The moderating effect of career stage on the relationship between job embeddedness and innovation-related behaviour (IRB). Evidence from China
| Published date | 05 July 2019 |
| Pages | 109-122 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/WJEMSD-04-2018-0045 |
| Date | 05 July 2019 |
| Author | Muhmmad Rafiq |
| Subject Matter | Strategy |
The moderating effect of
career stage on the relationship
between job embeddedness
and innovation-related
behaviour (IRB)
Evidence from China
Muhmmad Rafiq
Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management,
Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the moderating effect of career stage on the
relationship between job embeddedness and innovation-related behaviour (IRB).
Design/methodology/approach –Data were collected from a sample of 310 Chinese media organisation
employees and were analysed using moderated structural equation modelling.
Findings –Career stage significantly moderated the relationship between job embeddedness and IRB;
individuals who experienced high job embeddedness in their early career stage were found to be engaged in
more IRBs than those who experienced low job embeddedness in their early career stage. Moreover, the
author also found that individuals who experienced high job embeddedness at mid-late career stages were
less engaged in IRB, as compared to those at earlier career stages.
Research limitations/implications –These findings contribute to the understanding of the relationship
between employee job embeddedness and IRB at different career stages. The findings are limited by the cross-
sectional nature of the data.
Originality/value –Thisstudy demonstrates thatindividuals at a mid-latecareer stage may define theirwork
rolesdifferently to those at an early careerstage. Employers often expectindividuals in the mid-latecareer stage
to facilitate the work of others and to assist junior colleagues in their professional growth (Super et al.,1996).
Keywords China, Career stage, Job embeddedness, Innovation-related behaviour
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In today’s competitive milieu, the success of any organisation is largely dependent upon its
employees (Rafiq et al., 2019; Chin et al., 2016). This confers a benefit to employees.
Yet, employees also face many challenges. Workplace demands are evolving quickly as the
marketplace becomes more globally competitive than ever before. There is an increasing
focus on cultivating and utilising employee skills and expertise in order to generate better
organisational performance (Darcy et al., 2012). In a similar vein, management researchers
have long been interested in understanding why people choose to participate in an
organisation, what motivates them to perform and why they decide to stay (Sekiguchi et al.,
2008). From this perspective, a new construct, termed job embeddedness, or the degree to
which individuals are embedded to in their current job or organisation, has been proposed to
provide a new means to understand “why people stay”(Mitchell et al., 2001; Lee et al., 2004).
Recently, Ng and Feldman (2010) reported that job embeddedness is positively related to
innovation-related behaviour (IRB).
This study re-examines and extends the findings of Ng and Feldman (2010) by
examining the relationship between job embeddedness and IRB, and how it varies across
different career stages. Ng and Feldman (2010) argued that IRB is only significantly linked
World Journal of
Entrepreneurship, Management
and Sustainable Development
Vol. 15 No. 2, 2019
pp. 109-122
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2042-5961
DOI10.1108/WJEMSD-04-2018-0045
Received 25 April 2018
Revised 17 December 2018
Accepted 25 December 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2042-5961.htm
109
Job
embeddedness
and IRB
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