Stimulating the Potential: Creative Performance and Communication in Innovation Teams

Creativity is essential to successful new product development efforts. Teams constitute the organizing principle in most modern innovation activities. Although creativity research has revealed many factors influencing individual creativity, little is known about how team‐level creativity is determined. Since the creative innovation task requires teams to combine and integrate input from multiple team members, the team's communication pattern is an important determinant of team creativity. Based on a sample of 44 NPD teams in eleven companies, this study examines the effects of team‐member communication on team creativity. It is found that both interaction frequency and subgroup‐formation of communication have a negative relationship to team creativity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and further research is indicated.     

Fostering creativity through critical thinking: The case of business start‐up simulations

Research suggests a positive link between critical thinking and creativity. However, this relationship has not been measured in an empirical study. This study aims to explore whether critical thinking can serve to enhance creativity and whether creativity positively mediates the relationship between critical thinking and business performance. In this study, we analyse these relationships within the entrepreneurial context of a web‐based business start‐up simulation. We examined data from 26 teams of three to four senior business students and found partial support for our hypotheses. Critical thinking positively influenced creativity, measured as the total number of unique product designs. Creativity (unique product designs) also positively mediated the link between critical thinking and performance. This effect, however, did not exist when creativity was assessed through advertisement designs. This research contributes to entrepreneurship and innovation management by demonstrating the importance of critical thinking as a basis for creativity and testing this relationship in a business start‐up simulation context.     

Multicultural Teams: Increasing Creativity and Innovation by Diversity

The internationalization of industrial research and development has tended to be regarded as a necessary evil. However, in conjunction with project management attuned to different cultures, multicultural teams can increase the rate of creativity and innovation. Many examples of this are demonstrated, together with specific reference to a competence‐based network developed within Schindler Elevator Ltd.     

Team Polarity and Creative Performance in Innovation Teams

Creativity is essential for research and development efforts. Research and development endavours are typically organized in teams. Unfortunately, little is known about how the polarity or in other words the conflict potential determines the creativity of such teams. Based on a sample of 51 research and development teams (R&D teams), this study examines the effects of polarity on team creativity and attemps to explore situational conditions when conflict potential is detrimental or facilitating R&D team creativity. The results show that foremost in the conceptualization phase of R&D efforts polarity positively influences the creative performance of R&D teams, whereas at lower degrees of complexity or in situations later in the development cycle polarity negatively impacts the creative performance of R&D teams.     

Why is Your Team More Creative Than Mine? The Influence of Shared Mental Models on Intra‐group Conflict,Team Creativity and Effectiveness

In competitive and dynamic contexts team members need to be creative to ensure that teams achieve high levels of performance and feel satisfied with their work. At the same time, team members need to have a shared understanding regarding relevant aspects related to task accomplishment and team interaction. In this study we investigate the mediating mechanisms of intra‐group conflict and creativity in the relationship between shared mental models and team effectiveness (team performance and satisfaction). We tested our model in a sample of 161 teams (735 individuals) performing in a management simulation. We collected data at three time points. Our results suggest that high shared mental models are related to low levels of intra‐group conflict, foster creativity, and in turn improve team performance and satisfaction. These findings contribute to a scarce thematic – the relationship between shared mental models and creativity – emphasizing the importance of a shared understanding for creativity and team effectiveness.     

Integrating Process Support and Knowledge Management for Virtual Software Development Teams

In this paper we describe how knowledge management and software process support can be integrated to improve the efficiency of virtual software teams. The approach presented here integrates a process enactment environment with an on-demand knowledge delivery strategy that is based on parameterized information needs models. The parameters in the information needs models are bound at project execution time to values extracted from the process enactment engine. Thus, the approach supports virtual teams by establishing a platform for systematic and task-specific knowledge exchange. The proposed approach is prototypically implemented in the MILOS system, an open source project of the University of Calgary (Canada) and the University of Kaiserslautern (Germany).     

Evaluation of computer tools for idea generation and team formation in project-based learning

The main objective of this research was to validate the effectiveness of Wikideas and Creativity Connector tools to stimulate the generation of ideas and originality by university students organized into groups according to their indexes of creativity and affinity. Another goal of the study was to evaluate the classroom climate created by these tools and the method “Think Actively in a Social Context” (TASC) proposed by Wallace and Adams (1993) and framed within project-based learning (PBL). The research was conducted with a sample of 34 students in the third year of a Computer Engineering degree, which, during a period of 15 weeks, required them to design and implement an innovative distributed application project. The procedure consisted of the implementation of the eight phases of the TASC method integrated to the Wikideas and Creativity Connector tools. The information provided by the tools, interviews and questionnaires administered to students were used to analyze our hypothesis. The results show that the tools helped the students to generate, evaluate and select the most relevant ideas and to form teams for project execution. They also revealed that teams with high indexes of creativity and affinity (type α) achieved the best grades in academic performance and project originality. Furthermore, research data show that Wikideas and Creativity Connector along with the TASC approach created a positive classroom climate for students. Based on this work, several suggestions can be extracted on the use of the tools and the TASC method for project-based learning.     

Modeling and risk analysis of virtual project team through project life cycle with fuzzy approach

The ongoing revolutions in e-business and progresses of IT and communication, has resulted in the increasing number of companies with formal virtual project teams. In such situation, Uncertainty analysis gains more importance, being conducted within risk management framework. In this paper, based on the six phases of risk management procedure in PMBOK methodology, a risk management process in virtual projects is introduced. In qualitative analysis phase (of PMBOK methodology), the most effective factors of project management in virtual project teams are prioritized. In quantitative analysis phase, for the very first time, “Fuzzy Linear Programming Model” is employed to assess project risks based on project life cycle. Also given time and budget constraints, a method for developing appropriate strategies of reacting to each risk factor is introduced. We use GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System) to select these strategies. Finally, we test our model in a numerical example, as evidence.     

Individual profiles and team classes of the climate for creativity: A multilevel latent profile analysis

Understanding the team climate to enhance creativity is important in academia and industry given the need for organizations to respond to the changing environment. Research on team creativity is a relatively recent trend, but most studies have been conducted from a variable‐centered perspective. Despite the contributions of this type of research, there are limitations in understanding subgroups based on individuals' perceptions. To address the limitations, the purposes of this person‐centered study are firstly to identify individual‐level latent profiles and team‐level latent classes based on the climate for creativity, and secondly to examine the differences in individual‐ and team‐level outcomes between the identified profiles and classes. This study used multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) with 238 individuals in 26 project teams. We identified two individual profiles, high impediments and high stimulants, and two team classes, low impediments teams and mixed impediments teams. Low impediments teams included mostly high stimulants, and mixed impediments teams included half high stimulants and half low impediments. We further determined that high stimulants and low impediments teams showed higher individual‐ and team‐level outcomes than the other profile and class. This study theoretically and practically contributes to team creativity management from a person‐centered perspective.     

Creativity in virtual teams: Systematic review,synthesis and research agenda

Virtual teams are gaining increasing momentum in contemporary organizations. Although it is becoming clear that virtual teams will play a major role in shaping the future of work, we still know relatively little about their creative performance. Because of the disproportionate focus on conventional, face-to-face working practices, much of the literature remains centred around co-located teams. In this review, we integrate existing research on team creativity and virtual work to identify the relevant factors, processes and contextual conditions that have been shown to influence creativity in virtual teams. We highlight the major challenges that are likely to impede team creativity and assess their relevance to contemporary virtual work practices. We conclude by presenting promising avenues for future research in this area.     

Entrepreneurial Leadership and New Ventures: Creativity in Entrepreneurial Teams

This study tests the view that new venture's innovative capability is influenced by the interaction of a lead entrepreneur's leadership and his or her entrepreneurial team members' creativity, as measured by the creation of patents. Focusing on 112 entrepreneurial teams in Taiwan's high‐tech new ventures, the findings suggest that lead entrepreneurs who are risk‐taking, pro‐active and innovative can stimulate their entrepreneurial team members' creativity. Moreover, new venture's innovative capability can be improved by the joint contribution of higher entrepreneurial leadership and more creativity in entrepreneurial teams. The findings also imply that the contingent impact of creativity in teams on the leadership–innovation relationship needs to be considered.     

Working Together Apart? Building a Knowledge‐Sharing Culture for Global Virtual Teams

A new impetus for greater knowledge‐sharing among team members needs to be emphasized due to the emergence of a significant new form of working known as ‘global virtual teams’. As information and communication technologies permeate every aspect of organizational life and impact the way teams communicate, work and structure relationships, global virtual teams require innovative communication and learning capabilities for different team members to effectively work together across cultural, organizational and geographical boundaries. Whereas information technology‐facilitated communication processes rely on technologically advanced systems to succeed, the ability to create a knowledge‐sharing culture within a global virtual team rests on the existence (and maintenance) of intra‐team respect, mutual trust, reciprocity and positive individual and group relationships. Thus, some of the inherent questions we address in our paper are: (1) what are the cross‐cultural challenges faced by global virtual teams?; (2) how do organizations develop a knowledge sharing culture to promote effective organizational learning among culturally‐diverse team members? and; (3) what are some of the practices that can help maximize the performance of global virtual teams? We conclude by examining ways that global virtual teams can be more effectively managed in order to reach their potential in this new interconnected world and put forward suggestions for further research.     

The Evolution of the Design Management Field: A Journal Perspective

Based on a literature survey of the development of concepts supplemented by a selective literature review for the years 2000 to 2010, this article aims to trace the dynamic development of the field of design management – a cross‐disciplinary research field seeking to establish itself in its own right. The framework of this research is evolutionary theory, and our analysis are based on two prime design management journals followed by a comparative review two adjunct journals The Design Journal and Creativity and Innovation Management. The challenge is to avoid being overwhelmed by the established paradigms and logics dominating the field of management research. As far as this limited study of adjunct journals indicates, design management as a field of study has not yet been able to acquire attention outside the design research community.     

Bridging the Disciplinary Divide: Co-Creating Research Ideas in eScience Teams

Collaboration within eScience teams depends on participants learning each others’ disciplinary perspectives sufficiently to generate cross-disciplinary research questions of interest. Participants in new teams often have a limited understanding of each other’s research interests; hence early team interactions must revolve around exploratory cross-disciplinary learning and the search for interesting linkages between disciplines. This article investigates group learning and creative processes that impact the efficacy of early team interactions, and the impact of those interactions on the generation of integrated conceptual frameworks from which co-created research problems may emerge. Relevant learning and creativity theories were used to design a management intervention that was applied within the context of an incipient eScience team. Project evaluation indicated that the intervention enabled participants to effectively cross disciplines, integrate conceptualizations, and generate research ideas. The findings suggest that attention to group learning and creativity issues may help overcome some barriers to collaboration on eScience teams.     

More than a quarter century of Creativity and Innovation Management: The journal's characteristics,evolution, and a look ahead

When this journal was founded in 1992 by Tudor Rickards and Susan Moger, there was no academic outlet available that addressed issues at the intersection of creativity and innovation. From zero to 1,163 records, from the new kid on the block to one of the leading journals in creativity and innovation management has been quite a journey, and we would like to reflect on the past 28 years and the intellectual and conceptual structure of Creativity and Innovation Management (CIM). Specifically, we highlight milestones and influential articles, identify how key journal characteristics evolved, outline the (co‐)authorship structure, and finally, map the thematic landscape of CIM by means of a text‐mining analysis. This study represents the first systematic and comprehensive assessment of the journal's published body of knowledge and helps to understand the journal's influence on the creativity and innovation management community. We conclude by discussing future topics and paths of the journal as well as limitations of our approach.     

Trust,Performance, and the Communication Process in Ad Hoc Decision‐Making Virtual Teams

This research explores the communication process variables that potentially determine trust and performance quality in ad hoc virtual teams to better inform the choice of communication media for virtual groups engaged in decision‐making tasks. Results of a survey indicate that virtual copresence is significantly correlated with intrateam trust and the performance quality that teams achieve. Results also accentuate the prominent role of trust in the virtual collaborative decision‐making process; they indicate that trust mediates the relationship between virtual copresence and performance. It is therefore recommended that the efforts related to the design and adoption of communication systems for decision making teams strongly consider that virtual copresence potentially promotes both high levels of trust and high quality performance in virtual teams.     

Creativity – A Volatile Key of Success? Creativity in New Drug Development

This paper presents a study of successful and creative projects in the pharmaceutical industry. Creativity is here defined as the ability to bring forth a new product within a specific domain of knowledge, namely in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and oncological medicine. The paper, being based on interviews with 18 of the most leading pre‐clinical, clinical and pharmaceutical researchers at former AB Hässle and ICI Pharmaceutical Division, suggests that if creativity is to be managed as an organizational resource, there are at least nine facets that need to be considered. These nine facets range from the most practical aspects to issues of project culture and human faculties such as curiosity and joy. The paper concludes that there is such a thing as creativity management but also claims that creativity is complicated to manage as an organizational resource, since it is based on both tight control and clear objectives at the same time, as there must be space for experimentation, discussions and what could be called non‐linear thinking.     

Triggering Creativity in Teams: An Exploratory Investigation

Triggering, developing and maintaining creativity in teams is critical to the economic performance of the firm. This article presents an exploratory action research effort in a health care organization that focused on interaction patterns amongst team members, creativity and performance. The results indicate that the teams’ inquiry and dialogue into their interaction patterns have the potential of influencing creativity. Team interaction patterns were found to influence team performance. Directions for future research are discussed.     

How Team Identification and Expertise Identification Affect R&D Employees' Creativity

The relationship between team identification and expertise identification in the R&D context and the mechanism by which these variables influence R&D creativity is not yet clear. We present and empirically test a theoretical framework proposing that knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between identification and creativity in R&D teams. Based on 120 paired‐sample survey data of 30 R&D teams, we show that knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between team identification (but not expertise identification) and R&D team members' creativity. Contributions to the literature and the practice of innovation and R&D management, knowledge and creativity management, and team management are discussed.     

The effect of process tailoring on software project performance: The role of team absorptive capacity and its knowledge‐based enablers

Software process tailoring (SPT) is a team‐based and learning‐intensive activity that addresses the particular dynamic characteristics of a development project. Because SPT critically influences how projects are conducted, its performance should be investigated. However, the extant literature lacks empirical evidence on how the underlying effects of SPT performance and its team‐supportive factors operate and influence software project performance. From the knowledge perspective, this study adopts dynamic capabilities theory and considers the learning ability and absorptive capacity of software project teams to develop a theoretical model to address this gap. The results of an empirical examination of the model with 135 software project teams advance our understanding of how team‐level learning antecedents—experience, communication quality and trust—dynamically facilitate teams' absorptive capacity (AC) when they conduct SPT, which in turn reinforces project performance. The mediating effects of the proposed model are unveiled and discussed, and theoretical implications as well as practical guidance for how AC and these factors promote SPT and project performance are suggested.