Burnout and innovative work behaviours for survivors of downsizing: an investigation of boundary conditions

The purpose of this study is to explore conditions in which innovative behavior can have either desirable or undesirable effects. The current study surveyed employees who remained in an organization following downsizing. Voice costs and perceived influence were measured as boundary conditions. Based on our understanding of Conservation of Resources theory, these variables may be particularly important to consider how individuals view innovative work behaviors in stressful situations such as experiencing downsizing. The results of this study revealed that engagement in innovative work behaviors (IWB) was associated with reduced burnout in employees when they perceived few costs of speaking up in the post downsized environment, but at very high perceptions of voice cost (above 1.74 standard deviations above the mean), this relationship was positive. Similarly, and contrary to what was expected, engagement in innovative work behaviors was negatively related to burnout when employees perceived they had little influence within the organization. We discuss possible interpretations of this unexpected result. This study adds to the small body of work that examines outcomes, rather than predictors, of innovative behavior and also identifying boundary relationships when engaging in innovative behaviors has a negative impact on the individual.