Understanding employees' innovative work behavior through interactionist perspective: the effects of working style, supportive noncontrolling supervision and job complexity

Purpose: This study extends the actor–context interactionist model of individual innovation from the traditional synergetic pattern to a complementary one. The complementary perspective emphasizes the need for integration of divergence and convergence in enhancing employee's innovative work behavior. This study examines how individual working style relates to innovative work behavior through supportive noncontrolling supervision and job complexity. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a time-lagged research design, collecting data through surveys from 262 employees and their immediate supervisors working in telecommunication companies of Saudi Arabia. Findings: This study found that (1) employee with an intuitively inclined working style (e.g. a divergent predictor) engages in higher levels of innovative work behavior when supportive noncontrolling supervision or job complexity (e.g. convergent factors) is higher; and (2) the positive interactive effect of intuitive working style and supportive noncontrolling supervision on employee's innovative work behavior is stronger when job complexity is higher rather than lower. Originality/value: This study provides deeper understanding of the interactionist perspective of employees' innovative work behavior. This study is the first of its kind to integrate complementary and synergistic perspectives of actor–context interactionist model of employees' innovative work behavior.