More is better? Investigating the influence of the characteristics of training activity participation on maker innovation performance
Abstract
Purpose
Training activities organized by maker-spaces have become the most important channel through which makers acquire new external knowledge related to problem solving and thus contribute significantly to makers' innovation performance. Is it true that the more training activities in which makers participate, the better their innovation performance? Following the logic of process analyses, this paper empirically verifies the effects of the scope and frequency of makers' participation in training activities on their innovation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a survey of 134 makers in China, this paper employed the procedure recommended by Preacher and Hayes (2008) to empirically test the total effects, direct effects and indirect effects of the scope and frequency of participation in training activities on makers' innovation performance via their ability to exploit new knowledge.
Findings
The research findings show that the scope (frequency) of participation in training activities has a positive (negative) effect on makers' innovation performance via the mediating effect of the makers' ability to exploit new knowledge. Time pressure acts as a negative moderator.
Originality/value
This paper sheds light on a considerably overlooked research area by investigating the effects of the scope and frequency of makers' participation in training activities on their innovation performance. The authors further identify and empirically test the theoretical mechanism by considering the mediating effect of makers' ability to exploit new knowledge. The research findings also provide a managerial training activity arrangement strategy for makerspaces and government.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge that this study was funded by the Major Program of National Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of China (No. 18ZDA063).
Since submission of this article, the following author(s) have updated their affiliation(s): Yu Zheng is at the School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.
Citation
Yang, C., Yang, Z., Wu, S. and Zheng, Y. (2024), "More is better? Investigating the influence of the characteristics of training activity participation on maker innovation performance", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-11-2022-0659
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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