A research on the impact of ambidextrous human resource practice (AHRP) on employee creativity——The effect of thriving at work and perception of psychological security

Chen Yun, Zhao Fuqiang, Xiao Jie, Hu Wei

Science Research Management ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (9) : 193-200.

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PDF(417 KB)
Science Research Management ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (9) : 193-200.

A research on the impact of ambidextrous human resource practice (AHRP) on employee creativity——The effect of thriving at work and perception of psychological security

  • Chen Yun, Zhao Fuqiang, Xiao Jie, Hu Wei
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Abstract

   During the times of cross-border integration with the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, it is difficult for the organizations to sustain only through the exploiting innovation by focusing internal resource utilization or exploring innovation by paying more attention to the external resource acquisition. Therefore, the ambidextrous innovation with the integration of the internal and external resource is becoming a realistic choice for the development of the organization. However, the innovation process can′t be separated from the acquisition of the external resources, the utilization of the internal resource and the integration of the internal and external resources. As we all know that the employee creativity is some kind of new idea, product service or management process generated in the workplace. At the same time, it is the basis of the organizational innovation and the source of the competitive advantage. Therefore, it becomes a key issue to be solved urgently by the industry and the academia how to stimulate employee creativity. However, the employee creativity requires more time consumption, cognitive effort and divergent thinking, so it needs the support of physiological, psychological, social and organizational resources. According to the conservation of resource theory, if the resource of the employee is limited, it will hinder their creativity. However, Human Resource Practice is a series of practical measures and institutional arrangements to explore and activate the effectiveness of human resource in an organization. It will help the employees to acquire the sufficient resources, maintain the vigorous energy, improve their work performance and increase their creative potential. Therefore, Human Resource Practice is one of the most important antecedent variables of the creativity.
    But the creativity of the employee comes firstly from the stimulation of its active working state, and Thriving at Work is one of the core manifestations of the employees′ active working state. So Thriving at Work may serve as a bridge between Human Resource Practice and the employee creativity. It is well known that the organizational climate affects the employees′ interpretation and application of organizational policies and systems under the context of the difference order pattern, the circle culture and the high-power distance in China, thus affecting their working status and attitudes. The stronger the employees′ sense of psychological security to the organizational climate, the more willing the members are to communicate, exchange and share knowledge with others, which can affect employees′ perception, understanding and application of Human Resource Practice, thus affecting their working status and creativity. However, the current relevant researches have paid less attention to the role of psychological security in the impact of Human Resource Practice.
   Based on the above, this paper aim to explore the connotation and composition of Ambidextrous Human Resource Practice (AHRP) and its relationship with the employee creativity from the perspective of the conservation of resource theory and the context ambidexterity in order to contribute to the employee creativity and Human Resource Practice theory, and to explore the follow problems. Firstly, If AHRP is closely related to employee creativity, what is its mechanism? Secondly, does the psychological security have an impact on these relationships and how to affect it?
   Under the era of cross-border integration, the ambidextrous innovation of the integration of internal and external resources has become a realistic choice for the development of the organization. The employee creativity is the foundation of the organizational innovation. However, the exertion of employee creativity largely depends on the support of Human Resource Practice, the stimulation of the active working state, and the induction of the psychological safety atmosphere. Therefore, the paper illustrated their mechanism and boundary condition of AHRP impact on the employee creativity through defining its conceptual composition and conceiving the moderated moderation model among AHRP, Thriving at Work, the employee creativity and the psychological security based on the resource conservation theory. The empirical research found the follows through the questionnaire investigation, the common method deviation test, validity and reliability examination, the descriptive statistics, the exploratory factor analysis, the confirmatory factor analysis and the stepwise regression and so on. Firstly, AHRP has a significant positive effect on the employee creativity and thriving at work, and the thriving at work positively affects the employee creativity significantly. Secondly, the thriving at work partly mediates the effects of AHRP on the employee creativity significantly. Thirdly, the perception of psychological security negatively moderates the direct impact of AHRP on the thriving at work and its indirect effect through the mediation of the thriving at work.
    The conclusions of the research provide the following decision-making references for the management practice to enhance the employee creativity. Firstly, the organization can provide the resource support for the employee′s ability, motivation and opportunity to acquire the external resources, utilize the internal resources and integrate the internal and external resources through the design and implementation of AHRP, so as to stimulate their active working status and enhance their creativity. Secondly, the organizational managers can enhance the creativity of their employee and collaboratively develop and promoting their Thriving at Work through scientifically configuring Human Resource Practice bundle. Thirdly, in order to enhance the psychological safety perception of the employees, the enterprise can cultivate such organizational atmosphere as including their different personality, respecting their different values, recognizing their achievement, encouraging their innovation, forgiving their failure and voicing freely and so on, thus they dare to make the innovative suggestions and adopt creative behavior.
    The theoretical contributions of the study are as follows. Firstly, the research enriched the relevant study on guiding Human Resource Practice and its measurement tools in Chinese context though defining the connotation of AHRP, determining its composition, and designing its measurement tools. Secondly, the research enlarged the study on the existing variables and their interaction mechanisms through organically integrating the research fields of AHRP, Thriving at Work, the psychological security and the employee creativity. Thirdly, the paper examined the influence mechanism of AHRP on the employee creativity through Thriving at Work and the boundary conditions of the psychological security, revealed the complementary and substitutional role of the resources between Human Resource Practice and the psychological security, thus deepened and expanded the application of the conservation of resource theory.

Key words

ambidextrous human resource practice (AHRP) / thriving at work / perception of psychological security / employee creativity


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Chen Yun, Zhao Fuqiang, Xiao Jie, Hu Wei. A research on the impact of ambidextrous human resource practice (AHRP) on employee creativity——The effect of thriving at work and perception of psychological security[J]. Science Research Management. 2021, 42(9): 193-200

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