Connecting Motivation Theory and Error Reporting: The Effects of Culture, Learning, and Emotions

As error reporting of employees is an important channel for organizational learning, it is necessary to understand the forces that cause employees to speak up or stay silent about errors. By integrating a motivational perspective into the framework of error reporting, this research developed and tested a theoretical model linking the role of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators in explaining employee error reporting intentions. We utilized a laboratory experiment with 275 participants. As anticipated, results revealed that an error-friendly culture decreases negative emotions after committing an error which in turn enhances error reporting motivation. Moreover, results revealed that learning capability enhances error reporting motivation and significantly moderates the effect of organizational culture on error reporting motivation. The proposed interaction effect of negative emotions and learning did not reveal significant effects, indicating that strong negative emotions overshadow the accountable effects of learning. The results expand current understanding of determinants of error reporting motivation and extend knowledge of emotions at the workplace. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.