This study investigates how high performance work system (HPWS) promotes creativity and innovation among academic staff in China’s public universities. It examines employee creativity as a proximal psychological mechanism linking HPWS to innovation and examines organizational innovative climate as a contextual factor that strengthens this relationship.
Drawing on survey data from 751 academic staff across public universities in Western China, this study adopts a quantitative approach and tests the hypothesized relationships through SmartPLS.
Our findings reveal that HPWS significantly enhances employee creativity (ß = 0.641, p < 0.001), which subsequently drives innovation (ß = 0.236, p < 0.001). HPWS also has a direct positive effect on innovation (ß = 0.400, p < 0.001). The indirect mediation effect of creativity is significant (ß = 0.151, 95% CI [0.094, 0.208]), and an innovative climate positively moderates the creativity-innovation relationship (t = 4.780, p < 0.001).
While prior research has predominantly examined HPWS in profit-driven or resource-rich sectors, this study extends the theory to mission-driven, resource-constrained universities, providing a human-centered explanation of how HR systems stimulate innovation in higher education. By integrating Social Exchange Theory and the Job Demands-Resources framework, our study explains the mechanisms and boundary conditions of HPWS-driven innovation, offering recommendations for policymakers and university administrators seeking to promote sustainable, creativity-driven academic environments.
