Empowering innovation: how organizational and social support foster creativity in Indonesian TV station

Purpose Drawing from expectancy theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to investigate the effect of perceived organizational support (POS) and leader–member exchange (LMX) on employees’ innovative behavior process and examine the mediating role of expected performance outcomes (EPO) and moderating role of social supports (SOC). Design/methodology/approach This study obtained data in two waves of surveys from 238 employees at Indonesia television stations and tested the proposed hypotheses using partial least squares. Findings The findings reveal that POS and LMX significantly contribute to employees’ innovative behavior. In addition, the findings confirm that EPOs mediate the relationship between POS and LMX toward innovative work behavior (IWB). While SOC significantly moderates the relationship between idea generation (IG) and idea realization (IR), its effect size is relatively small. This suggests that SOC acts as a complementary rather than a primary enabler of innovation, reinforcing but not fundamentally driving the transition from IG to IR. Practical implications Organizations should prioritize strengthening POS and LMX, as they have the strongest influence on employees’ innovative behaviors. While SOC remains beneficial, it should be integrated as a supplementary mechanism rather than the primary driver of innovation. Firms can optimize SOC’s enabling role by implementing peer collaboration initiatives, structured team-based innovation programs and leadership-driven project support to facilitate IR. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to distinguish the dimension of employees’ IWB and investigate the relationship between POSs, LMX and IWB by integrating expectancy theory and COR theory.