Exploratory analysis about the status quo and differences of organizational innovative climate in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the status quo and the strength difference of the climate for innovation among firms with different ownership structures, in different industrial sectors, and in different developmental stages in China. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a survey method to explore the differences of innovative climate among firms with different ownership structures, difference in developmental stage and in different industries. It collected 624 data from 52 companies by purposive and snowball sampling methods. A structural equation model and ANOVA analysis, along with multiple comparisons, were employed to test the hypothesis. Findings – First, by factor analysis and structural equation models, the study proved that the organizational innovative climate model in the Chinese organizational context is a seven dimension structural model, which includes such first‐order factors as working environmental support, innovative vision, leader support, team support, resources supply, learning and growth and knowledge and skills. Second, the results indicate firms in different developmental stages have significant differences in almost all dimensions of climate for innovation. Third, there is no significant difference in innovative climate among firms in different industrial sectors, but further analysis of multiple comparisons shows that there are relative strengths and weaknesses in specific dimensions of innovative climate among such firms. Last, the results suggest that there are significant differences among most dimensions of innovative climate in firms with different ownership structures in China. In assessing employees' experience over seven dimensions of climate, the results demonstrate that respondents vary their answers in the direction of theoretical hypotheses, which validated the relative assumptions. Originality/value – The research is important because it shows that innovative climate strength may discriminate among different work contexts experienced by employees, which would help deepen our understanding of the present condition of innovative climate in China.