Team engagement for boosting team innovative behaviour in small and medium enterprises: An integrating framework of attitudinal and trait-related determinants

Abstract

Today, enterprises are devoting a burgeoning interest in fostering team innovative behaviour at the workplace. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to bring together two lines of engagement enquiry (individual and team), leaning on similar theoretical veins and ontologies; however, exploring the interrelationship between these two constructs has received scant attention. Towards that end, a survey questionnaire was developed to collect data from 547 employees working for SMEs operating in Jordan. The findings revealed that team engagement mediates individual engagement and team innovative behaviour. Further, the findings indicated a positive moderating effect of the variation in team's relationship-oriented traits on the individual-team engagement association. Interestingly, the hypothesis proposing a moderating influence of the variation in the team's task-oriented traits was not statistically supported. This study provides an unprecedented progress to the scholarly conversation revolving around the neoteric influence of employee engagement and team innovative behaviour. The newfangled theoretical model links employee engagement theory with team innovative behaviours through the moderation effects of team personality compositions.