Drawing from ideas in positive psychological literature, psychological capital (PsyCap) refers to a positive psychological state that promotes an individual’s performance improvement. In today’s competitive and dynamic market, employees are facing increasing challenges, stress, and strains in the process of different innovative activities, PsyCap is therefore regarded as a critical asset for organizations to gain differentiated advantages. At the same time, scholars and practitioners have noted the imperative role of knowledge management (KM) in all kinds of innovation in the knowledge era, and PsyCap is highly likely to affect the willingness and capabilities of employees to implement different KM practices.
In light of this, although previous research has shed light on the effect of PsyCap on a diverse set of performance outcomes, the underlying mechanism by which PsyCap influences innovation through various KM activities remains largely unexplored. First, the multi-dimensional construct and measurement instruments of PsyCap need to be further verified and advanced in a certain economic/social/cultural context. Second, given that a great deal of work has examined the effects of PsyCap on innovative behavior at the individual level, additional research could be performed to examine the causality between PsyCap and innovation at the team or the organizational levels. Specifically, as innovation can be defined more broadly, there is little empirical support for the promoting role of PsyCap in specific types of organizational innovation, such as new product development, process innovation, service innovation, and business model innovation… Moreover, little attention has been paid to the effects of KM activities (e.g., knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing, knowledging hiding, knowledge integration, etc.) in the relationship between PsyCap and innovation. For example, whether and how PsyCap influences employees’ knowledge hiding behavior to affect innovation performance in the firm? Addressing these research gaps in our existing knowledge offers practical guidance to assist organizations in designing favorable work environments to develop PsyCap that promotes effective KM practices, thereby facilitating innovation and value creation.
Our aim in this Research Topic is to comprehensively understand the underlying mechanism by which PsyCap influences innovation through KM activities in organizations (i.e., PsyCap—KM—Innovation). Taking a meaningful step forward from previous studies, we set out to supplement empirical evidence on the role of PsyCap in KM and innovation at different levels of analysis while identifying the boundary conditions in which PsyCap is harnessed as the firms’ competitive advantage.
This Research Topic encourages authors to formulate all levels of analysis on the role of PsyCap in various KM and innovation activities that create value for organizations. Accordingly, we look forward prospective contributors to submitting their best manuscripts – empirical and theoretical – that expand our understanding of the following themes, which are illustrative but not exhaustive:
1. The concept, connotation, and measurement of PsyCap
2. The role of PsyCap in employee innovative behavior
3. The role of PsyCap in the team-level innovation
4. The role of PsyCap in organizational innovation (e.g., innovation in product, service, process, business model, etc.)
5. PsyCap and sustainable innovation
6. PsyCap and employee KM behaviors (e.g., knowledge-based capabilities, knowledge sharing, knowledge hiding, etc.)
7. PsyCap and organizational KM (knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge application, knowledge flow, knowledge coupling, knowledge integration, etc.)
8. Mediating mechanisms underlying the PsyCap-Innovation link from the KM perspective
9. Moderators of the PsyCap-Innovation link from the KM perspective
10. Situational factors affecting the effect of PsyCap on Innovation and KM
Drawing from ideas in positive psychological literature, psychological capital (PsyCap) refers to a positive psychological state that promotes an individual’s performance improvement. In today’s competitive and dynamic market, employees are facing increasing challenges, stress, and strains in the process of different innovative activities, PsyCap is therefore regarded as a critical asset for organizations to gain differentiated advantages. At the same time, scholars and practitioners have noted the imperative role of knowledge management (KM) in all kinds of innovation in the knowledge era, and PsyCap is highly likely to affect the willingness and capabilities of employees to implement different KM practices.
In light of this, although previous research has shed light on the effect of PsyCap on a diverse set of performance outcomes, the underlying mechanism by which PsyCap influences innovation through various KM activities remains largely unexplored. First, the multi-dimensional construct and measurement instruments of PsyCap need to be further verified and advanced in a certain economic/social/cultural context. Second, given that a great deal of work has examined the effects of PsyCap on innovative behavior at the individual level, additional research could be performed to examine the causality between PsyCap and innovation at the team or the organizational levels. Specifically, as innovation can be defined more broadly, there is little empirical support for the promoting role of PsyCap in specific types of organizational innovation, such as new product development, process innovation, service innovation, and business model innovation… Moreover, little attention has been paid to the effects of KM activities (e.g., knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing, knowledging hiding, knowledge integration, etc.) in the relationship between PsyCap and innovation. For example, whether and how PsyCap influences employees’ knowledge hiding behavior to affect innovation performance in the firm? Addressing these research gaps in our existing knowledge offers practical guidance to assist organizations in designing favorable work environments to develop PsyCap that promotes effective KM practices, thereby facilitating innovation and value creation.
Our aim in this Research Topic is to comprehensively understand the underlying mechanism by which PsyCap influences innovation through KM activities in organizations (i.e., PsyCap—KM—Innovation). Taking a meaningful step forward from previous studies, we set out to supplement empirical evidence on the role of PsyCap in KM and innovation at different levels of analysis while identifying the boundary conditions in which PsyCap is harnessed as the firms’ competitive advantage.
This Research Topic encourages authors to formulate all levels of analysis on the role of PsyCap in various KM and innovation activities that create value for organizations. Accordingly, we look forward prospective contributors to submitting their best manuscripts – empirical and theoretical – that expand our understanding of the following themes, which are illustrative but not exhaustive:
1. The concept, connotation, and measurement of PsyCap
2. The role of PsyCap in employee innovative behavior
3. The role of PsyCap in the team-level innovation
4. The role of PsyCap in organizational innovation (e.g., innovation in product, service, process, business model, etc.)
5. PsyCap and sustainable innovation
6. PsyCap and employee KM behaviors (e.g., knowledge-based capabilities, knowledge sharing, knowledge hiding, etc.)
7. PsyCap and organizational KM (knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge application, knowledge flow, knowledge coupling, knowledge integration, etc.)
8. Mediating mechanisms underlying the PsyCap-Innovation link from the KM perspective
9. Moderators of the PsyCap-Innovation link from the KM perspective
10. Situational factors affecting the effect of PsyCap on Innovation and KM