When Does Overqualification Affect Bootlegging Positively?

Individual knowledge and skills are important factors in promoting employee innovation. Research shows that a large number of employees perceive that their qualification level exceeds the formal requirements of the position. These people may spontaneously seek to change their current situation and dare to develop innovative ideas in an unconventional way. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between overqualification and bootlegging through the mediating effect of proactive career behavior on the basis of the human environment matching theory. This study also explored the moderating effect of a proactive personality between overqualification and bootlegging. This study shows that leaders should prioritize the potential of overqualified employees, encourage them to engage in challenging tasks, broaden the innovation channels of individuals and organizations, and monitor bootlegging activities. Highly motivated employees with overqualifications are more likely to actively plan and manage their careers, they will actively seek innovation to solve problems when encountering obstacles in their career development.

In this study, 457 questionnaires were collected from employees of many enterprises in Hunan Province and Guangdong Province of China. Partial least squares structural equation model based on variance (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis.

The results of the study reveal that there is a significant relationship between overqualification and bootlegging. In addition, proactive career behavior plays an intermediary role in the relationship between overqualification and bootlegging. Moreover, a proactive personality moderates the relationship between overqualification and bootlegging. Finally, the relationship between overqualification and bootlegging is stronger when a proactive personality is strong.