Introduction: Employee innovation is essential to an organization's ability to react and change in a timely manner in the quickly changing business environment. The understanding of innovation mechanisms has garnered significant attention, leading to a growth in research focused on determining the characteristics that facilitate the progressive development of innovative potential.

Methods: This study aims to investigate the effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on employee innovative behavior. The mediating role of employee engagement was also explored. Additionally, this study examines the potential moderating impact of trust on the relationship between POS and innovative work behavior. A quantitative study was undertaken using a sample size of 174 participants who were employed in the tourism industry of Vietnam. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the results of the study.

Results and conclusions: The results revealed that the more organizational support employees perceived, the more they exhibit innovative behavior. Furthermore, employee engagement was discovered to fully mediate the relationship between POS and innovative behavior. Besides, the findings support the hypothesis that trust moderates the association between POS and innovative behavior. Future research directions and managerial implications were also mentioned.