92 Int. J. Business Innovation and Research, Vol. 13, No.

1, 2017

Discussion paper on the key motivational factors

impacting innovative climate

Rawan Abukhait*
AL HOSN University-Abu Dhabi,
P.O. Box: 38772, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Email: r.abukhait@alhosnu.ae
*Corresponding author

Rekha Pillai
Business School at Emirates Aviation University,
Dubai
Email: rekha.pillai@eau.ac.ae

Abstract: Innovation is an imperative component for the long-term survival of

organisations and a successful tool to gain a competitive advantage over other
firms. Innovation is a significant contributor for organisational success as
innovation provides satisfactory returns to the company and increases value for
its customers. Looking at the innovative climate which considers the
procedures and reward system as a contributing factor, the importance of
looking at job satisfaction variables and organisational work environment
is considered significant. The current paper focuses on three motivation
theories which are equity theory, Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory and
goal-setting theory as the fundamental base supporting several innovation
factors. The main aim of this paper is to present a holistic view of the major
motivational factors contributing to innovation climate that emerged significant
after a systematic literature review. A detailed analysis of prior studies reveals
that innovative climate is an outcome of various factors such as pay, learning
environment, career development, job content, supportive environment and
work hours.

Keywords: innovation; motivation; innovative climate.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Abukhait, R. and Pillai, R.

(2017) ‘Discussion paper on the key motivational factors impacting innovative
climate’, Int. J. Business Innovation and Research, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp.92–111.

Biographical notes: Rawan Abukhait received her PhD in Business

Administration in 2012 (Innovation Management) from the University of
Western Sydney-Australia. The accomplished thesis investigated the
relationship among different variables that impact innovation, and was applied
in Jordan (telecommunication sector). In 2009, she completed her Master in
Quality Management from the University of Wollongong in Dubai. She is
currently working as an Assistant Professor at AL HOSN University-Abu
Dhabi, teaching management related courses (principles of management,
introduction to business, organisational behaviour, business ethics, marketing
research and consumer behaviour).

Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 93

Rekha Pillai is PhD student and currently working as a Lecturer in Business

School at Emirates Aviation University, Dubai. Holding double masters in
commerce, she has authored and co- authored more than eight publications in
international journals. Her research interests focus on corporate governance,
innovation management and internet financial reporting.

1 Introduction

The increasing competitive pressure that companies have experienced in recent years is
characterised by a high level of dynamism in most markets due to the rapid changes in
products, technologies, trade globalisation and regulations (Manzoor, 2012).
Organisational success is at present pivoted on innovation. The time for small
incremental changes is over and every business needs to incorporate ‘innovation’ as a
core part of their business operations, rather than a piece of brand positioning or
marketing add on. Innovation refers to identifying an opportunity, converting it into a
business idea and finally bringing it into existence. Although extensive research has
surfaced on innovation, only few papers have emerged to identify the factors leading to
an innovative climate. It is well established that corporate performance and revenue
growth are now affected by both external and internal operating environment factors.
However, among all the factors the human resource forms the biggest challenge;
“because unlike other inputs, employee management calls for accomplished handling of
thoughts, feeling and emotions to protect highest productivity” [Chaudhary and
Sharma, (2012), p.29]. Motivation is thus a vital factor in understanding, studying and
analyzing human behaviour. It assists a manager to identify the motives which influence
the few organisations which consider the human personnel of any organisation as its
main assets, which can direct them to success or if not focused well, to decline.
This is because, unless and until, the employees of any organisation are satisfied with and
is motivated for the tasks accomplishment and goals attainments, none of the
organisations can grow or achieve success (Manzoor, 2012). Managers consider
motivation of employees as the most serious problem that confronts them in employees’
instruction (Ali et al, 2012). According to Mitchell (1998) for example, motivation refers
to “Those psychological process that cause the arousal, direction and persistence of
voluntary actions that are goal oriented”. Also, Locke and Latham (2004, p.337)
suggest that motivation includes certain internal factors which elicits prompt action and
certain external factors which serve as further inducements to action. While motivation
theorists differ on where the energy is derived from, and on the particular needs that a
person is attempting to fulfil, most would agree that motivation requires a desire to act,
an ability to act and have an objective More recently, studies by Alexander and
Knippenber (2014) establish that focusing on internal team development lead to
incremental rather than radical innovations. They emphasise the relevance of a versatile
leadership and reflexive team processes in attaining goal orientation shifts as main
constituents of innovation success (p.432).
94 R. Abukhait and R. Pillai

In light of the above statements, Ahmed (1998) adds that “despite the interest in the
field of innovation, much of the research evidence concerning management practices
about innovation creative climate remains unsystematic and anecdotal”. As the
foundation of innovation is ideas and it is individuals who “develop, carry, react to, and
modify ideas” [Van de Ven, (1986), p.580] what motivates employees to be innovative is
considered to be another important issue (Scott and Bruce, 1994). This paper therefore
attempts to contribute to literature by unveiling those factors which can be universally
applied by the management to accelerate the innovative climate within the organisation.
The remaining paper is structured as follows. Section 2 sets the theoretical foundation
for motivation while Section 3 discusses the relevant variables under each discussed
theory. Section 4 sets forth the limitations of the study and concludes the paper offering
recommendations for future research.

2 Theoretical foundation

This section outlines the underlying theories related to motivation as it is a well known
phenomenon that having motivated employees in their work environment leads to job
satisfaction, and therefore results in an innovative climate. As proposed by Amabile and
Gryskiewicz (1989), the componential model of creativity and innovation in firms
contains three broad organisational factors and each includes several elements. Firstly,
organisational motivation to innovate and to support innovations should be a basic goal
for the organisation. Secondly, an organisation’s resources refer to everything that the
company provides to aid work in order to achieve innovation, such as training. Thirdly,
management practices must reflect freedom or autonomy at work, provide interesting
work, have a clear overall strategic goal, make provisions for challenges and encourage
team work that draws together workers with different skills.
Various theories related to motivation have been presented in the literature such as
goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham, 2002); equity theory (Adams, 1965); expectancy
theory (Vroom, 1964); Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory (Herzberg et al., 1959) and
achievement motivation theory (McClelland et al., 1953). The current paper will focus on
equity theory, Herzberg’s motivation theories and goal-setting theory as they form the
fundamental basis in lending support to various prior studies related to motivation.

2.1 Equity theory

The equity theory is the outcome of the work by J.S. Adams. According to Adams, this
theory is based on the idea that individuals balance their inputs such as education, work
experience and personality to their outputs (related to what a person gets from a given
work situation such as pay, non-monetary benefits and training)”. Equity theory is based
on three main assumptions (Carrel and Dittrich, 1978). Firstly the theory holds that
individuals build beliefs about what comprises a fair and equitable return for their
contributions to their work. Secondly, the theory supposes that people compare what they
perceive to be the exchange they have with their company. Thirdly, when people believe
that their own treatment is not equitable relative to the exchange they perceive others to
be making, they will be motivated to take actions they deem appropriate. This perception
of equity is often understood in work organisations as a positive relationship between an
employee’s effort on the job and the pay they receive (Ramlall, 2004). Adams (as cited in
 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 95

Ramlall, 2004) suggests that expectations about equity or a fair relationship between
inputs and outputs are learned through the process of socialisation and through
comparing inputs and outcomes with others. Thus, it is important for managers to
consider the way that employees value their inputs in relation to their outputs.
Equity theory recognises that people are not only concerned with the amount received
as rewards for their efforts, but also with how this amount compares to what others
obtain. “Based on one’s inputs, such effort, experience, education and competence, one
can compare outcomes such as salary levels, increases, recognition and other factors”
[Ramlall, (2004), p.55]. When individuals recognise an imbalance in their outcome-input
ratio in relation to others, tension occurs. This tension presents the basis for motivation,
as employees strive for what they perceive as fairness and equity (Robbins, 1993). The
consequences of employees perceiving they are not being treated fairly produce a range
of options for the workers (Champagne and McAfee, 1989). Continuing the discussion,
Ramlall (2004) states that “these options include the employees reducing their input
through directly restricting their work output, attempting to increase their output by
seeking salary increases or seeking a more enjoyable assignment. Other possibilities are
to decrease the outcomes of a comparison other until the ration of that person’s outcomes
to inputs is relatively equal or increasing the other’s inputs”. In addition to the above, the
worker could simply withdraw from the situation completely, that is, quit the job and
look for employment elsewhere.

2.2 Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory

Herzberg and his associates began their work on researching aspects that impact
motivation in the mid-1950s. Based on the results Herzberg finds that “employees tend to
describe satisfying experience in terms of factors that are intrinsic to the content of the
job itself”. These factors are described as motivators and include variables such as
recognition, achievement, the work itself, advancement, responsibilities and growth. On
the contrary, dissatisfying experiences are called hygiene factors and result from
extrinsic, non-related factors to the job itself such as salary, company policies, employee
relations and the style of supervision steers cited in Ramlall (2004). Based on the
findings, Herzberg argues that the elimination of the causes of dissatisfaction would lead
to a neutral state. Therefore the implications are clear; motivation can be raised through
basic modifications to the nature of workers’ jobs and through processes such as job
enrichment. Consequently, employers should redesign jobs to allow for increased
responsibilities, challenges, opportunities for advancement, recognition and personal
growth.
According to Herzberg, the factors leading to job satisfaction are separate from those
that contribute to job dissatisfaction. Therefore, managers who look to eliminate factors
that generate job dissatisfaction can bring about peace, but not necessarily motivation.

2.3 Goal-setting theory

The goal-setting theory concentrates on the impact of setting goals on employees’
performance. Researchers found that performance increases when goals are specific
rather than vague. Setting difficult but achievable goals usually leads to higher
performance rather than setting easy goals (Francesco and Gold, 2005). Moreover,
96 R. Abukhait and R. Pillai

feedback that comes from employees reviewing their outputs generally results in higher
performance.
For goal-setting theory to work, it’s important for people to be committed to the goals
that have been set by the organisation. It doesn’t matter whether individuals participate in
the assigned goal or not, as long as they are committed to the goal. However, people are
more committed to goals that they are involved in. In addition, goal-setting theory is
dependent upon self-efficiency, which means that individuals believe that they have the
ability to do certain task (Francesco and Gold, 2005).
To summarise, Equity theory is about treating people fairly. Therefore, it relates to
people’s perceptions of the treatment they receive from the organisation in relation to
others (Adams as cited in Lim and Morris, 2006). Vroom (as cited in Lim and Morris,
2006) mentions that individuals pursue equity when they think that they should receive
rewards related to their jobs. Further more, Noe and Schmitt (1986a) explain that people
may get involved in training to achieve equity in pay or other rewards. According to this
situation, there is a greater chance that learning will occur and transfer to the job will
occur (Noe and Schmitt, 1986b). In addition, Lim and Morris (2006) address the fact that
expectancy theory predicts that individual behaviour is determined by the desirability
of the outcome. Finally, according to Locke cited in Lim and Morris (2006, p.87)
“goal-setting theory explains how and why behaviour is facilitated or restrained in the
pre-training, training, and post-training processes”.

3 Discussion of variables underlying the theoretical underpinnings

3.1 Learning environment

Investing in intangible assets especially human capital has been regarded as a main
strategy for competitive advantage, especially when considering that work has become
increasingly knowledge based (Adler and Kwon, 2002). Therefore many practitioners
believe that companies should spend more resources on training programs to improve
employees’ competence at work (Kelloway and Barling, 2000). Individuals, groups and
companies are increasingly faced with situations that are complex. Individual abilities to
cope with complex dynamic processes and systems while behaving in a sustainable way
have not developed to the required amount. To survive, organisations, groups and
individuals need to constantly adapt to the change of inner and outer situations
(Kriz, 2003). Learning could be acknowledged as an important factor impacting
organisational development and survival, especially when considering rapid market
changes and technology development that might impact both the company and
employees’ efficiency.
A learning environment may exist inside or outside the classroom which offers the
opportunity for improved workplace productivity (Leslie et al., 1998). Workplace
learning doesn’t occur alone, but it is a means of achieving organisational and individual
goals (Leslie et al., 1998), thus highlighting the linkage between learning and achieving
employee and organisation goals. First and foremost, it is important to clarify the term
learning in the context of the work place and how it occurs in any organisation.
According to Evans et al. (2006) learning in the workplace can refer to a mixture of
different types of learning which may or may not be formally structured.
 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 97

Eruat et al. as cited in (Evans et al., 2006), conducted a study on highly qualified
employees and explained three different ways in which people learn which are

1 through watching others

2 by mentoring arrangements

3 by learning from mistakes

An important consideration in this context is the extent to which the company provides
opportunities for teach (Evans et al., 2006). This indicates that it is possible for
employees to learn from their work environment through different ways such as
interacting with others and from the recurring mistakes. On another note, firms are
confronted with growing competitive pressure to enhance the quality of their products
and services (Ford et al., 1992). One way to develop quality is through improvements in
the technical skills of the workers (Goldstein and glliam cited in Ford et al., 1992).
To build this technical expertise, organisations have moved away from unstructured
on-the-job training systems to more formal, structured training programs (Rosow and
Zager, 1988). This move illustrates the importance of providing the appropriate training
program that increases employee motivation and enhances employee capabilities and
ultimately the organisation’s competitive advantage.
Because of the importance of formal training programs for the effectiveness of
organisations, it is essential that firms design and implement training programs in the
most efficient way and that they understand the factors that contribute to training
efficiency (Facteau et al., 1995). An important concern with any training program is the
successful transfer of the trained tasks to the work (Ford et al., 1992). It is clear that the
transfer of trained tasks is more than a function of the quality of the training program
(Campbell cited in Ford et al., 1992). Transfer of learning or training refers to applying
the knowledge and skills learned at work to another learning situation (Prieto and Phipps,
2011). There are two significant factors that impact training transfer, which are

1 trainee characteristics

2 organisational climate.

Learner’s characteristics impact training results, the ability of people and their motivation
to learn influences the amount of knowledge gained.
The cognitive ability of the trainee which refers to the general mental capability in
the training and learning location (as cited in Burke and Hutchins, 2007) is one of the
main factors affecting transfer of training. Clark and Voogel (1985, p 120) argue that
“one of the most common and supportable findings in educational research is that
transfer is achieved by students with higher general ability scores”. Ree and Earles (cited
in Burke and Hutchins 2007) find that the best measure of intelligence that predicts
training success is general intelligence. Robertson and Downs (1979) finds that trainee
ability accounts for sixteen percent of the variance in training efficiency. Ultimately,
Colquitt et al. (2000) echoes earlier findings by performing an extensive meta-analysis of
three hundred and ten studies based on research on training over twenty years and find
the corrected correlation coefficient between cognitive ability and training transfer to be
98 R. Abukhait and R. Pillai

reasonably high. Also research has proved that people with high self-efficacy have strong
beliefs in their task-related capabilities and locate more challenging targets than people
with lower self-efficacy (Bandura cited in Chiaburu and Marinova, 2005). Furthermore,
Lim and Chan (2003) and Colquitt et al. (2000) advocate that self-efficacy acts as a
precursor for skill advancement. The motivation to transfer is found to be yet another
significant predictor of positive transfer (Axtell et al., 1997). Motivation to transfer is the
intended effort by the learner to employ skills and knowledge learned in the training
location at the workplace (Noe, 1986). He reports that motivation to learn potentially has
a substantial influence on training effectiveness which is mostly based on prior research
in military settings. The literature highlights the importance of motivation to transfer and
to learn as a predictor of positive transfer. In a similar vein, Russ-Eft et al. (2005)
conducts a meta analysis of behavioural modelling training methods and find that transfer
outcomes are best when extrinsic components (such as noting transfer in the performance
appraisals) are established in the trainees’ work environments.

3.2 Pay
Companies in today’s business environment focus on determining a reasonable balance
between work commitment and performance of the company. As argued by Danish
and Usman (2010, p.159) “the reward and recognition programs serve as the most
contingent factor in keeping employees’ self esteem high and passionate”. Flynn (as cited
in Danish and Usman, 2010) stressed that rewards and recognition programs maintain
high spirits among employees, enhance their morale and form a link between their
performance and their motivation. He also argues that the main idea of a recognition and
reward program is to identify “a system to pay and communicate it to the employees so
that they can link their reward to their performance which ultimately leads to employee’s
job satisfaction”.
Compensation has been defined for several years as the financial returns a firm offers
to its employees. Recently, a few theories have stated a broader view by defining
compensation as a bundle of valued returns, which is offered to employees as an
exchange for their contributions (Cappelli and Rogovsky, 1994). Similar thoughts are
echoed by Stumpf et al. (2013) who report that intrinsic rewards provided to employees
lead to reduced labour turnover thus contributing to employee innovation.

3.3 Innovation
Innovation is recognised as a necessary ingredient for the long-term survival of an
organisation. Roberts (1998) suggests that innovation “provokes continuing interest
among social scientists and practitioners alike” [Scott and Bruce, (1994), p.580].
Organisational climate for innovation can be defined as the degree to which the
values and norms of a company stress innovation (West and Anderson, 1996). It could be
noticed from the above that innovation covers the entire range of activities by providing
satisfactory return to the business and value to the customer. Despite the increasing
interest among practitioners and the growing innovation literature, there is still a lack of
cross-national research on the definition of innovative climate.
 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 99

3.3.1 Innovative organisation

Hove and Nieuwenhuis cited in Merx-Chermin and Nijhof Wim (2005) argue that
innovation as a concept has different meanings and a long history, mostly based on
competition between organisations and the different strategies implemented to compete.
Bolwijn and Kumpe cited in Merx-Chermin and Nijhof Wim (2005, p.136) state that
“Since the 1950s, different strategies have been used to compete, such as efficiency
approaches (e.g., lean management), quality movement (e.g., quality circles and
standards), flexibility and innovativeness”. This shows that organisations are centred on
innovation issues in regard to their survival and development.
All innovation definitions state that it comprises of the development and
implementation of ‘something new’ (Jong and Vermeulen, 2003). However, King and
Anderson (2002) conclude that the aim of innovation is to produce some kind of benefit
such as profits or growth. Innovation involves an application component, so just
developing something new cannot be regarded as an innovation unless it is used.
In the same vein, Bolwijn and Kumpe cited in Merx-Chermin and Nijhof Wim (2005,
p.137) suggest that currently, combining quality, efficiency, flexibility and innovation is
critical and innovation requires a social policy that is more than technical-organisational.
“Successful innovation implies that more than just performing research and development;
R&D must be transformed into products and services that will be sold in the market and
will lead to added value for stakeholders” (Merx-Chermin and Nijhof Wim, (2005),
p.137). They state that alignment of R&D, production and marketing is critical and might
lead to new designs of production and processes, workplace settings and plants. Also to
increase the innovation potential of the company, creativity should be perceived as a
collective process. Similar opinions are voiced by Woszcxyna (2014, p.220) after a study
conducted on Polish companies where human resources, innovative climate and an
innovation supporting culture are seen as important determinants of innovation process in
the organisation.
Meanwhile, innovation in the delivery system refers to the internal arrangements in
organisations that have to be managed to allow service employees to complete their work
properly, and to develop and provide innovative (Avlonitis et al., 2001). Moreover, the
capabilities, knowledge and behaviours of existing co-workers can make any important
changes in the service delivery (Jong and Vermeulen, 2003).
It is argued that service innovations are often non-technological and is still the centre
of many debates and analysis (Kandampully, 2002). Service innovation is achievable
without technological innovation (Cooper and De Brentani cited in Jong and Vermeulen,
2003); however, in reality, the service sector has extensive relationships between
technology and innovation such as “tracking and tracing systems, enabling transport
service providers to monitor the progress of their fleet and thus to manage their transport
services more closely” (Jong and Vermeulen, 2003).

3.4 Supportive organisational climate

Transfer research has constantly reported that the work environment can impact worker
capacity and opportunity to perform learned behaviour on the job (Rouiller and
Goldstein, 1993). Specific organisational factors in the work environment are pointed as
100 R. Abukhait and R. Pillai

facilitating or impeding transfer (Kupritz, 2002). According to Kupritz (2002, p.428),

“Commonly reported are management and collegial support, resources and technology to
support transfer, timeliness of training (so workers can try out new learning), relevance
of training, and potential application of training on the job” (Kupritz, 2002, p.428).
Previous research states that organisational factors can also indirectly impact transfer by
diminishing motivation and self-efficacy beliefs and increasing work related frustration
(Peters et al., 1988).
Broad cited in (Cromwell and Kolb, 2004) highlights increased emphasis by
organisations on creating a climate that supports training transfer. Trainees start to learn
about the way training is viewed early in their occupations, especially through the
socialisation process Feldman cited in (Cromwell and Kolb 2004).
The efficiency of a training program can be influenced by events that happen after the
trainee returns to their job (Cromwell and Kolb, 2004). Tannenbaum and Yukl (1992)
recommend a need for a supportive organisational climate in order to facilitate the
transfer of training. This recommendation emphasises the importance of the presence of a
supportive environment that enables training transfer (Awang, 2014). Also, it has been
argued that some actions are indications to trainees about whether training is essential,
such as supervisory actions and the availability of resources, which inform the trainees
about the given amount of control, involvement or input that trainees have within the
training process (Tannenbaum and Yukl, 1992). In this context, transfer climate has been
defined as a factor perceived by trainees to encourage or discourage exercising the
obtained knowledge, capabilities and skills learned from training on the job (Broad and
Newstorm, Goldstein and Baldwin and Ford as cited in Cromwell and Kolb, 2004). More
recently. Dul and Ceylan (2014, p.1254) report that organisations enabling a supportive
work environment favouring creativity outperformed their peers in innovation
performance with respect to new product productivity and new product success.

3.4.1 Supportive supervisor

Supervisory support has been recognised as an essential work-environment variable that
influences the transfer process (Richman-Hirsch, 2001). Supervisor support has been
defined as the degree to which supervisors emphasise and support the use of learning on
job (Bates, Holton and Seyler cited in Cromwell and Kolb, 2004). In addition, Jain and
Juneja, (2011) suggests that the efficacy of a manager in terms of his role clarity, his
corporate vision, his need for accomplishment and capacity of resource utilisation among
others were some of the determinants facilitating managerial innovation. In a study by
Huczynski and Lewis (1980), supervisor’s management style and attitude are considered
as the single most important factor impacting the trainee’s intent to transfer. The
researchers study trainee motivation as a factor affecting transfer training, their intention
to transfer the training and organisational factors that restrain or support transfer. The
results indicate that thirty five percent of the participating trainees attempt to transfer
what is learned on the job and of the thirty five percent; the majority of respondents
indicate that supervisory support is an important factor in transferring the learned skills to
the job.
Continuing the chain of studies, Campbell and Cheek (1989) support the importance
of the involvement of supervisors in regards to transferring training. They assert that the
transfer of newly obtained behaviours to the work place would be extremely difficult
without obtaining supervisory support. This suggests that trainees could be assisted by
 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 101

their supervisors for assessing their needs; establishing instructional strategies;

performing training; defining the objectives and evaluating the effectiveness of the
training.
Also, Cohen (1990) find that a supportive supervisor influences trainees’ beliefs
when entering a situation where training would be useful. Facteau, et al. (1995) indicates
that managers who perceive a greater amount of support from their direct supervisors
show a greater motivation for attending and learning from training. In addition, the
support of subordinates and peers for their managers’ training efforts impact the
manager’s ability to transfer their training skills. Therefore, supervisor support,
management style and attitudes and supervisor involvement are factors that impact
training transfer. Equity, expectancy, and goal-setting theories are considered as
supporting theories for motivation to transfer Yamnill and McLean (cited in Lim and
Morris, 2006).

3.5 Job satisfaction

Social scientists’ efforts over decades on conceptualising job satisfaction have led to a
high level of agreement on the construct of job satisfaction (Oshagbemi, 1999). The
concept is defined in different styles according to different authors and this section
outlines some of these definitions as shown below. Oshagbemi (1999, p.388) states that
“Job satisfaction is conceptualised as a general attitude towards an object, the job” where
as the pioneer in this field, Hoppock (1935) suggest that job satisfaction consists of
workers’ feelings towards their working environment and what satisfies them both
psychologically and physically (Hoppock cited in Mihajlovic et al., 2008). These feelings
are derived from workers subjective reactions toward their working environment
(Mihajlovic et al., 2008). Satisfaction, on the contrary, according to many schools of
thought, depends on the person’s expectations, requirements (physical and psychological)
and values (Clark, 1996). More specifically, work attributes that involve mental
challenges such as autonomy, responsibility and learning opportunity are linked to
satisfaction. Hence both challenge and some measures of achievement are essential.
Several studies investigate what factors or aspects augment satisfaction for workers.
For example, Clark (1996, p.191) states that higher job satisfaction may occur from
improvements in the objective aspects of the work, from reduced expectations about the
job, “or equally from a realignment of values so that dissatisfying aspects of the job are
downplayed, while those that please are given greater weight”. Measuring job
satisfaction is important for two reasons. First, it is a measure of a person’s physical and
mental well being and “many social scientists would consider the distribution of welfare
to be one of their principal concerns” [Clark, (1996), p.189]. He emphasises that the
analysis of job satisfaction may give “a number of insights into certain aspects of the
labour market.” A worker’s decision about their labour force involvement, whether to
remain in a job or to quit, and how much effort to devote to their work all depends on the
employee’s subjective assessment of their work, in other words on their job satisfaction.
The other side of the labour market consists of companies desiring their workers to be
satisfied. It can be hypothesised that employees’ job satisfaction could function as a
buffer against a high turnover (Vandenberg and Lance, 1992). Moreover, “job
satisfaction could also buffer against other negative influences in the workplace, such as
occupational stress. For these reasons, attention paid to job satisfaction of employees
102 R. Abukhait and R. Pillai

may prevent staff shortages in the future [Vandenberg and Lance, (1992), p.191]. More
recently Chenga et al. (2014) suggests that encouraging employee participation in
budgetary decisions increased their job satisfaction thus demonstrating an improvement
in product innovation performance.
Karasek cited in Pugliesi (1999) in his model of ‘the demand-control’ stated that
demands and control have interactive impacts on job stress; jobs that have high demands
and low control (‘high-strain’ jobs) are the most stressful for employees. Dissatisfied
workers face stress, and job stress is increasing and has become a challenge for the
organisation because it results in low productivity, increased absenteeism (Meneze cited
in Malik et al., 2010). Research on staff has found that incumbents of high-strain jobs
have a greater risk of suffering different health problems and psychological distress
(Karasek; Radmacher and Sheridan cited in Pugliesi, 1999). Therefore job satisfaction is
a fundamental element associated with innovative climate and management needs to
carefully realign their policies and procedures to in such a way that it is conducive for
employee welfare and satisfaction.

3.6 Job content

Job design theories and research in psychology and organisational sciences have
concentrated almost entirely on job enrichment and enlargement (Ford; Herzberg cited in
Campion, 1988) or on job characteristics such as the amount of variety, responsibility,
and interpersonal relations provided by a job, which appear to be related to employee
attitudes and behaviour (Hackman and Lawler, 1971). “The literature on job attitudes and
task design has been dominated by the need-satisfaction paradigm, a model which asserts
that people have needs, jobs have characteristics and job attitudes (and motivation, in
some versions) result from their conjunction” [Salancik and Pfeffer, (1978), p.224].
According to the need-satisfaction paradigm job design, implementing a proper job
design increases satisfaction and performance through motivating employees.
More lately, examining job content in relation to job satisfaction is also considered to
be important. Campion (1988, p.467) comments that there are some features of jobs that
improve “psychological meaning and motivational potential, such as variety, autonomy,
and task significance.” According to his study, job design is defined as a variety of tasks
assigned to each employee. Continuing the argument, Hackman et al. (as cited in
Rousseau, 1977) presents a theoretical base for job redesign along with highlighting the
importance of analyzing the task of the department within the company prior to
developing change strategies. It also identifies the role of technology in limiting change
strategies.
Many scholars argue the importance of redesigning a job. However they emphasise
the importance of recognising the role of each division in order to come up with
appropriate changing strategies.

3.7 Work hours

Several studies on designing an appropriate work schedule have surfaced to enhance the
quality of working life and worker productivity. Workers working under flexible time
system are assumed to be more productive and showing low absenteeism (Orpen, 1981).
This indicates that employees are satisfied with their working environment. Moreover, he
 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 103

indicated that flexible working hour’s system will make employees more satisfied and
committed.
Similar thoughts are expressed by Pierce and Newstrom (1980, p.117) who find that
“strong interest in different work schedules has been evidenced by continued experiments
with compressing the work week into fewer hours and/or days, by innovations in
part-time employment, and by the introduction of various discretionary time systems”.
Pierce and Newstrom (1980) suggest that two essential work schedules (i.e., flexitime
and variable working hours) help to describe flexible working hours. Flexitime, in its
pure form, is a system under which a worker makes a daily decision regarding the time of
day to begin work and this definition will be adopted for the current study. In some
flexitime systems the employee is allowed to define the starting and quitting time, as well
as break time and its duration.
However some companies that adopt flexible working hours define a core time period
during which all workers are expected to work and then allow a time before and after this
period to be chosen (Orpen, 1981).

3.8 Career development

Performance appraisals allow an employee to know the degree of match between his
performance and the supervisor’s expectations and to spot areas that require development
or training (Boice and Kleiner, 1997). Therefore it could be defined as the process which
allows an employee to know the degree of match between his performance and the
overall company goals. Also it provides the company with a rich resource of information
about what needs to be done to improve the company and employee efficiency.
The performance appraisal system plays an essential role in managing human
resources (Cardy and Dobbins, 1994) therefore much research has been conducted to
understand the appraisal system (Mayer and Davis, 1999). Murphy and Cleveland (1991)
noted that much of this research has concentrated on issues related to appraisal formats
and minimising bias from evaluators. They suggested paying further attention to the
criteria by which appraisal systems are judged. Moreover, focus should be put on the
reactions of the rated employee to the appraisal system (Mayer and Davis, 1999). Efforts
made by practitioners to minimise bias and pay attention to employees’ reactions to their
appraisal reflect the importance of its impact on employee satisfaction and ultimately on
the company performance. This issue has cornered attention due to the wide range of
uses of performance appraisal information in most companies (Feild and Holley, 1982).
For example, “appraisal information has been used for making organisational decisions
in areas such as personnel layoffs, promotions, and transfers; development and evaluation
of training programs; wage and salary determination; and as criteria for selection
procedure validation studies” [Feild and Holley, (1982) p.392]. Thus, maintaining an
appropriate performance appraisal system allows the company to use it for the benefit of
the company and the employee. The company will be supported with a well fixed system,
allowing the maximum utilisation from its human resource. Moreover, employees will
benefit from the system outcomes such as training and promotion.
Meanwhile, Cummings cited in Mayer and Davis (1999) investigates the impact that
the performance appraisal process can have on workers’ trust for the company. Further,
he proposed that if the results of appraisals are communicated to the appraised employer,
trust will be enhanced. “Employees have a legitimate need to know how their
104 R. Abukhait and R. Pillai

performance is viewed. At a basic level, without adequate communication between the

employee and the supervisor, undesirable work habits may be formed or good work
habits may be modified” [Boice and Kleiner, (1997), p.197].
Developing an appraisal system that precisely reflects worker performance is a
difficult mission (Boice and Kleiner, 1997). “Performance appraisal systems are not
generic or easily passed from one company to another; their design and administration
must be tailor-made to match employee and organisational characteristics and qualities”
[Henderson cited in Boice and Kleiner, (1997), p.197; Spector, 1997].
Therefore, it’s important to employ an appropriate performance appraisal system for
both the company and its employees. Hence the appraisal accuracy affects employee
reactions and ultimately impacts the company.

4 Conclusions, limitations and recommendations

The overarching aim of this study is to explore the factors contributing to creating an
innovative climate, based on existing motivational theories in the literature (refer
appendix for further literature review). A review of prior studies document the fact that
organisations with an adaptive innovative culture that is aligned to their business goals
regularly outperform their competitors. The foundation theories of the study namely the
Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, equity theory and goal-setting theory provided
the main framework towards a better interpretation of the research findings. A review of
the discussions conclude that motivational factors like pay, learning environment, career
development, job content, supportive environment, and work hours act as vital
contributors to innovative climate. It can also be concluded that innovative climate is an
outcome of the inter relationships among the factors studied and that none of them can be
considered mutually exclusive. It can also be deduced that improving each factor can
lead to a cumulative effect in advancing the overall organisational effectiveness thus
enhancing innovative climate. The managerial implications arising out this study is that
the management can think of incorporating some or all of the motivational factors
outlined in this study, which best suits their organisational context and assess their
impact on innovative climate. They can also examine the leverage effect each
motivational factor has on the others. The practical implication this study provides to
researchers is that the factors discussed in this study either independently or otherwise
versa, can be tested in various organisational settings to validate or invalidate the
presence of an innate relationship among them as concluded by this study. However the
paper is not devoid of limitations. The paper focuses only on three theories of motivation
and constrains the discussion to developed countries. Also, limitations arise with respect
to the number and variety of motivational factors studied. It is therefore recommended to
include other motivational theories such as the expectancy theory and achievement
motivation theory in future research in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of
the creation of an innovative climate. It is also advised to incorporate company related
factors namely age, size, market capitalisation, and profitability as well as external
factors such as global competition and business cycle as motivational factors affecting
innovative climate. A more in depth study into this topic is further recommended in order
to abridge the distance between theoretical debates and empirical findings cornering
around innovative climate.

Authors Topic of study
King, de Chermont et Examined the climate for innovation
al. (2007) as a technique by which negative
organizational consequences of
demanding job may be lessened.
Avgar, Givan et al. They examined patient-centred care
(2011) (PCC) and its impact on clinical and
worker outcomes in the united
kingdom hospitals.
Martin and Schinke Studied the organizational and
(1998) individual factors influencing job
satisfaction and burnout of mental
health workers.
Shader, Broome et al. Examined the relationships between
(2001) work satisfaction, stress, age,
cohesion, work schedule, and
anticipated turnover in an academic
medical centre in the United
Kingdom.
Participants
Sample of 22,696 respondents from 131
healthcare organizations.
Included 173 hospitals related to the British
National Health Service also worker and
patient survey data.
Two hundred family/children and
psychiatric workers of seven social service
organizations were surveyed.
Instruments used were the Minnesota
Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Maslach
Burnout Inventory and the Staff Burnout
Scale for health professionals.
Nurses from 12 units in a 908 bed
university hospital in the southeast
answered questionnaires on one occasion.
Table 1
Key findings
By expanding the job demands--resource model, they found
that organizational climate for innovation “alleviated the
negative effects of work demands on organizational
performance. Thus, this study informs climate theories and
guides practitioners' efforts to support the employees”
The more use of PCC has positive results on hospital error rates
and care perceptions.
PCC is related with lower turnover intentions, which are
Past studies on motivation
positively correlated to the quality of care.
PCC effectiveness is improved when complemented by
increasing involvement at work practices.
The study reported that levels of job satisfaction and burnout
are within normal limits. Psychiatric and family/children
workers reported equal levels of job satisfaction, but the latter
group reported significantly higher burnout levels.
Both groups were satisfied with the amount of the praised given
by supervisors and were dissatisfied by the salary levels and
Discussion paper on the key motivational factors
promotions opportunities.
Results showed that increased job stress yield to lower group
cohesion and satisfaction and higher anticipated turnover.
Higher work satisfaction showed higher group cohesion and the
lower turnover.
The more stable work schedule leads to less work stress the
lower turnover. In addition, stable work schedule minimizes
work stress.
105

Authors Topic of study
Eisenberger et al., Examined the Perceived
(1997) Organizational Support,
Discretionary Treatment, and Job
Satisfaction.
Rad and A study between managers’
Yarmohammadian leadership styles and employees’
(2006) job satisfaction in Isfahan
University Hospitals in Iran.
Shipton, west et al. Investigated the relationship
(2006) between aggregate job satisfaction
and organizational innovation in the
United Kingdom
Eskildsen, Kristensen The study examined differences in
et al. (2004) job satisfaction and intrinsic work
motivation between workers with
different characteristics.
Participants
295 employees were sampled and drawn
from a variety of companies.
Questionnaires to 814 employees, first
line, middle and senior managers of these
through stratified random sampling.
Data were collected from 3717 workers in
28 UK manufacturing companies about job
satisfaction and aggregated. Data on
innovation in technology/ processes were
collected 2 years later.
9,623 employees was surveyed from
randomly chosen households in the Nordic
countries participated.
106
Table 1
Key findings
The favourableness of high-discretion job conditions was
discovered to be much more closely related with POS than was
the favourableness of low-discretion job conditions.
Workers showed less satisfaction with salaries, benefits, work
R. Abukhait and R. Pillai
conditions, promotion and communication as satisfier factors
and more satisfaction with factors related to the nature of work,
co-workers and supervision type factors.
There was significant correlation between the use of leadership
behaviours and workers and job satisfaction.
Past studies on motivation (continued)
The results showed that aggregate job satisfaction was an
important predictor of subsequent organizational innovation,
even after controlling for prior organizational innovation and
profitability.
They proposed that if the majority of employees experience job
satisfaction, they will support innovation and work
collaboratively to establish and generate creative ideas.
Findings showed that Danish employees were found to be the
most satisfied and that there is no difference between the
genders in regards to job satisfaction in the Nordic countries.
The study pointed that there is no relationship between gender
and satisfaction as all employees were satisfied.
 Discussion paper on the key motivational factors 107

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