关键词: 创新期望差距, 团队突破性创新, 领导创新投入, 知觉资质过剩, 组织晋升标准

Abstract:

In today’s competitive marketplace, organizations considerably rely on radical innovation in a team to gain and maintain competitive advantages. Although scholars have studied the mechanism by which such innovation forms from different perspectives, few studies have focused on the potential impact of innovation expectation discrepancy and the self-regulation processes of team leaders. Drawing on self-regulation theory, the current research investigated creative process engagement among leaders as a vital mechanism through which innovation expectation discrepancy affects team radical innovation. We also examined the co-moderating effect of the perceived overqualification of leaders and criteria for organizational promotion on the relationship between innovation expectation discrepancy and team radical innovation. This examination was intended to ascertain at which point such discrepancy drives the strongest radical innovation in a team.
To test our hypothesized model, we carried out an experiment (Study 1) and a field survey (Study 2). In Study 1, participants were randomly allocated to one of 68 teams, which were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (performance above expectations, below expectations, no discrepancy). Innovation expectation discrepancy was manipulated via expert evaluations of the outcomes of a creative task executed by different teams. In Study 2, our sample comprised 76 R&D teams from various organizations. At point 1, team leaders filled out scales about innovation expectation discrepancy, creative process engagement, perceived overqualification, and other control variables. One month later, at point 2, team superior leaders rated the radical innovation of these teams. At the same time, team leaders and team members assessed organizational promotion criteria.
The results indicated that innovation expectation discrepancy has a U-shaped impact on a team leader’s creative process engagement. Such engagement mediates the U-shaped relationship between innovation expectation discrepancy and team radical innovation. Perceived overqualification and organizational promotion criteria jointly moderate the U-shaped effect of innovation expectation discrepancy on team radical innovation via creative process engagement. Compared with the situation of high perceived overqualification and absolute promotion criteria and the situation of low perceived overqualification and relative promotion criteria, the indirect effect of innovation expectation discrepancy on team radical innovation through creative process engagement is stronger when perceived overqualification is high and the organization implements relative promotion criteria. Beyond our expectations, there is no significant difference in the impact of innovation expectation discrepancy on team radical innovation in the case of high perceived overqualification and relative promotion criteria and in the case of low perceived overqualification and absolute promotion criteria.
Our study contributes to the literature in several distinct ways. First, it derived novel insights into the cultivation of radical innovation in a team by focusing on the effects of innovation expectation discrepancy from the perspective of a team leader. Second, this study enriched extant knowledge about how team leaders promote radical innovation through self-regulation. Specifically, it identified the creative process engagement of a leader as an important mechanism by which innovation expectation discrepancy affects team radical innovation. Third, this research found that when organizations implement relative promotion criteria and a team leader’s perceived overqualification is high, the impact of innovation expectation discrepancy on team radical innovation via creative process engagement can be strengthened, which helps companies determine how to achieve radical innovation in teams.

Key words: innovation expectation discrepancy, team radical innovation, creative process engagement, perceived overqualification, organizational promotion criteria