Fuelling innovation with love: Unravelling the role of companionate love culture and Confucian work values in employees’ innovative behaviour

Abstract

Purpose: Following social information processing (SIP) theory, this study enriches existing research on emotional culture and innovative behaviour by introducing the chain mediating role of perspective-taking and knowledge-sharing intentions and the moderating role of Confucian work values.

Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a quantitative study using four-stage paired survey data. Data were collected from 392 employees and their corresponding supervisors in three Chinese manufacturing companies in November 2022. We chose these participants due to the significance of innovative behaviour in their roles. The surveys were anonymous and self-administered. We used SPSS20.2 and MPLUS 8.3 software to analyse the data and test our hypotheses.

Findings/results: The data analysis results indicated that: (1) the companionate love culture had a positive effect on innovative behaviour, (2) perspective-taking and knowledge-sharing intentions mediated the positive impact of the companionate love culture on innovative behaviour, and (3) Confucian work values moderated the chain mediation path by weakening the positive impact of the companionate love culture on perspective-taking.

Practical implications: To promote innovative behaviour in employees, a company could continuously manage the organisational companionate love culture.

Originality/value: Drawing on the SIP theory, this paper developed a model clarifying how and when love can fuel innovation in the workplace. It’s interesting that employees with lower Confucian work values may benefit more from a companionate love culture, as they might need more external motivation to engage in perspective-taking and knowledge sharing.