Factors Influencing Creative and Innovative Behavior of Personnel in the Silverware Handicraft Industry of Thailand: A Mixed Methods Study

Background/ problem: With the silverware handicraft sector is an important part of Thailand's cultural economy, employees’ inventiveness and creativity have become increasingly important for maintaining competitiveness. Previous studies have mostly concentrated on product design, paying little attention to how organizational and human factors interact to influence such behavior. Objective/ purpose: This study aimed to 1) explore how organizational contexts and individual experiences shape creative and innovative behavior among personnel in the silverware handicraft industry; and 2) to examine the relationships among these factors. Design and Methodology: This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with five experienced silverware entrepreneurs, which also informed instrument development for the quantitative phase. Data were collected from 214 employees and analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results: Qualitative findings revealed that creative and innovative behavior was shaped by leadership roles, organizational systems and policies, organizational climate and culture, employee competencies, and the work environment. Quantitative results showed strong interrelationships among organizational variables, prompting their integration into a higher-order construct—organizational context. Both organizational context (β = .21, p < .05) and individual attributes (β = .62, p < .05) had significant positive effects, with individual attributes the stronger predictor. Conclusion and Implications: The findings support the interactionist perspective, showing that creative and innovative behavior arises from the interplay between individual capabilities and organizational conditions. For traditional craft industries, fostering innovation requires aligning supportive organizational contexts with personnel development through continuous learning and participatory practices.