Riding two horses at once: The combined roles of mastery and performance climates in implementing creative ideas

Abstract

Not all creative ideas end up being implemented. Drawing on micro‐innovation literature and achievement goal theory, we propose that the interplay of two types of work motivational climates (mastery and performance) moderates a curvilinear relationship between the frequency of idea‐generation and idea‐implementation behavior. Field studies in two non‐Western countries (China, with a study of 117 employees nested within 21 groups, and Slovenia, with a study of 240 employees nested within 34 groups) revealed a three‐way interaction of idea generation, performance climate, and mastery climate as joint predictors of idea implementation. Specifically, results of random coefficient modeling show that when combined, mastery and performance climates transform the relationship between the frequency of idea generation and idea implementation from an inverse U‐shaped curvilinear relationship to a positive and more linear one. These findings suggest that ideas are most frequently implemented in organizational contexts characterized by both high‐mastery and high‐performance climates. Implications for research and practice are discussed.