The moderation effect of workplace experience on innovation motivation: a study of STEM faculty in Singapore

ABSTRACT

While the topic on drivers of innovation has been intensely studied, most of the literature tends to examine motivators at a point in time with the assumption that they are stable. However, shifts in social and environmental contexts may change motivators of behaviour. In light of the discrepancy, this study uses the person–environment fit theory and examines innovation-stimulating work climate from the perspective of workplace experience. With a sample of 276 faculty members in two major universities in Singapore, we test the moderating effect of workplace experience on three motivators – peer influence, performance evaluation and resource access, and found that with increased workplace experience, the effectiveness of these environmental motivators diminished. Resource access and co-worker influence become less salient with the exception of evaluation, which remains important. The implications for university administration and academic training programs are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation
• work experience
• university faculty

JEL CODES:

• O31
• O32
• I23
• J61

Acknowledgements

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jue Wang is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She holds a PhD degree from the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech. Her research interests include science and technology policy, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development.

Rosalie Hooi is a research fellow in the Public Policy and Global Affairs Program at Nanyang Technological University. She obtained her PhD at the National University of Singapore. Her research interests lie at the intersection of human behaviours and technology.

ORCID

Jue Wang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3401-713X

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by Singapore Ministry of Education [AcRF Tier 1 Grant] and National Research Foundation [NRF2014-NRF-SRIE001-023].