혁신지향 조직문화와 이직의도 간의 비선형 관계 및 구조적 경력정체의 조절역할: 과학기술 연구개발직을 중심으로

Innovation is essential for organizational survival and development. In particular, innovation performance of public science and technology research institutions constitutes a strategic national priority, as it directly affects both organizational outcomes and national competitiveness. Innovation performance requires sustained collaboration and knowledge accumulation among R&D personnel, whereas employee turnover can weaken these collaborative structures. In this context, an innovative culture has been highlighted as a key organizational factor that promotes innovation and provides employees with resources that foster positive work attitudes. However, an excessive emphasis on innovative culture can be recognized as a job demand by employees, imposing a psychological burden and yielding adverse consequences. This indicates that innovation orientation may function beneficially for employees up to a certain threshold, yet excessively high levels of innovation orientation can shift its influence in a detrimental direction. Building on this logic, this study examines a nonlinear (U-shaped) relationship between innovative culture and turnover intention and the moderating role of structural career plateau as a contextual factor. Using survey data from 540 R&D practitioners employed in Korean public science and technology research institutions, the results indicate a U-shaped association between innovative culture and turnover intention, and that higher levels of structural career plateau strengthen this non-linearity. These findings show that even an otherwise beneficial innovative culture can result in negative outcomes when innovative culture is excessively emphasized, particularly among employees experiencing high structural career plateau. Building on these results, the study discusses theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research.