Mapping innovative culture: a validated multidimensional scale for China's water engineering sector

Fangling Chen and Khahan Na-Nan

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2026, 1-27

Abstract: PurposeThis study develops and validates a multidimensional, theory-driven scale for assessing innovative culture in China's water engineering sector, differentiating motivational, capability-related, environmental and behavioral conditions surrounding innovative work.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the componential theory of creativity, self-determination theory and organizational support for innovation theory, a 20-item scale was developed and tested with 222 mid- and senior-level managers in Chinese water engineering organizations. Content validation and pilot testing were followed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement-invariance testing across experience groups. The benefit dependency network (BDN) was used only as a conceptual framework for positioning the validated dimensions within broader benefit-realization logic; its relationships were not statistically tested.FindingsResults support four dimensions: intrinsic motivation, domain-relevant skills, work environment and creativity-relevant processes. The dimensions demonstrated satisfactory reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity and model fit, supporting a multidimensional rather than undifferentiated representation of innovative culture in the sampled organizations.Practical implicationsThe validated scale provides organizations with a diagnostic tool for evaluating innovation-related cultural attributes. It enables the identification of strengths and gaps in innovation capacity, guiding the design of targeted development programs, leadership practices and cultural transformation strategies.Originality/valueThe study provides a theoretically integrated and psychometrically supported measure of innovative culture in the comparatively underexamined context of Chinese water engineering. It extends performance-management research beyond innovation outcomes toward differentiated cultural conditions and provides a foundation for future research linking these dimensions to performance outcomes. The BDN is retained as a conceptual, not empirically validated, benefit-realization lens.

Keywords: Innovative culture; Organizational creativity; Scale development; Water engineering; Intrinsic motivation; Factor analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijppmp:ijppm-08-2025-0833

DOI: 10.1108/IJPPM-08-2025-0833

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