Workplace factors that influence creativity and innovation in micro and small scale enterprises: Enterprise level analysis

Abstract

This study examines the influence of workplace factors on creativity and innovation in micro and small enterprises (MSEs). The study is based on the componential model of organizational creativity to confirm the determinants of creativity of MSEs in the workplace setting. The study employed a quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional survey design via an adapted questionnaire to gather information from participants. The questionnaire was distributed randomly among 286 respondents from different micro and small enterprises in Woldia city. The results revealed that organizational encouragement, supervisor support, sufficient resources, and absence of organizational impediments are statistically significant and positively related to MSEs’ creativity and innovation; however, challenging work is statistically significant and negatively associated with creativity and innovation. The remaining variables, workgroup support and job autonomy have no statistically significant effect on MSEs’ creativity and innovation. This study is significant in that it enables managers to understand that creativity and innovation success depend on many interrelated variables in the workplace, which must be considered in establishing strategies that encourage and recognize creativity and innovation in micro and small enterprises. This paper contributes to the thin scholarly literature on creativity and innovation in MSEs’ workplace settings by investigating the influence of workplace factors on creativity and innovation.

Keywords:

• creativity
• innovation
• componential model of creativity
• MSEs
• workplace factors

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to all anonymous reviewers and other contributors for the improvement of this article.

Abbreviations

MSEs: Micro and small enterprises; OE: Organizational encouragement; SS: Supervisor Support; WGS: Workgroup support; JA: Job autonomy; SR: Sufficient resources; CW: Challenging work; AOI: Absence of organizational impediments; CI: Creativity and innovation.

Author’s contributions

The author independently undertook this research study. The author also read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

The data that support the findings of the study can be obtained from the author based on reasonable request.

Declarations

Ethical Considerations: The issue of consent, confidentiality, and anonymity were sufficiently addressed in the study. Permission from all respondents was obtained when they were requested to participate in the study. All selected participants were given information about the research purpose during questionnaire distribution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.