A Longitudinal Study on the Impact of Distributive Justice on Innovative Behavior : Examining the Sequential Mediation Influence of Organizational Identification and Voice Behavior and the Moderating Influence of Trust in Organization

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Owing to their comparatively limited financial and technological capabilities, Chinese SMEs are often at a disadvantage in market competition and find it difficult to respond effectively to market shocks. The survival dilemma faced by these enterprises is becoming increasingly severe, especially within the framework of a multifaceted and evolving external landscape, and there is a greater need to find an effective path to break out of the predicament. In this process, the innovative behavior of staff members is gradually regarded as an important strategy to help SMEs win the competitive advantage. Innovative behavior refers to the creative thinking and action ability demonstrated by employees in their work practice, including proposing new ideas, developing new products, optimizing processes and solving complex problems. This behavior is not only the cornerstone of organizational innovation, but also a significant element in improving overall competitiveness. By enhancing the innovative capabilities of employees, SMEs can enhance their innovation performance, differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and thus strengthen their ability to survive. It is worth noting that the knowledge, resources and capabilities possessed by employees constitute the initial basis and fundamental framework for corporate innovation. Specifically, the accumulation of knowledge promotes the generation of ideas, the integration of resources contributes to the implementation of ideas, and the enhancement of capabilities provides the necessary support for the entire innovation process. By reasonably developing and utilizing the potential of employees, enterprises can not only form internal innovation momentum, but also find breakthroughs under the conditions of limited resources. However, innovative behavior does not arise out of thin air; it is usually driven and influenced by a variety of factors behind it. Prior studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying the generation of innovative behavior examined through multiple perspectives, this encompasses the role of leadership in guiding staff members actions, the moderating influence of employees' psychological state on their tendency to innovate, and how organizational support contributes to the development of innovation-oriented behavior. However, these studies have focused more on epiphenomenal motivational factors or psychological drives, and less in-depth exploration of more implicit but equally important influences. Therefore, this study focuses on the dimension of distributive justice, emphasizing its central role in motivating innovative behavior. When employees perceive distributive fairness, individuals are more inclined to experience a sense of respect and value, and thus willing to invest more in creative thinking and action. This research contributes to the enhancement of the theoretical framework regarding innovative behavior and provides new management perspectives and practice paths for SMEs and other organizations.
Second, this study adopts a longitudinal research design and constructs a tandem mediation model in order to deeply explore the path influence of distributive justice on innovation-oriented behavior. The present research examines the interplay between identification and voice in relation to distributive justice and innovative behavior, the model is designed to elucidate the impact of distributive justice on the innovative behaviors exhibited by newly recruited employees in SMEs through these key variables and to explore the specific mechanisms by which this process changes over time. In addition, by introducing the influence of organizational trust as a moderating factor, this research contributes to the theoretical framework concerning perceived fairness in resource allocation and employee identification with the organization and provides multidimensional practical guidance for enterprises in stimulating employees' organizational identification. It reveals its important influence mechanism between perceived fairness in resource allocation and employee identification with the organization. It deepens organizational trust's understanding concerning the association between perceived fairness in resource allocation and employee identification with the organization, also expands the application scenarios belonging to organizational trust research, helping organizations achieve higher performance and sustainable development goals.
In this study, two questionnaire surveys were conducted with the same group of respondents, a total of 245 valid questionnaires were gathered, all of which were utilized for the purpose of data analysis. The results reveal that distributive justice exerts a substantial favorable influence on organizational identification, voice and innovative. Organizational identification also showed beneficial impact on constructive voice and innovative, while the constructive voice behavior played a crucial function in fostering innovative behavior. Organizational identification and voice behavior jointly function as pivotal mediating mechanisms linking distributive justice to innovative behavior. Specifically, after perceiving distributive justice, new employees gradually increase their psychological impetus for participation in voice behavior, creating conditions for innovative behavior to occur by actively making constructive suggestions. Furthermore, the mediating influence of voice behavior diminishes over time, whereas the mediating effect of organizational identification progressively intensifies. As employees' perceptions of distributive justice develop and intensify, this perception is gradually transformed into a high degree of organizational identification, which further stimulates employees' innovative behavior at work. This study also reveals the dynamic path of distributive justice affecting innovative behavior: distributive justice → organizational identification → voice behavior → innovative behavior. This path model not only demonstrates the significant influence of distributive justice on innovative behavior, but also reflects the dynamic nature of this impact over time. In the context of SMEs research, this finding is particularly practically significant, providing managers with new theoretical support and operational framework for stimulating employees' innovative behavior in complex market environments. In addition, the research confirms that organizational trust moderates the association between distributive justice and organizational identification. The findings indicate that organizational trust can notably enhance the favorable association between distributive justice and organizational identification, which offers a novel theoretical framework for enhancing organizational identification, and at the same time brings practical guidance and practical implications for managerial approaches.
This research lies in its ability to introduce the time dimension to demonstrate the devolving influence of distributive justice on innovative behavior is examined through a longitudinal research design. Unlike the instantaneous analysis of previous static studies, this study emphasizes that the occurrence and development of innovative behavior of new employees in SMEs is a gradual evolutionary process. This not only broadens the research perspective of innovative behavior, but also provides a reference path for enterprises on how to continuously stimulate employees' innovative behavior in application.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ι. Introduction 1
• 1.1 Research background 1
• 1.2 Research Purpose 17
• 1.3 Research Significance 20
• 1.4 Research Innovations 22
• 1.5 Research Methods 24
• 1.5.1 Literature Review Method 24
• 1.5.2 Questionnaire Method 25
• 1.5.3 Statistical Analysis Method 25
• 1.6 Research Content 26
• Ⅱ. Literature Review 28
• 2.1 Distributive Justice 28
• 2.1.1 The Concept of Distributive Justice 28
• 2.1.2 Extant Research on Distributive Justice 32
• 2.2 Organizational Identification 34
• 2.2.1 The Concept of Organizational Identification 34
• 2.2.2 Extant Research on Organizational Identification 39
• 2.3 Voice Behavior 41
• 2.3.1 The Concept of Voice Behavior 41
• 2.3.2 Extant Research on Voice Behavior 45
• 2.4 Organizational Trust 46
• 2.4.1 The Concept of Organizational Trust 46
• 2.4.2 Extant Research on Organizational Trust 51
• 2.5 Innovative Behavior 53
• 2.5.1 The Concept of Innovative Behavior 53
• 2.5.2 Extant Research on Innovative Behavior 57
• Ⅲ. Research Hypotheses and Theoretical Model 60
• 3.1 Formulation of Research Hypotheses 60
• 3.1.1 Distributive Justice and Innovative Behavior 60
• 3.1.2 Distributive Justice and Organizational Identification 63
• 3.1.3 Distributive Justice and Voice Behavior 66
• 3.1.4 Organizational Identification and Voice Behavior 68
• 3.1.5 Organizational Identification and Innovative Behavior 71
• 3.1.6 Voice Behavior and Innovative Behavior 74
• 3.1.7 The Mediating Effect of Organizational Identification 76
• 3.1.8 The Mediating Effect of Voice Behavior 80
• 3.1.9 The Serial Multiple Mediating Effects of Organizational Identification and Voice Behavio 84
• 3.1.10 The Moderating Effects of Organizational Trust 90
• 3.2 Measurement 93
• 3.2.1 Distributive Justice 94
• 3.2.2 Organizational Identification 94
• 3.2.3 Voice Behavior 95
• 3.2.4 Organizational Trust 95
• 3.2.5 Innovative Behavior 96
• 3.3 Questionnaire Design 97
• 3.4 Research Design 99
• 3.5 Hypothesis Development 100
• 3.6 Research Models 101
• Ⅳ. Empirical Analysis 101
• 4.1 Demographic Characteristics 101
• 4.2 The validity and reliability verification of variables 104
• 4.2.1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) 104
• 4.2.2 Reliability Verification 108
• 4.3 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis 113
• 4.4 Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio 120
• 4.5 Multicollinearity Testing 122
• 4.6 Hypothesis Test 127
• 4.6.1 Distributive Justice and Innovative Behavior 127
• 4.6.2 Distributive Justice and Organizational Identification 128
• 4.6.3 Distributive Justice and Voice Behavior 129
• 4.6.4 Organizational Identification and Voice Behavior 130
• 4.6.5 Organizational Identification and Innovative Behavior 131
• 4.6.6 Voice Behavior and Innovative Behavior 133
• 4.6.7 The Mediating Effect of Organizational Identification 134
• 4.6.8 The Mediating Effect of Voice Behavior 136
• 4.6.9 The Serial Multiple Mediating Effects of Organizational Identification and Voice Behavio 138
• 4.6.10 The Moderating Effects of Organizational Trust 145
• 4.7 Summary of Hypothesis Validation Results 147
• Ⅴ. Discussion 148
• 5.1 Theoretical Implications 154
• 5.2 Practical Implication 163
• 5.3 Limitations and Future Research 169
• References 174
• Questionnaire(Chinese) 203