The Roles of Curiosity, Job Crafting and Perceived Organizational Support in Exploring Innovative Work Behaviour: An Intrinsic Motivation and Social Exchange Theory Perspectives

Abstract

Abstract

Purpose – Innovative work behaviour (IWB) is a striking phenomenon that gets intense research attention from tourism academics in recent years. Identifying employees’ IWB and the variables influencing such behaviours are critical. Accordingly, mined from intrinsic motivation (IMT) and social exchange theories (SET), it is aimed to find out the effects of curiosity, job crafting and perceived organizational support on hotel employees’ IWB.Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts quantitative research design. In the study, stratified sampling technique was employed. Five-star hotels were categorized into three strata: summer resort, thermal hotels, and city hotels. The empirical data were obtained from 1325 hotel employees within each stratum (Antalya, Afyonkarahisar and İstanbul).Results – The study findings revealed that hotel employees’ curiosity levels had the highest effect on IWB (R2=.503). Furthermore, their job crafting levels (R2=390) and perceived organizational support levels (R2=157) had significant effects on IWB respectively.Discussion – The study suggests that arousing employees’ curiosity can lead to higher IWB which would be beneficial to hotel organizations in the long run. Furthermore, job crafting can serve as a potent motivator, thereby fostering innovation. Employee creativity emerges when organizations successfully encourage their IWB which can reflect throughout the organization, boosting its innovativeness and allowing it to raise its position in the marketplace by creating a difference in excessively competitive environment. Identifying employees’ IWB and the variables influencing them is critical. This study seeks to contribute the existing literature by regarding curiosity, job crafting, perceived organizational support, and IWB within a theoretically constructed model.