Perceived organizational justice and support facilitate employee innovation: A moderated mediation model of work engagement and empowerment

In this study we employed a dual theory of social exchange and conservation of resources to examine how individual perceptions of organizational justice and support translate into innovative work behavior via engagement and empowerment. We analyzed data from 367 academic staff and their leaders in 82 public higher education institutions in China, and the results revealed a positive association between perceived organizational support and innovative work behavior, which was mediated by work engagement. A result surprising to us was that although organizational justice indirectly enhanced innovative work behavior through work engagement, organizational justice did not directly drive innovative work behavior. Moreover, psychological empowerment did not moderate the indirect linkage between organizational justice/perceived organizational support and innovative work behavior via work engagement. These findings are relevant to organizations seeking to utilize different perceptions of individual employees to drive innovation.