The influence of organizational culture and HRM on building innovative capability

Purpose This paper aims to deepen the extant theoretical and empirical knowledge on the mechanisms by which organizational culture and HR practices interact to promote innovative capability in organizations. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected from a sample of 75 companies in two phases. First, the HR managers of those companies responded to a survey that measures organizational culture, HR practices and innovative capability. Second, we obtained additional data from department managers of 36 of those 75 companies. The research model and hypotheses were tested using structured equation modeling (SEM). Findings The results indicate that cultural traits have direct and significant effects on promoting innovative capability and that they have also a strong effect on the effectiveness of implemented HR practices, the latter having a mediation role. The importance of considering both generic and specific (innovation focused) HR practices to obtain a synergistic effect in the promotion of innovation was also demonstrated. Research limitations/implications The data were collected using a questionnaire at a single point in time, and thus, not allowing cause–effect inferences. Practical implications The results of this study provide evidence for HRM professionals interested in designing a system of HR practices that contributes to enhance organizational innovative capability. Originality/value This study advances our understanding of the mechanisms through which HR practices have an incremental effect over organizational culture on organizations' innovative capability, specifically offering a list of innovation-targeted practices. Moreover, it suggests that decision-makers will benefit from combining a range of generic and innovation-focused HR practices, which will display greater effect when embedded on highly effective culture contexts.