Organizational Creativity and IT-based Support

Abstract

Abstract The main aim of this paper is to provide a theoretically and empirically grounded discussion on IT-based organizational creativity support. This study attempts to answer the following questions: (1) what is the issue of organizational creativity and its IT-based support, (2) what is the demand for IT -based organizational creativity support; (3) what are the main determinants and barriers to IT-based organizational creativity support; and (4) what success factors are crucial for IT-based organizational creativity support. This paper presents the analysis results of a survey conducted in 25 selected organizations. The paper provides valuable information on the possibilities of IT applications in organizational creativity support as well as the associated success factors. It makes useful contribution to our better understanding of IT-based organizational creativity support issues. Keywords: Organizational creativity, IT-based organizational creativity support, success factors Introduction Although studies on creativity have been developing for three decades, they have not addressed the essence of organizational creativity and its IT-based support. They have been mainly focused on creative problem solving, creative processes and individual creativity support systems (Cooper, 2000; Dewett, 2003). The issue of IT-based organizational creativity support is still insufficiently investigated. The research studies are fragmented and scattered. Organizational creativity is considered one of the most actively developing research areas. It is asserted that it is a main vehicle of organizational development, the basis for staying in the market and innovative success (Amabile, 1988; Elsbach & Hargadon, 2006; McLean, 2009; Shin & Zhou, 2007). Organizations face the need to constantly generate new and useful ideas that concern products, services, processes, managerial practices as well as competitive strategies. Effective support of acquiring, collecting, storing and analyzing different information resources as well as discovering new knowledge and its rapid dissemination are of crucial importance (Arora & Nandkumar, 2012; Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland, & Gilbert, 2011; Zahra, Sapienza, & Davidsson, 2006). Several arguments can be found in the pertinent literature that Information Technologies (IT) enables organizations faster and easier access to information, improving creativity in business processes, and better communication between employees and all stakeholders (Cooper, 2000; Davenport, 2013). IT enables an organization to search and absorb new knowledge that is needed in organizational creativity and solving business problems. On the other hand, the praxis shows that success from IT-based creativity support is still questionable. Many organizations are not able to make IT an effective tool for creativity support. The reasons for this failure are not clear and still not well investigated. The need for a more systematic and deliberate study of creativity support for organizations is crucial. The main task of this paper is to provide a discussion on organizational creativity and its IT-based support. This discussion enables us to answer the following questions: (1) what is/are the issue(s) of organizational creativity and its IT-based support, (2) what is the demand on IT -based organizational creativity support; (3) what are the main determinants and barriers to IT-based organizational creativity support; and (4) what success factors are crucial in IT-based organizational creativity support. The search for answers to these questions is mainly conducted on theoretical and empirical foundations. At the start, a critical review of the relevant literature is conducted to identify the organizational creativity issue and its computer support. The search for the appropriate literature begins with different bibliographic databases, e.g., EBESCOhost, Emerald Management 75, ISI Web of Knowledge, ProQuest, and Scopus. …