Knowledge territorial behavior congruence and innovation process: the moderating role of team territorial climate

Purpose Building on the territoriality perspective and innovation process theory, to the purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of transmission and influence of knowledge territorial behavior congruence on innovation process, which provides theoretical implications for innovative teams to execute territoriality management and create a constructive knowledge sharing climate and platform for sustainable innovation of individuals and organizations. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected by the paired method from 311 creative R&D members. In addition, polynomial regressions and response surface method were adopted to test the hypotheses. Findings The more congruent the marking behavior and defensive behavior were, the higher the creative idea generation and idea implementation became. The congruence of “high marking high defensive behavior” was more conducive to triggering creative idea generation and promoting idea implementation. Compared with the incongruence of “low marking high defensive behavior,” the incongruence of “high marking low defensive behavior” was more conducive to stimulating creative idea generation. However, there was no significant difference in the incongruence effect of marking defensive behavior on idea implementation. In addition, creative idea generation mediated the relationship between knowledge territorial behavior congruence and idea implementation. Furthermore, team territorial climate moderated the relationship between knowledge territorial behavior congruence and creative idea generation. Originality/value The study highlights the theoretical research of territoriality and innovation process. By deconstructing the relationship between the territorial behavior congruence and the innovation process, this study establishes that the congruence and incongruence of the marking defensive behavior in knowledge territoriality exerts different effects on creative idea generation and idea implementation.