How to unleash the innovative work behavior of project staff? The role of affective and performance-based factors

Although the literature generally presumes that temporary forms of organizing such as projects are especially suitable for generating innovation, empirical support for this assumption that goes beyond case-based evidence is still scarce. The study at hand aims to close this gap in research by investigating how the characteristics of temporary organizations (TOs) affect an individual's innovative work behavior (IWB). By applying a structural equation modeling approach on an Austrian-German sample of 583 TO professionals, it can be shown that both, performance-based factors and affective factors are having a significant impact on the emergence of IWB. However, the hypothesized moderating role of a TO-related reward system has not been validated. Our results can help project managers to more effectively unleash the creative potential of their project staff and to increase the innovativeness of project work.