Determinants of employee innovation: an open innovation perspective

Based on the open innovation theory, this study proposes a conceptual model of external search and organizational support as determinants of employee innovation in the hotel industry. We used structural equation modeling on quantitative survey data of 291 hotel employees to test the research hypotheses. The results indicate that external search and organizational support positively affect employee innovative behavior. While the results fully support the mediating effect of knowledge sharing on the relationship between external search and employee innovative behavior, they only partially support this effect on the relationship between organizational support and employee innovative behavior. The results also reveal that the interaction effect of external search and organizational support positively affects employee innovative behavior and is fully mediated by knowledge sharing. The study explores the antecedents of employee innovation from both outside and inside the organization and extends the open innovation paradigm to individual-level innovation research in hospitality.