Impact of psychological capital on innovative performance and job stress

• Author: Usman Raja,Muhammad Abbas
• Date: 01 June 2015
• Published date: 01 June 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1314

Impact of psychological capital on innovative

performance and job stress

Muhammad Abbas*

Riphah International University

Usman Raja

Brock University

Abstract

We investigated the impact of psychological capital

(PsyCap) on supervisory-rated innovative performance and

job stress. Data collected from a diverse sample (N = 237

paired responses) of employees from various organizations

in Pakistan provided good support for the hypotheses. The

results indicate that PsyCap is positively related to innova-

tive job performance and negatively related to job stress.

High PsyCap individuals were rated as exhibiting more

innovative behaviours by their supervisors than low PsyCap

individuals. Particularly, we found that high PsyCap individ-

uals were more likely to generate, acquire support for, and

implement novel ideas in their workplace. Similarly, indi-

viduals with high PsyCap reported lower levels of job stress

as compared to their low PsyCap counterparts. Copyright ©

2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: psychological capital, supervisory-rated inno-

vative performance, job stress, Pakistan

Résumé

Nous avons étudié l’impact du capital psychologique (PsyCap)

sur la performance novatrice évaluée par un superviseur et le

stress au travail. Les données collectées à partir d’un

échantillon varié (N = 237 réponses couplées) d’employés de

plusieurs organisations au Pakistan ont amplement appuyé

nos hypothèses. Les résultats montrent que le PsyCap est

positivement relié à la performance novatrice au travail et

négativement relié au stress professionnel. Les superviseurs

estiment que les employés ayant un PsyCap élevé ont des

comportements plus novateurs que les personnes ayant un

PsyCap faible. De façon plus spécif‌ique, l’étude révèle que

les personnes qui ont un PsyCap élevé sont plus susceptibles

de générer, de faire appuyer et de mettre en œuvre des idées

novatrices à leur lieu de travail. Par ailleurs, ces personnes

aff‌irment avoir de faibles niveaux de stress professionnel

comparativement à leurs collègues qui ont un PsyCap faible.

Mots-clés : capital psychologique, performance novatrice

évaluée par un superviseur, stress professionnel, Pakistan

In order to gain a competitive advantage in today’s

highly competitive global environment, f‌irms must be inno-

vative (McAdam & Keogh, 2004). Particularly, employee

innovative behaviours (e.g., developing, adopting, and

implementing new ideas for products and work methods)

are important resources that make an organization successful

in dynamic business environments (Yuan & Woodman,

2010). Moreover, organizations require innovative people

to sustain their competitive positions in the market (Zhou &

Shalley, 2008). Keeping in mind the importance of innova-

tions for organizational sustainability, extant research has

focused on contextual (Amabile, 1988; Carson & Carson,

1993) as well as dispositional (Furnham & Bachtiar, 2008;

Tierney & Farmer, 2002) factors that stimulate innovative

behaviours in the workplace.

Another main concern of organizations in the current

changing environment is the increased possibility of job

stress at work. Organizations unable to promise job security

cannot in turn expect more loyalty and creativity from

employees. Fiercely competitive environments where

employees are constantly under pressure to improvise and in-

novate lead to job stress. Stress then leads to a variety of psy-

chological and physiological problems among employees

(Revicki & May, 1985; Zhong et al., 2009). Further, job

stress is considered a major contributor to health-related is-

sues in organizations today, resulting in billions of dollars

in the form of lost productivity and medical expenses

(Cartwright & Cooper, 1997; Robertson, Cooper, Williams,

& Williams, 1990). Occupational stress-related costs were

estimated at billions of dollars per year in the US alone (Conti

& Burton, 1994; Greenberg et al., 2003). This has made job

stress an important variable of interest in organizational re-

search over the past few decades. Researchers are constantly

trying to identify variables that either induce stress or are

helpful in reducing the detrimental effects of stress.

*Please address correspondence to: Muhammad Abbas, Faculty of Manage-

ment Sciences, Riphah International University, Sector I-14, Islamabad

Pakistan. Email: pirthegreat@gmail.com; muhammad.abbas@riu.edu.pk

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration

32: 128–138 (2015)

Published online 17 April 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1314

Can J Adm Sci

32(2), 128–138 (2015)Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 128