The Impact of Human-Machine Collaboration on Hotel Employees' Innovative Behavior

Abstract

Purpose - The relationship between human-machine collaboration and employee innovation has become a hot research topic in modern innovation-driven organizations. Its mechanisms remains a focus among scholars and managers. Based on conservation of resources, self-determination, and field theories, this research analyzes the chain intermediary effects between human-machine collaboration and employee innovation behavior. Design/methodology/approach – This study researched 597 employees in the front office, house keeping, food and beverage, leisure and other departments (related to robots) of the hotel under Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang Province with the help of stratified sampling, and tested the mediation moderation model with SPSS, Amos and Process plug-in software. Findings – The results show that human-machine collaboration significantly impacts employees' innovative behaviors through employee and team job crafting. Under the innovation climate’s moderating effect, there is a chain mediating effect between human-machine collaboration and employees' innovative behaviors. Research limitations/implications – This study examines the Hengdian World Studios Hotel’s employees. However, based on the conservation of resources, self-determination, and field theories, if the data can be extended to hotels near tourist attractions, it can result in findings with higher generalizability. Practical implications – Hotel enterprise managers should consider the impact of introducing intelligent machines on employees, realize the importance of employee and team crafting, the formation of a good innovation climate in the hotel, and provide beneficial management inspiration for the hotel to improve employees' innovative behavior. Originality/value – Team job crafting involves the proactive and collective modifications that team members make to their jobs. By examining employee and team job crafting’s mediating relationship between human-machine collaboration and employee innovation behavior, and innovation climate as the moderating variable of the relationship between human-machine collaboration and employee innovation behavior, the research results provide new insights and contribute to academic scholarship related to employee innovation behavior.