When Less is More: The Conditional Effect of Bricolage on Performance in Corporate Venture Units

ABSTRACT This study examines how professional workers' personal bricolage capability in corporate venture (CV) units is associated with innovative behaviour and task performance. Grounded in a micro‐level resource‐based view, we explore how perceived organizational conditions shape this relationship. We propose that employees' perceptions of high‐involvement work systems (HIWSs) operate as a contextual boundary condition, such that higher perceived HIWSs weaken the positive association between personal bricolage capability and innovative behaviour in CV units. Data from matched employee–supervisor pairs in FinTech CV units support the proposed model. Personal bricolage capability was positively associated with innovative behaviour, which, in turn, was associated with task performance; however, this indirect association was weaker when employees perceived higher levels of HIWSs. These findings identify perceived HIWSs as a context‐specific boundary condition on the positive association between personal bricolage capability and innovative behaviour and its indirect association with task performance.