Innovative behavior at work (experience in building of a sociological index)

The article builds upon our experience in using the structural and logical classification tools to create a so-called innovative index, which describes how ready employees are to embrace innovation, and whether they behave accordingly in the workplace. Comparing complex entities is the main goal of sociology. However, there are very few evident phenomena that can be used as direct and straightforward indicators of the society’s condition. Consequently, sociology is increasingly embracing the practice of using indices, which help researchers analyze the condition of specific areas of human activity and compare communities. Factor-based analysis has allowed us to discover certain practices that occur simultaneously. Some of these practices are innovative. We have singled out five types of workplace behavior. The first type is an innovation-centric strategy. Employees that rely on this strategy in the workplace are more active than the typical Russian employee in a number of ways. The second type is an income-centric strategy. Employees from this group are far more likely to express their willingness to earn a higher wage. The third type as a labor quantity-oriented strategy. It encompasses the following practices: working several jobs, earning money on the side, taking extra shifts, and working during the weekends. The fourth type is a corporate solidarity-oriented strategy: a desire to assist colleagues and help new employees fit in, and willingness to work for the good of the company without a reward. Finally, the fifth strategy type is oriented at engaging with the team beyond the workplace, for instance by spending time off with friends from work. Any practices rooted in collectivism are inconsistent with innovative behavior. In other words, the current institutional environment stifles innovative teamwork. The income-oriented strategy has a slightly higher average innovation index than the quantity-oriented strategy, whereas the latter is more widespread among Russian employees. This means that looking for ways to increase the value of one’s current work is more likely to result in innovative behavior than looking for ways to work more. It is also possible to calculate average innovation index figures for specific social and demographic groups. This will allow the researchers to contrast the innovation potential, for instance, of young women versus young men; people living in major cities versus people living in other community types; etc.

factor analysis, cluster analysis, regression analysis, indices, innovation behavior, workers.

1. Tolstova Yu. N. Analiz sotsiologicheskikh dannykh [Analysis of sociological data]. Moscow, Nauchnyy mir, 2000 (in Russ.).

2. Tolstova Yu. N. Odnomernoye shkalirovaniye: testovaya traditsiya v sotsiologii [One-dimensional scaling: a test tradition in sociology ]. Sotsiologiya: 4M, 1997, no 8, pp. 54–65 (in Russ.).