Workforce agility and innovative work behaviour: The moderating role of participative decision-making atmosphere among software developers

This study examines the relationship between workforce agility (WFA) and innovative work behaviour (IWB), and the moderating role of the participative decision-making atmosphere (PDMA) in this relationship, among software developers in technology-driven work settings. Workforce agility comprises three dimensions: proactivity, adaptability, and resilience, which are especially relevant in dynamic and technology-driven work settings. Drawing on self-determination theory, PDMA is considered a contextual factor that may strengthen the positive relationship between WFA and IWB by creating conditions that are more supportive of employees' autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Data were collected via a survey from 349 software developers working in Türkiye and analysed using AMOS 24 for confirmatory factor analysis, IBM SPSS Statistics 25 for descriptive and correlation analyses, and the SPSS PROCESS Macro for moderation analysis. The findings indicated that each WFA dimension was positively associated with IWB. The results further showed that these positive relationships strengthened at higher PDMA levels. Among the three WFA dimensions, PDMA's moderating effect was strongest in the relationship between resilience and IWB. This study contributes to the literature on agility and innovation by offering insight into the contextual conditions in which WFA is more strongly associated with IWB.