The Impact of Cultural Diversity on Employees’ Innovative Work Behavior: Examining the Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing

Abstract

Cultural diversity has been widely recognized as a key driver of innovation, although empirical findings remain inconclusive. This study examines the impact of perceived cultural diversity on employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB), with a focus on the potential mediating role of knowledge sharing. Using survey data from 126 employees working in multicultural teams in Sweden, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and bootstrapping analyses are conducted to test the proposed relation. The results show that perceived cultural diversity and knowledge sharing both have significant positive effects on innovative work behavior. However, cultural diversity does not significantly influence knowledge sharing, and no mediation effect is found. These findings suggest that cultural diversity and knowledge sharing operate as independent predictors of innovative work behavior rather than forming a sequential process. The study provides a deeper understanding of the cultural diversity and innovation relationship and highlights the importance of considering multiple pathways through which employees’ innovative work behavior may emerge.