Employees’ Participation and Innovative Work Behaviour in Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Tanzania

Abstract

This article investigates the influence of Employees’ Participation on Innovative Work Behaviour in Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Tanzania.  Specifically, the article examines the influence of employees’ participation on creativity oriented innovative work behaviour and the influence of employees’ participation on implementation oriented innovative work behaviour. The study applied the Structural Equation Modelling to analyze data elicited from three hundred and eight nine (389) respondents. Results revealed that, employees’ participation has a significant positive influence on both creativity oriented innovative work behaviour and implementation oriented innovative work behaviour. The article recommends that, SMEs’ managers should involve employees directly on issues connected with the production, processes and service delivery. Theoretically, the study results proved the applicability of the Social Exchange Theory in the context where it has not researched widely and the study results will contribute to the development of public policies, particularly the ones related to SMEs and entrepreneurship development in Tanzania.