The Influence of Organizational Identity on Employees’ Work

Competence: The Mediating Role of Improvisational Behavior

QINXI ZHANG1, KRISADA CHIENWATTANASOOK2,*

1Faculty of Business Administration,

Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi,

Pathum Thani,

THAILAND

2Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration,

Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi,

Pathum Thani,

THAILAND

*Corresponding Author

Abstract: - The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of organizational identity on employees'

workability in the Chinese art education industry and the mediating role of improvisational behavior in this

context. Although the role of organizational identity and improvisational behavior has been extensively

researched by scholars, little attention has been paid to the relationship between organizational identity and

improvisational behavior on the work competence of employees in the arts education industry. Survey data

were collected from 507 employees teaching art education in different regions of China. Quantitative research

methods were used to test the research hypotheses and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the

data. Organizational identity is positively related to employees' work competence, organizational identity is

positively related to improvisational behavior, and improvisational behavior is positively related to employees'

work competence, and improvisational behavior plays a mediating role between organizational identity and

employees' work competence. This study shows that organizational identity is an important factor in employee

motivation this study shows that organizational identity is an important factor for employee motivation, and

also shows the mediating mechanism of improvisational behavior between organizational identity and

employee work competence.

Key-Words: - Organizational identity, Improvisational behavior, Work competence, Art education

industry，Career development, Creativity, Personal traits.

Received: November 15, 2023. Revised: May 26, 2024. Accepted: June 25, 2024. Published: July 26, 2024.

1 Introduction

Art education has always been an important topic in

China and has experienced an upswing in the

context of rapid economic development. As the

understanding of education in Chinese families

continues to change, more and more parents are

paying attention to the influence of art education on

the holistic development of their children, which has

led to the rapid growth of the art education industry

and taken an important position in the Chinese

education market. However, despite the great

development of the Chinese art education industry,

there are still some challenges and problems within

the industry. On the one hand, due to the rapid

development of the industry, the market competition

has become increasingly fierce and the competitive

pressure between companies has increased; on the

other hand, due to the special characteristics of the

art education industry, employees face some unique

dilemmas and challenges in their work. Therefore, it

is of great theoretical and practical significance for

the further development of the entire industry to

explore how to improve the work competence of

employees in the Chinese art education industry. In

2021, the Chinese government issued the Opinions

on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework for

Students in Compulsory Education and the Burden

of Extracurricular Training (hereinafter referred to

as "double reduction"), which had a great impact on

the survival and development of China's art

education industry and raised the threshold for

employees to practice. raised the threshold for

employees to practice. As parents attach importance

to improving the overall quality of their children,

the number of students enrolling in art education

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continues to rise. The huge competition in the

industry is getting more intense day by day. As

stated in [1] quality and innovation provide a

competitive advantage in global markets. These

attributes require flexible employees willing to

extend themselves by addressing unanticipated

contingencies, solving novel problems, and

generally satisfying customers in increasingly

interdependent and fluid contexts.

Art education is the main driving force for the

development of early life and an important way to

comprehensively improve individual quality and

ability. The gradual increase in the demand for art

education by the masses has promoted the

industrialization of the art education industry, which

is gradually moving towards a personalized and

high-quality service path. According to statistical

data, the market size of China's art education

industry has grown year by year and has developed

into a huge industry. The number of art education

institutions has increased, and the various types of

education courses cover a wide range of fields such

as painting, music, dance, performance, etc.,

satisfying the needs of different groups of people for

art education. There are several main reasons for the

development of China's art education industry. First,

with the rapid development of China's economy and

the change of people's ideas, art is no longer just the

goal of a few special groups. More and more people

are focusing on personal development and the

expression of their inner feelings, and art education

has become an important means to achieve these

goals. Secondly, Chinese families pay more

attention to education, and art education has become

a way for parents to cultivate the comprehensive

quality of their children. In addition, the social

recognition of the arts has gradually increased, and

the art education industry has received more

attention and support. The point of education is to

support students to be in the best possible position

to be able to live meaningful, autonomous lives,

filled with rich experiences, [2].

However, the competitive pressure in the art

education industry is high, and organizations must

constantly innovate and improve their service

quality to survive in the market. The quality of staff

has a direct impact on the quality of teaching. The

key to teaching lies with the teachers, so improving

the quality of staff is essential if the arts education

industry is to continue to develop positively.

To thoroughly explore the impact of

organizational identity on the work competence of

staff in the Chinese art education industry and the

mediating role of improvisational behavior in this

regard, this study aims to explore the impact of

organizational identity on the work competence of

staff in the Chinese art education industry by

reviewing relevant theoretical and empirical studies

and analyzing the mediating role of improvisational

behavior in their work competence. As [3] showed,

for the individual, higher identification should result

in greater job satisfaction, higher motivation, and

higher levels of physical and emotional well-being.

It is hoped that this study can provide a

theoretical basis and practical support for in-depth

understanding and promoting the development of

employees’ work competence in China's art

education industry.

2 Theoretical Background and

Hypotheses

2.1 The Influence of Organizational

Identity on Employees’ Work

Competence

[4], pointed out that organizational identity is "

organizational member has linked his or her

organizational membership to his or her self-

concept, either cognitively (e.g., feeling a part of the

organization; internalizing organizational values),

emotionally (pride in membership), or both". The

higher organizational identity stimulates stronger

motivation to work, [5] study found that work

motivation affects job satisfaction, and [6] argue that

work motivation also affects employee performance.

That work motivation affects positively and

significantly teacher job satisfaction and this kind of

motivation may become consideration to realize

teacher job satisfaction. Organizational identity has

a significant impact on the work competence of

employees. The research on organizational identity

shows that Organizational identity is the overlap

between the self-identity characteristics of the

organization's employees and the organization's

image perceived by the individual, which is a kind

of self-reinforcement process of the identity

characteristics of the organization, and is the process

of individual's self-attribution to the organization, so

as to achieve the effective integration of personal

goals and organizational goals. The construction of

organizational identity is achieved via an iterative,

dynamic process of communication and social

influence, [7]. In other words, employees with a

high level of organizational identity are more likely

to be committed to the organization, possess more

loyal feelings towards the organization, have higher

acceptance of the organization's goals and tasks, and

be able to spontaneously increase their attention to

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their work, thus improving their work competence.

This is because organizational identity promotes

positive attitudes and commitment to the job,

increases employees' acceptance of their work and

their sense of responsibility, and motivates them to

keep learning and improving their skills to adapt to

the demands of the job and become competent at it.

Organizational identity is also the degree of

emotion and identification of employees with the

organization, a psychological connection between

the employee and the organization. It is known from

social identity theory that organizational identity is

the process by which individuals define themselves

and ultimately belong to the organization. Therefore,

individuals identifying with their organizations

show more engagement for their organization (e.g.

overtime) [8], promote come into being

organizational values among employees, and

positively affects their psychological state, [9].

When employees have a high level of identification

with the organization and develop a psychological

attachment to the organization, they are more likely

to contribute to the organization and use their

professional skills. Organizational identity can

motivate employees to actively engage in their work

and increase the demands of their position, thereby

improving their job competence. Therefore, we

hypothesize the following:

H1: Organizational identity has a positive influence

on employees' work competence.

2.2 The Influence of Organizational Identity

on Improvisational Behavior

Employees with a strong sense of organizational

identity are more likely to exhibit positive

improvisational behavior at work, which can have a

positive impact on a company's ability to innovate,

employee effectiveness, and overall teamwork. This

interaction can help create a positive work

environment that encourages employee initiative

and innovation. Employees who are highly

identified are more likely to show innovation and

initiative and are more willing to develop new ideas,

solve problems, and participate in organizational

improvement and innovation activities to promote

innovation and initiative. [10], found that

organizational commitment increases job

satisfaction, and different levels of organizational

commitment lead to different levels of job

satisfaction.

Improvisation means that individuals develop

novel, unique, and creative thoughts or behaviors in

a given situation, and improvisation play often goes

hand in hand with employee creativity;

improvisation allows individuals to react quickly

without prior preparation, while creativity means

finding unique and innovative solutions in problem-

solving to achieve the goal of solving practical

problems. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

H2: Organizational identity has a positive influence

on employees' improvisational behavior.

2.3 The Influence of Improvisational

Behavior on Employees’ Work

Competence

Improvisational behavior has a positive influence on

employees' work competence. [11], expands the

connotation of improvisation as the ability to engage

in creative thinking and action. Improvisation is the

ability to react spontaneously to every moment

without planning. Improvisation is the ability to

react spontaneously to each moment without

planning, and consists of three elements: the

spontaneous reaction to the "here and now" and the

responsibility for this reaction, and the

reconstruction of the relationship between the

internal reality of the actor (feelings, emotions,

thoughts, etc.) and the external reality (other people

and the physical, political, social and cultural

environment), [12]. [13], found, improvisation is

part of any moment in teaching, the teaching has a

lot to do with improvisation. Ability to utilize

physical and cognitive resources available at the

moment to solve problems during instruction. [14],

findings show that improvisation as a professional

concept in education can draw from a number of

practices and sources. The student teacher or teacher

must respond to pupils’ needs for different ways of

learning and to be able to respond at the right time

and in adequate ways relating to different pupils and

groups. Therefore, when teachers teach people

based on a certain "script", they must "put down or

turn off" the script, the camera, and the wisdom of

"educating people through improvisation" in time.

In the process of teaching art, improvisation is a

spontaneous behavior that can encourage teachers to

show flexibility, innovation, and freedom in the

process of creative teaching. As [15] has shown,

improvisation as a teaching skill, descriptions of

improvisation in teaching vary from the ability to

make spontaneous decisions and solve problems,

there and then, to the enactment of concrete

instructions regarding what to do. By incorporating

elements of improvisation, lessons can become

more interesting and flexible, offering students a

richer and fuller artistic experience.

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It has been found that there is a strong link

between improvisational behavior and work

competence. By encouraging their employees to

engage in improvisational behaviors at work,

organizations can improve their employees' ability

to successfully meet the challenges of work in

different contexts and thus increase their work

competence. Therefore, we hypothesize the

following:

H3: Improvisational behavior has a positive

influence on employees' work competence.

2.4 The Mediating Role of Improvisational

Behavior

Organizational identity influences work competence

through the mediating role of improvisational

behavior. Improvisational behavior has a mediating

role as an expression of employee behavior in the

workplace. Improvisational behavior is usually not

subject to prior rules or explicit instructions but is

based on employees' intuition, judgment, and

experience. [16], pointed out that improvisation

seems to be an effective behavioral strategy for

dealing with change, particularly in dynamic

conditions. Improvisational behavior contains new

ideas and methods, which can promote innovative

activities and improve the innovative ability of

employees. The study found that improvisation

plays a mediating role in the influence of

organizational identity on employees' work

competence, that is, organizational identity

motivates employees to engage in positive

improvisation behavior, and this improvisation

behavior further promotes the improvement of

employees' work competence.

Improvisation is a process for generating

novelty that is also intended to be useful, it is, by

definition, a creative process, [17]. [18], research

suggests that it is a rare and fleeting phenomenon

even in the most creative of organizations, rather

than thinking of super-individual creativity as a

persistent organizational phenomenon with varying

degrees of collectiveness. In other words, that actors

in complex and ambiguous situations must respond

appropriately and creatively to these situations,

conceptualizing creativity as a brief moment of

genius. This "moment of genius" can maximize

employees' work competence. Therefore, we

hypothesize the following:

H4: Improvisational behavior plays a mediating role

between organizational identification and

employees' work competence.

2.5 Outcome of Improving Work

Competence

In organizations, improving work competence is

important for the personal development of

employees and the long-term development of the

organization. Improved work competence is usually

noticeable in the performance of the employees and

the organization and has a positive effect on both the

organization and the employees themselves.

In art education in particular, teaching

competence has a direct impact on student learning

outcomes and the overall effectiveness of teaching.

Pedagogical competence is the ability to guide

learners' learning and includes understanding

learners, designing, and delivering instruction,

assessing learning outcomes, and developing

learners to reach their potential.

2.5.1 One of the Manifestations of Improved

Work Competence: Outstanding

Employee Competence

When employees have sufficient work

competencies, they are better able to cope with

various work challenges, improve work efficiency

and quality, adapt quickly to the demands of the

position, have problem-solving skills, and can

proactively seek and implement improvements.

[19], points out that competence is a critical tool in

predicting a person's success in a position. Art

educators' competencies are expressed in many

ways and their pedagogical, personal, professional,

and social skills have a significant impact on

improving work competencies.

[20], think that competencies are a behavioral

approach to emotional, social, and cognitive

intelligence. [21], refers to an employee’s

competency can predict the employee’s

performance, and competence is the ability to carry

out or carry out a job or task based on the skills and

knowledge required by the job. [22], studies have

found that competence has a significant and positive

effect on teacher’s performance. Therefore,

outstanding staff competence is one of the most

important manifestations of increased work

competence.

2.5.2 The Second Benefit of Improving Work

Competence: Employees' Career

Development and Promotion

Opportunities are Increased

Employees with high work competence are better

able to fulfill their tasks. Their value in the

organization is recognized and they have more

opportunities to participate in important projects and

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decisions, which promotes their professional

development. Employees should set clear goals for

their career development and implement effective

action plans that enable them to progress in line

with these goals and ultimately succeed. [23], study

confirm that effective training and development is

an investment in the human resources of an

organization, with both immediate and long-range

returns.

Organizations need to provide their employees

with opportunities for training and promotion in

order to facilitate their career development, in order

to meet the career expectations of employees.

Promoting an internal culture of advancement,

providing effective training programs are key

factors that contribute to employee career growth

and satisfaction, [24].

Promotion opportunity can encourage the

employees to work harder and put more effort, [25].

Promotion opportunities also show employees that

career development within the organization is

possible. In addition, with the promotion, it means

that there is trust and recognition regarding the

ability and competence of the employee concerned

to occupy a higher position, [26]. Promotion is the

best motivation for employees, with this motivation

they will compete in a healthy manner, [27].

Employees who are good at their jobs and perform

well are likely to have more chances of getting

promotions, and the company or organization will

also give them opportunities and possibilities to get

promoted based on their excellent performance at

work.

2.5.3 The Third Advantage of Improving

Employee Work Competence: Is the

Ability to Increase Employees' Job

Satisfaction and Self-Confidence

If employees have acquired sufficient work skills in

practice, they can handle work challenges better,

have a more perfect performance, and enhance their

self-confidence. In addition, it also enables

employees to feel respected and recognized, and

their satisfaction at work is improved. The improved

work competence enables employees to better

achieve their career goals and strengthen their sense

of identity and belonging to the company. The

results of the study show that the work competence

of employees in the field of cultural education has a

positive and significant impact on performance.

In other words, the higher the work competence,

the higher the performance of the teachers. human

resource development through improving work

competence has a positive and significant effect on

employee performance. The study of [28] teachers’

professional learning practices improve their

professional and pedagogical competencies and

skills, and ultimately utilization of cooperative

learning in classrooms. This practice improves

students’ positive interdependence, individualistic

accountability, social skills, communication skills

and group processing skills, students’ learning

engagement and outcomes.

The following conceptual model is proposed as

shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1: Conceptual framework

3 Results

3.1 Population and Sample

This study examined the top 10 regions in China in

terms of the number of schools or institutions

belonging to the art education industry and collected

a total of 507 questionnaires from employees. Of

these, 235 were male (46.35%) and 272 were female

(53.65%), reflecting the fact that slightly more

women than men work in the art education industry

in China.

Employees aged 22-39 accounted for 74.16%,

while those aged 40 and older accounted for 25.84%

overall, which is also in line with the general

rejuvenation of the workforce in the arts education

industry.

Work experience statistics show that 13.81% of

employees have been working for less than one

year, 26.04% for 1-3 years, 35.1% for more than 3

to 10 years, and 25.05% for more than 10 years,

with a proportion (a quarter) of older employees.

3.2 Measures

The present study was a quantitative test using

established scales. A 5-point Likert scale ranging

from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree" with a

total of 10 indicator scales was used to measure all

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independent and dependent variables to measure the

underlying constructs of the studies from the

literature review and synthesis described above.

First, organizational identity (OI) is measured with a

four-component indicator: Value Integration (VI),

Career Development (CD), Emotional Belonging

(EB), and Interpersonal Relationships (IR).

Secondly, improvisational behavior (IB) is measured

using a three-component indicator: self-awareness

(SF), creativity (CT), and use of limited resources

(ULR). Thirdly, employees' work competence

(EWC) is measured using a three-component

indicator: Skills (SK), Self-Awareness (SA), and

Personality Traits (PT).

3.3 CFA

CFA's results indicate that the model has an

acceptable fit to the data:χ2 = 412.853, df = 392,

χ2/df=1.053， Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) =

.949， Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) =

.949, comparative fit index (CFI) = .998， Tucker-

Lewis index (TLI) = .997, Root Mean Square

Residual (RMR) = .050, Root mean square error of

approximation (RMSEA) = .010, Incremental Fit

Index (IFI) = .998. Table 1 shows that the values of

the model are all within the valid range. All the data

indicates that the model is an good fit.

Table 1. Goodness of Fit Indices Test Results for the

Structural Model

As shown in Table 2 (Appendix), we can see the

CR values of Organizational Identity(OI) factors

were from .847 to .870, greater than .7, The values

of average variance extracted (AVE) were from .650

to .691, greater than .5. The results show that the

four factors of organizational identity have good

convergence validity.

The CR values of Improvisational

Behavior(IB)’s factors were from .852 to .868,

greater than .7. The values of average variance

extracted (AVE) were from .657 to .687, greater

than .5. These results show that the three factors of

improvisational behavior have good convergence

validity.

The CR values of Employees’ Work

Competence(EWC) factors were from .854 and

.877, greater than .7. The values of average variance

extracted (AVE) were from .678 and .703, greater

than .5. This indicates that the three dimensions of

employees’ work competence have good convergent

validity.

As shown in Table 3 (Appendix), of the four

dimensions of Organizational Identity, the values of

the square root of AVE is .814, the AVE square root

of Career Development is .822, the AVE square root

of Emotional Belonging is .831, and the AVE square

root of Interpersonal Relationship is .806, all of the

values were greater than the correlation coefficient,

so the discriminant validity is significant.

Of the three dimensions of Improvisational

Behavior, the AVE square root for Utilization of

Limited Resources was .829, the AVE square root

for Creativity was .815, and the AVE square root for

Self-Awareness was .810, all of the values were

greater than the correlation coefficients, so the

differential validity was significant.

Of the three dimensions of employees' work

competence, the AVE square root of Personal Traits

is .823, the AVE square root of Self-cognition is

.812, and the AVE square root of Skills is .838,

which are greater than the correlation coefficient, so

the differential validity is significant.

According to [29] a Pearson correlation

coefficient greater than 0.7 indicates significant

upward col-linearity between the variables, and a

value greater than 0.85 indicates improper

correlation, suggesting that the variables are too

closely related, which may lead to serious

multicollinearity problems that affect the

explanatory, and predictive power of the model.

Therefore, in this study, care was taken to ensure

that the Pearson's correlation coefficient between the

variables was less than 0.7 to avoid the problem of

multicollinearity and to ensure the robustness and

reliability of the results of the regression analysis.

Table 4 (Appendix) shows that the correlation

coefficients for all three variables are greater than 0

and range from .406 to .456, which means that the

relationship between these three variables is

positive. The value of the correlation coefficient is

between .406 and .456, indicating that there is a

moderate positive correlation between the three

variables.

3.4 Structural Model and Hypotheses Testing

The overall fit of our hypothesized model (Table 1)

was acceptable: χ2 = 412.853, df = 392, χ2/df =

Index

Cutoff criterion

Goodness of Fit Results

>=0

412.853

392

X2/df

1.053

GFI

>.90

.949

AGFI

>.90

.939

CFI

>.90

.998

TLI

>.90

.997

RMR

.050

RMSEA

<.06

.010

IFI

>.90

.998

>.05

.225

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1.053, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = .949, Adjusted

Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) = .949, comparative

fit index (CFI) = .998, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) =

.997, Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) = .050,

Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)

= .010, Incremental Fit Index (IFI) =.998.

The data in Table 5 (Appendix) are all

standardized values. Standardized estimates

generally range from -1 to 1. The coefficient of the

influence of organizational identity on

improvisational behavior is .595, which means that

improvisational behavior increases by 0.595

standard deviations when organizational identity

increases by one standard deviation. The coefficient

of influence of improvisational behavior on

employees’ work competence is .342, which means

that employees' work competence increases by .342

standard deviations when improvisational behavior

increases by one standard deviation. The coefficient

of influence of Organizational Identity on

employees’ work competence is .355, which means

that employees' work competence increases by .355

standard deviations when Organizational Identity

increases by one standard deviation.

All test results show that:

Organizational identity has a positive influence

on employees' work competence of Hypothesis (H1)

is valid.

Organizational identity has a positive influence

on employees' improvisational behavior. Hypothesis

(H2) is valid.

Improvisational behavior has a positive

influence on employees' work competence.

Hypothesis (H3) is valid.

Improvisational behavior plays a mediating role

between organizational identification and

employees' work competence. Hypothesis (H4) is

valid.

3.5 Indirect Effects Test

Table 5 and Figure 2 in Appendix show that the

direct effect of organizational identity on employee

work competence is .355, which is 64% of the total

effect. The direct effect of organizational identity on

the positive impact of employee work competence is

significant.

The Bootstrap method was used to test the

mediating effect of improvisational behavior, and

5000 Bootstrap samples were taken for 95%

confidence interval estimation, the indirect effect of

improvisational behavior is

.596*.342=.203832≈.204. The confidence interval

does not contain 0. The mediating effect on the

effects is 36%, which shows that the mediating

effect of improvisational behavior on the effects of

organizational identity and employees' work

competence is significant and confirms the

hypothesis.

4 Discussion and Conclusions

4.1 Research Conclusions

Our results indicate that employees who identify

strongly with the organization are more willing to

play to their strengths, perform their tasks better,

and improve their work performance. This is

because identification with the organization can

strengthen employees' loyalty and identification

with the organization and improve their work

motivation and initiative. Improving the

organizational identity of employees and fully

stimulating their improvisational behavior is very

beneficial to the development of China's art

industry, which can improve the cultivation of art

talents and further promote the development of the

industry.

Organizational identity promotes cohesion and a

sense of belonging among team members. When

team members identify with the organization, they

are more likely to empathize with other team

members and build good team relationships.

Organizational identity enables employees to

feel supported by the organization, As [30] research

found that in the organization, employees will

reciprocate the organization by adopting attitudes

and behaviors expected by the organization and

being committed to the organization when they feel

the support and commitment from the organization.

This can maintain the stability of the employee team

and reduce the possibility of resignation.

Workforce stability is an important factor in

maintaining job competency, especially in arts

education. A stable teaching staff can improve

teachers' teaching experience and professional skills,

strengthen cooperation and exchanges among

teachers, build stable relationships with students,

and maintain the quality and stability of teaching to

effectively promote students' learning and

development.

In the specific context of China's art education

industry, the work competence of employees is

crucial to the provision of quality art education and

training. Therefore, organizations should actively

create an atmosphere and culture that promotes

employees' organizational identity to enhance their

work competence. This shows that organizational

identification has a positive influence on employees’

work competence.

[31], study found that employees who strongly

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identify with a particular organization tend to exert

extra effort on its behalf, and as a result are likely to

exhibit relatively higher levels of performance. [32],

argue employees with a high sense of organizational

identity will have a sense of ownership for the

organization and believe that everything they do at

work is their responsibility, so they are willing to

give back to the organization with high

performance. [33], was confirmed that

organizational identification positively impacts job

performance.

Therefore, H1 is supported.

Organizational identity has a positive influence on

improvisational behavior. When employees feel a

sense of identity and belonging to the organization,

they are more willing to commit themselves to the

organization. This also includes a willingness to

engage in work situations that require

improvisational behavior and to show a higher

degree of initiative and creativity. A strong

organizational identity inspires employees to be

more engaged in their work and contributes to the

growth and success of the organization. When

teaching art, one is often faced with unpredictable

situations that can bring changes and challenges to

the teacher's psyche. Different people have different

abilities to deal with changes or challenges in their

environment, with fears or uncertainties. Different

people have different abilities to deal with changes

or challenges in their environment, with anxiety or

discomfort, [34].

Teachers have to balance the teacher, learning and

curriculum paradoxes in the different characteristics

of improvisation as an ongoing process, and

teachers see improvisation as a practical teaching

skill that relates to their basic educational view.

Teaching is a complex profession with a multitude

of dimensions, and practical wisdom is at the heart

of excellent teaching [35], so it is more likely to be

able to play the improvisation behavior to promote

the achievement of work goals. Generally speaking,

employee identification with the organization leads

to positive emotions.The study of [36] shows that

positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention

and cognition, enabling flexible and creative

thinking. In the art classroom, improvisational

behavior usually occurs in situations where

problems need to be solved or challenges overcome,

and there is a positive correlation between creativity

and problem-solving skills. Creative people are

better able to look at problems from new

perspectives, so they are better able to adapt to a

changing environment, find innovative solutions,

and take effective actions and decisions when

needed.

Therefore, H2 is supported.

Improvisational behavior has a positive

influence on employees' work competence.

Improvisation has become a key capability for

contemporary organizations, and individuals

gradually add new improvisation skills to their

toolkit and choose which one to use depending on

the situation [37], the goal of improving employees'

work competence has been achieved.

Improvisation as (creative) ability, and

presumed to be a desirable skill, characteristic, or

capacity, [38]. Improvisation requires creative

effort, identification may promote a range of

creativity stimulating processes, and identification

was positively related to creative effort [39],

employees invest creative effort, striving to achieve

group goals. Employees need to be better trained in

improvisational behaviors so that they can

consciously apply and use improvisational

behaviors in the process of teaching art.

Improvisation training focused on allocating

attention outwardly and adapting to unpredictable

environments cultivates a specific mindset related to

connections and communications. This mindset may

enhance student teachers’ ability to tune in to the

social environment with a greater intensity, possibly

promoting responsive and situation-oriented

teaching, [40].

Notably, [41] study found that improvisation is a

way to achieve innovation. Meanwhile. the

improvisation can improvement of employee

competence and performance, including through

enhanced creativity and innovation. [42], shows that

improvisation can produce innovation in that the

acquisition, dissemination and implementation of

novel ideas can be performed in real time without

the reliance on planning. Thus, improvisational

behaviors is beneficial for employees to improve

their work competence. In addition, it also confirms

the positive effect of improvisational behavior on

improving teacher competence in arts teaching. Just

as [43] improvisation could be considered an

adaptive behavior to a real-time unpredicted event,

based on creativity and divergent skills, providing a

wide scale set of stimuli. it is a teaching technique

that could give input for renovating current

educational methods. Especially in terms of

employee creativity, innovation, adaptability, and

flexibility, it helps to improve work capability and

promotes personal growth and organizational

development.

Therefore, H3 is supported.

Improvisational behavior plays a mediating role

between employees' organizational identification

and work competence. This study shows that

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organizational identity enhances employees'

improvisational behavior, while improvisational

behavior further enhances employees' work

competence. The reason for this is that

organizational identity strengthens employees' sense

of responsibility and identity towards the

organization, making them more inclined to actively

participate and engage in their work, which in turn

leads to greater improvisational ability. Employees'

ability to improvise is particularly important in

Chinese arts education, a field that requires constant

responses to change and innovation. Table 5

(Appendix) shows that the mediating effect of

improvisational behavior on employees'

organizational identity and work ability is .204,

which means that the mediating effect of

improvisational behavior on employees'

organizational identity and work ability is

significant. Improvisation involves creativity,

passion and flexibility, [44] study confirms that the

mediating role of improvisational behavior, i.e.

harmonious passion fosters a sense of control and

flexibility, facilitating creative problem-solving and

resource acquisition, thus enhancing performance.

In addition,the improvisation is not just an

inherently individual phenomenon. Rather, it is also

affected by the characteristics of the organizations in

which employees are embedded, [45].

Therefore, H4 is supported.

4.2 Research Contributions

In terms of theoretical significance, this study

constructs a new research framework for the field of

organizational behavior management by exploring

the impact of organizational identity on employees'

work competence in the Chinese art education

industry and the mediating role of improvisational

behavior in it. At present, most domestic and

international studies on organizational identity,

improvisational behavior, and work competence

focus on traditional industries such as

manufacturing or service industries, and there is a

relative lack of research on the art education

industry. The contribution of this study is to expand

the field of research and open a new avenue to a

deeper understanding of the application of

organizational behavior management in the arts

education industry.

Second, the findings of this study have some

practical significance for organizational managers

and practitioners in the arts education industry.

Showing the direct and mediating role of

organizational identity on employees' work

competence, can help organizational managers to

better adjust and optimize their management

strategies and improve employees' overall

competence and performance level in their work. As

a leader of art education, it should provide staff with

opportunities for professional development, support

participation in academic exchange activities,

promote educational research in the field of art

education, and encourage teachers to participate in

research projects to improve their subject

knowledge and teaching standards. Internally, a

scientific teacher evaluation mechanism can be

established to promote outstanding teachers based

on their competence while providing appropriate

support and training to under-performing teachers.

Externally, a platform for sharing resources for arts

education in the industry can be established so that

teachers can better share their teaching experiences,

teaching materials, and teaching methods and

promote the joint improvement of arts education.

Third, the management of a school or institution

must organize team-building activities at the right

time to promote cooperation and communication

among employees, strengthen team cohesion, and

enhance their sense of organizational identity. Set

up a clear performance appraisal system to align

employee performance with training objectives and

organizational goals. Provide incentives, such as

bonuses and promotion opportunities, for employees

with outstanding performance. Establish an effective

feedback mechanism to keep employees informed of

their performance while providing them with

specific suggestions and recommendations for

improvement so they can continuously improve.

Encourage employees to propose innovative

teaching methods and projects to stimulate their

creativity and enthusiasm, and actively create

conditions for employees to show improvisational

behavior in their practical work to improve their

work ability.

4.3 Limitations and Future Research

First, this study only focused on the effects of

organizational identity on employees' professional

competence in the Chinese art education industry

and did not consider other potentially influential

factors such as organizational culture and

leadership. Future research could further explore the

influence of these factors on employee job

competence.

Second, this study was conducted in the context

of China's art education industry, and the results of

the study may be influenced by the specificity of the

industry's culture. Future research can be extended

to the mechanism of organizational identity's

influence on employee work competence in the

cultural context of different industries.

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Third, this study examined the mediating role of

improvisational behavior between organizational

identity and employee work competence. Future

research could consider other mediating

mechanisms, such as work satisfaction and a

supportive work environment, to better explain the

mechanisms by which organizational identity

influences employee work competence.

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APPENDIX

Table 2. The Aggregation Validity Test Results

Table 3. The Discriminant Validity Test Results

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Table 4. Correlation Analysis

Table 5. Results of the Indirect Effect test

Fig. 2: Indirect affect test results

VI: Value Integration, CD: Career Development, EB: Emotional Belonging, IR: Interpersonal Relationships, OI: Organizational

Identity, SA: Self-Awareness, CT: Creativity, ULR: Utilize of Limited Resources, IB: Improvisational Behavior, SK: Skills, SC: Self-

Cognition, PT: Personal Traits, EWC: Employees' Work Competence

Contribution of Individual Authors to the

Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting

Policy)

- Krisada Chienwattanasook, formulate and volute

overarching research goals and aims, design the

methodology, Manage and coordinate

responsibility for the research activity planning

and execution, guidance to complete thesis

revisions.

- Qinxi Zhang, collected, statistics, analysis data

and interprets results, write - original draft.

Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a

Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

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