The mediating role of flexible work arrangements in the effect of technostress and job tension on service innovation behavior: The case of call center

Due to the intensive use of technology and excessive workload, employees may face technostress and job tension. This situation negatively affects the service innovation behavior, in other words, efforts to develop new products and services. Although it is claimed that flexible working arrangements will reduce technostress and job tension and improve service innovation behavior, there is an uncertainty as there are a limited number of studies on this subject. This study aims to eliminate the uncertainty regarding the relationships between the variables of the study model. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the effect of technostress and job tension on service innovation behavior and to determine whether flexible working arrangements have a mediating effect in this relationship. The sample of the study consists of employees of a call center in Kırıkkale province (n = 396). The data in this study were gathered through a questionnaire composed of Alam's (2016) technostress scale, Kahn and others' (1964) job tension scale, Albion's (2004) flexible working arrangements scale, and service innovation behavior scale which is a sub dimension of service innovation performance scale advanced by Hu, Horng, and Christine-Sun (2009). Initially, the models and hypotheses of the study was tested through Explanatory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. The findings revealed that both technostress and job tension have a positive effect on flexible working arrangements. Similarly, it has been confirmed that flexible working arrangements positively affect service innovation behavior. On the other hand, it has been determined that technostress has a negative effect on service innovation behavior. It has also been exposed that flexible working arrangements mediates the effect of technostress on service innovation behavior. Similarly, it has been observed that flexible working arrangements have a mediating effect on the relationship between job tension and service innovation behavior.