The Structural Relationships of Human Agency, Openness to Change and Innovative Work Behavior During the Time of Change: A Study of Five Korean Conglomerates

Abstract: This study examined the relationships among sustainable work environment, human agency, openness to change, and innovative work behavior. Based on Bandura’s human agency theory, the study explored the influence of individual experiences (i.e., personal agency), the actions of others (i.e., proxy agency), and environmental factors on individual behaviors (i.e., collective agency). The participants were full-time employees working at five conglomerates in Korea. The select companies implemented strategic HR initiatives to flatten the hierarchical organizational culture and promote members’ active communication, openness, and innovation. The sample size was 271. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as confirmatory factor analysis, structural regression analysis, correlations were used to examine the research hypotheses. All hypotheses, including the mediation effects were statistically significant, supporting the proposed model.