Research On The Scale Development And Effect Of True Bootlegging

Nowadays,innovation is the first driving force leading economic and social development,and enterprises need to innovate continuously to win and maintain an advantageous position in the global competition.Encouraging employees to innovate is the key to promoting enterprise innovation.However,limited organizational resources cannot provide support for all employee ideas,resulting in some valuable ideas being excluded by the organization.When employees are unable to achieve innovation goals through formal channels within the organization,they may turn to informal channels to implement bootlegging,that is,a form of innovation that is privately implemented by an individual for the benefit of the organization without the formal support of the organization.There are three forms of bootlegging: true,hard-core and conspiratorial,reflecting the different degrees of conflict between innovators and management in the process of bootlegging.Among them,true bootlegging focuses on portraying a situation where there is no head-on conflict with management,where the innovation process is known only to the innovator and some colleagues,and management has no knowledge of it.Through this innovative approach,innovative individuals can privately explore and advance the implementation process of ideas,and then disclose them to the organization after the value and feasibility of the ideas are proven.This will not only avoid misunderstanding and hostility from management,but also greatly increase the possibility of the idea being recognized.In recent years,the phenomenon of employees providing innovation results for the organization by means of true bootlegging has emerged frequently,which has triggered the attention of academics and generated some research results around the concept and measurement of true bootlegging,the formation of true bootlegging,and the effect of true bootlegging,but there are still three research gaps:(1)The core connotation of true bootlegging is not yet clear,and its scale fails to reflect the construct structure and key features.The existing definitions fail to clarify the core connotation of true bootlegging,and lack sufficient conceptual clarity.The existing true bootlegging scale cannot reflect the conceptual structure,the content of the items does not highlight the key characteristics of true bootlegging,resulting in large measurement errors.This is not conducive to the empirical exploration in the field of true bootlegging,and has formed a great obstacle to the development of true bootlegging theory.(2)Neglecting the effect of true bootlegging on supervisor empowering behavior.At present,there is a lack of discussion on the relationship between true bootlegging and supervisor empowering behavior,and the fact that true bootlegging can cause conflicts in the leadersubordinate relationship is ignored.This is not conducive to understanding the effect of true bootlegging in the leader-subordinate relationship,and fails to open the "black box" of the relationship between true bootlegging and supervisor empowering behavior.(3)Failure to explore the effect of true bootlegging on individual innovation performance from the perspective of configuration.At present,the academic community lacks the research on the effect of true bootlegging on individual innovation performance from the perspective of configuration,and ignores the synergistic effect of innovator factors and decision-maker factors on the individual innovation performance of true bootlegging.This is not conducive to clarifying the deep-seated relationship between true bootlegging and individual innovation performance,and cannot reveal the mechanism that promotes and inhibits true bootleggers to obtain high individual innovation performance.To fill the above research gaps,three studies were conducted in this study.Study 1conceptualized true bootlegging based on scientific scale development procedures,developed a scale for true bootlegging,and conducts two data surveys to empirically test the developed scale.Study 2 constructed a model of the effect mechanism of true bootlegging on supervisor empowering behavior based on social information processing theory and regulatory focus theory,and conducts an empirical test by analyzing three-wave 293 employee-supervisor valid questionnaire data.Study3 constructs a configurational effect model of innovator factors and decision maker factors on individual innovation performance based on ability-motivation-opportunity model from the perspective of establishing innovation legitimacy,and conducted a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis based on a two-wave 218 employee-supervisor validated questionnaire data,in an attempt to identify equivalent configuration paths that produce high individual innovation performance and non-high individual innovation performance outcomes.Through these three studies,it is proposed to improve the definition and measurement research of true bootlegging,and answer the important question of "whether and how innovators can obtain innovative space and high individual innovation performance in the resistance",so as to promote true bootlegging theory development.This research has obtained the following conclusions:(1)The five dimensions of "bottom-up","not declared to the leader","beneficial to the organization","not allocated resources",and "violating organizational norms" are more scientific and effective in measuring true bootlegging;(2)Perception of empowerment demand can reveal the mediating mechanism of true bootlegging positively affecting supervisor empowering behavior;(3)Sense of power can reveal the mediating mechanism of true bootlegging negatively affecting supervisor empowering behavior;(4)There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between true bootlegging and supervisor empowering behavior;(5)The leader-subordinate exchange is a boundary condition both in the relationship between true bootlegging and perception of empowerment demand,and the mediation path of perception of empowerment demand;(6)There are three configuration paths that can promote true bootleggers to achieve high individual innovation performance;(7)There are three sets of second-order equivalent configuration paths that lead to the non-high individual innovation performance of true bootleggers.The theoretical contributions of this study are as follows:(1)Clarifies the connotation and structure of true bootlegging,and developed a measurement scale for true bootlegging;(2)Reveals the mediating mechanism of true bootlegging affecting supervisor empowering behavior;(3)Uncovers the nonlinear relationship between true bootlegging and supervisor empowering behavior;(4)Identifies the boundary conditions of true bootlegging positively affecting supervisor empowering behavior;(5)Identifies multiple equivalent pathways that promote true bootleggers to high individual innovation performance;(6)Reveals the configuration path that inhibits true bootleggers from achieving high individual innovation performance.The management implications of this study are as follows:(1)Helps managers to accurately recognize true bootlegging,and achieve effective management and guidance;(2)Enterprises should focus on creating a good climate of interpersonal trust,and stimulate the enthusiasm and motivation of employees to innovate;(3)Encourage employees to flexibly adjust their behavior according to personal and environmental conditions when implementing bootlegging activities.