Intrinsic motivation and innovative work behaviour : the role of organisational support and informational rewards

Abstract

An employee’s innovative work behaviour plays an instrumental role in organisational performance. At the individual level, previous research has shown that intrinsic motivation may influence this kind of discretionary behaviour. However, the role of organisational factors in this relationship is not well understood. This study investigates empirically how two organisational factors, namely organisational support for innovation and informational extrinsic rewards, affect employee innovative work behaviour and the relationship between intrinsic motivation and innovative work behaviour. Survey data from 150 knowledge workers employed in large firms within South Africa confirmed that intrinsic motivation is positively related to innovative work behaviour. Both organisational support and informational extrinsic rewards was also found to positively affect innovative work behaviour. However, whilst organisational support positively moderated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and innovative work behaviour, informational extrinsic rewards had a negative moderating effect. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are further discussed in this paper. This study contributes to the growing understanding of the antecedents of employee innovative work behaviour in organisations.