Self-efficacy: implications for university employees' innovativeness

Purpose The current diversity in organizations requires innovative employees to cope up with the dynamism. A burgeoning body of literature has established the antecedent role of self-efficacy in employee innovativeness. However, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the influence of self-efficacy on the different types of innovative work behaviour. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of self-efficacy on the different types of innovative work behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an explanatory design to examine the hypothesized relationship between the study variables. Regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and different types of innovative work behaviour using a sample drawn from public universities in Uganda. Findings The study findings reveal that self-efficacy significantly influences the four types of innovative work behaviour. However, the magnitude of the influence is not uniform across the four types of innovative work behaviour. Idea implementation was highly influenced by self-efficacy, followed by generation of ideas. Championing and exploration are the least determinants of self-efficacy. Originality/value This research has both empirical and theoretical value. Empirically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to show a direct relationship between self-efficacy and individual facets of innovative work behaviour in a public university setting in a developing nation like Uganda. Theoretically, the study expands on the applicability of the social cognitive theory by revealing that the influence of an individual's personality characteristics (such as self-efficacy) varies with the type of innovative work behaviour because the tasks involved in the various types of innovative work behaviour differ and are thus affected by self-efficacy differently. The study limitations and areas for further research are discussed.