Amsterdam Business School, U. of Amsterdam, Netherlands
This study delves into the varied impacts of multiple goal conflicts on innovation at frontline. Although innovation is vital for an organization's survival and competitive edge and firms increasingly try to harness the creative potential of frontline workers, the pursuit of innovation at the frontline frequently clashes with other high-priority objectives. The intricate ways in which diverse goal conflicts influence innovation at frontline remain unclear, given that much of the existing research has discussed goals in general or centered on the consequences of conflicts between two goals, neglecting the subtleties of other potential goal conflicts driving the performance. We investigate how the innovation goal interplays with safety and short-term financial objectives, and subsequently influences the innovation among frontline employees. Our theory and the empirical findings, drawn from multilevel multisource data obtained from a large energy company, indicate that not all types of conflicts with the innovation goal hold equal sway over innovation. In extending prevailing theories on multiple goals, we delineate the distinctions in the effects of these varied conflicts and elucidate how multifaceted goal conflict shape individuals' innovative conduct. Furthermore, we expound on a mechanism at realm of top managers, elucidating how a context of alignment between the team and the organization can either bolster or hinder innovation in the face of diverse goal conflicts at the lower echelons.
