Mapping innovative culture: a validated multidimensional scale for China's water engineering sector

Purpose This study develops and validates a multidimensional, theory-driven scale for assessing innovative culture in China's water engineering sector, differentiating motivational, capability-related, environmental and behavioral conditions surrounding innovative work. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the componential theory of creativity, self-determination theory and organizational support for innovation theory, a 20-item scale was developed and tested with 222 mid- and senior-level managers in Chinese water engineering organizations. Content validation and pilot testing were followed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement-invariance testing across experience groups. The benefit dependency network (BDN) was used only as a conceptual framework for positioning the validated dimensions within broader benefit-realization logic; its relationships were not statistically tested. Findings Results support four dimensions: intrinsic motivation, domain-relevant skills, work environment and creativity-relevant processes. The dimensions demonstrated satisfactory reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity and model fit, supporting a multidimensional rather than undifferentiated representation of innovative culture in the sampled organizations. Practical implications The validated scale provides organizations with a diagnostic tool for evaluating innovation-related cultural attributes. It enables the identification of strengths and gaps in innovation capacity, guiding the design of targeted development programs, leadership practices and cultural transformation strategies. Originality/value The study provides a theoretically integrated and psychometrically supported measure of innovative culture in the comparatively underexamined context of Chinese water engineering. It extends performance-management research beyond innovation outcomes toward differentiated cultural conditions and provides a foundation for future research linking these dimensions to performance outcomes. The BDN is retained as a conceptual, not empirically validated, benefit-realization lens.