Research On Incentive Strategy Of Knowledge Workers In Innovative SMEs Based On Psychological Contract

How to design workable incentives to stimulate knowledge staffs enthusiasm, so as to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises has become innovative SMEs' important issues, which also is the subject of research background and starting point.This paper used literature research, interviews, questionnaires and statistical analysis to study how to motivate the knowledge staffs in innovative SMEs from the perspective of psychological contract. We first explored the structural characteristics of the psychological contract of knowledge staffs in SMEs, and derived human resources may be effective incentive interventions according to the characteristics. Then we from the perspective of behavioral science, researched incentive effect of the incentives, as well as firm performance. According to final results of the study we put forward proposals with regard to incentive system design for the innovative SMEs' knowledge staff.The paper includes three parts: literature research, empirical research, and the application of research findings. The empirical study include research of psychological contract structure of the staffs in innovative SMEs, a comparative study on psychological contract between the knowledge workers and the general staff, and the studies on relationship between employee incentives and performance. In the study, we got an effective sample of 477 people and an effective sample of 192 enterprises. Conclusions of the study are as follows.1. The study showed that the psychological contract of the employees in innovative SMEs has the three-factor solution as the main construct. The "responsibility of the organization" includes transaction, relation, and development factors. And the "responsibility of the employees" includes norm, relation and development factors.2. Knowledge workers placed more importance on transaction and development responsibility of the organization than general staff. Knowledge workers placed more importance on development responsibility of the employees than general staff. And there is no significant difference on relational responsibility of organization, as well as the normative and relational responsibilities of the employees.3. The knowledge workers reacted more negatively ( i.e. lower intention to stay, organizational citizenship behaviors) to breaches of transactional psychological contracts than general staffs. The knowledge workers reacted more negatively ( i.e. lower organizational citizenship behaviors) to breaches of relational psychological contracts than general staffs.4. Pay level higher or compared to the similar enterprises increased the knowledge workers' intention to stay. Competency-based pay positively influenced firm performance. Long-term incentives increased the knowledge workers' intention to stay.5. Organization communications and lead communications not only positively influenced firm performance, and improved the intention to stay of knowledge workers, and formed the development psychological contract between organizations and knowledge workers. Through these middle variables communications influenced firm performance indirectly. Organizational procedural justice, distributive justice and informational justice not only positively influenced firm performance, and through improving the intention to stay of knowledge workers influenced firm performance indirectly. High-involvment work system not only positively influenced firm performance, and through forming the development psychological contract between organizations and knowledge workers influenced firm performance indirectly.Based on the results of our research innovative SMEs incentive system for knowledge workers proposed. The suggestions are to establish scientific and workable compensation system, build innovation supporting organizational culture, improve human resources management, take high-involved work system, and to form development psychological contract based "employable" with knowledge workers.The study indicated that pleasant, mutually respectful work environment has become more and more important to the knowledge workers. When companies can not make good use of financial rewards (For example, innovative SMEs will be difficult to pay much money with limited financial resources, equity incentive is limited for enterprises not listed and so on.), non-financial incentives are the better choices for innovative SMEs, for the non-financial incentives will not be subject to the availability of budgetary or be constrained by the boss. Of course, it requires managers to spend more time and energy. However, these may be more critical factors for the innovative SMEs to improve performance.There are some innovation in respects of research perspective, mechods and content of this paper.