creativity.Appropriate constraints under specific mechanisms are more conducive to employees'innovative behavior.In view of the ubiquity of constraints and the importance of innovative behavior to organizational development in practice,this paper explores the mechanism of constraints promoting employees'innovative behavior.Based on this,it further examines how constraints promote employees'innovation and the interaction between different constraint types so as to guide the organization better.Based on the concept of Levers of Control and with the help of the 7S model,constraints can be classified into belief,interaction,boundary,and diagnostic constraints,which can be further divided into soft and hard constraints.Belief constraints focus on organizational values and culture.Interaction constraints emphasize that managers regularly participate in subordinates'interactions and guide subordinates'behaviors.Boundary constraints limit employees'behaviors and help employees avoid risks.Diagnostic constraints regulate behaviors by monitoring operations and results with predetermined goals.Among them,belief and interaction constraints are classified as soft constraints,while boundary and diagnostic constraints are classified as hard constraints.From the analysis of the survey data of 210 employees,this study discovers the differentiated paths oftwo kinds of constraints influencing employees'innovative behavior and the complementary relationship between them.Soft constraints affect employees'innovative behavior through empowerment and behavior modeling,respectively,while hard constraints positively moderate them.Specifically,Soft constraints encourage innovative values to form a creative atmosphere,support employees'innovative behaviors through interaction,and build employees'psychological perception of empowerment.According to the self-determination theory,Empowered employees can build up their sense of self-determination,which will in turn stimulate their innovative behavior.The creative atmosphere under the constraint of belief provides behavior modeling for employees and strengthens their innovation desire,while the interaction of managers enhances the recognition of innovative behavior.These modelings stimulate employees'promotion focus.Hard constraints in the organization help employees avoid uncertainty in the innovation process through risk behavior avoidance and correction and enhance the guidance of soft constraints on innovative behavior.By introducing two variables of empowerment and behavior demonstration,this study reveals the influence mechanism of soft constraints influencing employees'innovative behavior and the complementary relationship between soft constraints and hard constraints in promoting employees'innovative behavior.Soft constraints promote innovation through employees'perception of empowerment and clear behavior demonstration,while hard constraints further strengthen this positive effect.Employees'innovative behavior is based on the comprehensive impact of various constraints.In practice,managers should attach great importance to the integration of rule-making and guidance in stimulating employees'innovation and give full play to the role of behavior demonstration.