How Participative Safety Matters More in Team Innovation as Team Size Increases

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is a moderating relation between team size and team innovation. Data used in statistical analyses were obtained from 531 employees in 124 technology research teams. The findings support the hypothesis, showing that not only team size, but also team size together with participative safety facilitates team innovation. The findings show that not only large teams, but also large teams with participative safety are innovative. Team leaders thus need to ensure that collaborative rather than competitive environment prevails in their teams. This is one of the first studies to assess team innovation by patents received and to provide evidence of the moderating relation of participative safety between team size and team innovation.