Strategies to improve selection of creative ideas: An experimental test of epistemic and social motivation in groups

Pre‐implementation activities like idea selection play a crucial role in the innovation process. However, groups of people seem to perform rather poorly when it comes to selecting creative ideas for implementation. The Motivated Information Processing in Groups model (MIP‐G) provides an explanation as to why some groups outperform others when it comes to making group decisions. On the basis of the MIP‐G framework, we hypothesized that groups that are both epistemically and prosocially motivated would outperform other groups in selecting creative ideas. Contrary to our hypothesis, a 2 × 2 experiment in a field sample (N = 240 or 80 three‐person groups) showed that under conditions of high epistemic motivation, proself motivated groups selected significantly more creative and original ideas than prosocial groups. Proself motivated groups did not differ significantly from the prosocial motivated groups in selecting feasible ideas under conditions of high epistemic motivation. Our results suggest that the MIP‐G framework may need refinement to increase our future understanding of group idea selection. To this end, we propose three specific avenues for future research.     

An Exploratory Study of Entrepreneurial Creativity: Its Antecedents and Mediators in the Context of UAE Firms

In this study, we attempt to advance our understanding of the role of entrepreneurial creativity in the context of firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through field research accompanied by a review of the related literature, this study identifies crucial antecedents of entrepreneurial creativity. The proposed model combines variables belonging to different contextual factors such as external factors (resource access, resource possession, and alertness to opportunity) and individual factors (creative self‐efficacy, expertise and intrinsic motivation). The model is tested using data from a large‐scale survey of firms in the UAE. We find that expertise and creative self‐efficacy is significantly related to entrepreneurial creativity. The results also reveal that intrinsic motivation and alertness to opportunity are the key mediators between contextual factors and entrepreneurial creativity. The findings of this study present some interesting practical implications to entrepreneurs in order to improve their creative skills.     

Intrinsic motivation as a mediator of the relationship between organizational support and quantitative workload and work‐related fatigue

The aim of this study is to explore how organizational support and quantitative workload influence work‐related fatigue. We collected 688 questionnaires from product line workers in 6 Chinese iron and steel factories. Confirmatory factor analysis and bootstrapping were used in the data analysis, and structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypothetical model. The results showed that intrinsic motivation fully mediates the relationship between organizational support and work‐related fatigue, while partly mediating the relationship between quantitative workload and work‐related fatigue. The results of this study indicate the potential benefit of improving motivation to alleviate work‐related fatigue. Finally, this study puts forward suggestions for future studies.     

Leadership characteristics and developers’ motivation in open source software development

Open Source Software (OSS) is generally developed by interested professionals who have decided to participate in the process. The presence of effective leaders who both steer the development and motivate the developers is crucial to ensure a successful product. Using path-goal theory and built on leadership and motivation theories, we proposed and tested a model that can be used to assess the relationship between an OSS project leader's leadership style and a developer's motivation to contribute to the software development. We specifically decomposed the leadership and motivation construct to understand the hidden mechanisms by which leadership impacts motivation. A set of survey data collected from 118 OSS developers on Sourceforge.net was used to test our hypotheses. Our results indicate that leaders’ transformational leadership is positively related to developers’ intrinsic motivation and that leaders’ active management style is positively related to the developers’ extrinsic motivation.     

Individual motivation among entrepreneurs in the creative and cultural industries: A self‐determination perspective

We aim to shed light on the deep mechanisms that keep individual entrepreneurs in the creative and cultural industries motivated in this insecure and fast‐paced environment. We collect data through a survey of entrepreneurs working in the Dutch creative and cultural industries (CCI) and examine what motivates these professionals to work in an environment characterized by tough competition. Specifically, we analyse our respondents' self‐perceived (creative and entrepreneurial) competences and needs (for autonomy and relatedness) in relation to their motivation to execute creative work. We suggest a reading of our results through the lens of self‐determination theory. Our results show that the need for competence is a consistent predictor of an individual's motivation to work in the CCI. Furthermore, we find that although intrinsic motivation is very high among entrepreneurs working in the creative and cultural industries, those who have a relatively high esteem of their creative capabilities do expect external rewards as well. Our study suggests the existence of a trade‐off between autonomy and commercial viability rather than one between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.     

Beyond the Generation of Ideas: Virtual Idea Campaigns to Spur Creativity and Innovation

Firms striving to maintain high rates of innovation need a continuous flow of new ideas. This is resulting in the establishment by large firms of IT platforms to generate ideas for innovation, and to encourage employees and customers to participate in innovation contests. However, there has been little published research on the use of IT platforms for idea generation by employees, and it is unclear whether they facilitate in‐house innovation. The purpose is to investigate how firms use IT platforms internally to generate ideas, and how their use contributes to the innovation process in large firms. We rely on data from two collaborative research projects in the automotive industry: Volvo Cars and Renault. We found that both firms used IT platforms as campaigns to promote innovation and to involve employees in the innovation process. The findings suggest that these virtual idea campaigns support innovation in large firms mainly by (1) encouraging employee creativity in idea generation and (2) involving employees and top managers simultaneously in the innovation process. This paper contributes to idea management systems theory by highlighting the importance of virtual idea campaigns for the firm's innovation process, and their dual role.     

Acceptance of the virtual item auctioning system in online games: The role of intrinsic motivation,extrinsic motivation,and trust

The virtual item auctioning system (VIAS) has economic potential as millions of online players trade their virtual items in an auction‐based environment. However, little empirical research has been conducted about understanding the factors affecting the decision to use the VIAS in online games. To address this gap, the current study uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) to explore the effects of extrinsic motivation‐perceived usefulness, intrinsic motivation‐flow, and trust on the decision to use the VIAS in online games. Three hundred and twenty‐eight surveys were gathered from the users of VIAS in online games. The research model was tested with the structural equation modeling technique, using AMOS 20. The results showed that intrinsic motivation is more important than extrinsic motivation in explaining the use of the VIAS. Furthermore, trust is a strong predictor of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We conclude the study with the discussion of the findings, managerial implications, and suggestions for future research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The opposite of control: a Deweyan perspective on intrinsic motivation in “After 3” technology programs

A central feature of the design of many “After 3” technology programs is the assumption that student learning and motivation requires that they have choice and control of their activity. Similarly, the dominant cognitive-rational perspective of motivation portrays effective learners as having control of themselves and their environment. In this article, we build on Dewey's (1934. Art as experience. New York: Perigree.) aesthetics and epistemology — as most fully developed in “Art as experience” — to suggest that to be deeply engaged in learning, to be truly moved, requires not only control, but also the “opposite of control”. In “Art as experience” Dewey proposed that aesthetic experience — compelling, transformative experience — requires doing (acting on the world), reflection (standing back from the world), and undergoing (being acted upon by the world). Furthermore, grasping the meaning of these experiences emerges through a qualitative sense in addition to intentional analysis and reflection. Thus, intrinsic motivation, or what we shall call transformative experience, finds a balance between control and its opposite. We elaborate our conception of the “opposite of control” and discuss how this idea helps us appreciate heretofore unilluminated qualities of intrinsic motivation in “After 3” technology programs.     

How do Individual‐Level Factors Affect the Creative Solution Formation Process of Teams?

The generation of creative solutions involves nonlinear dynamic procedures that can only be achieved through the creativity of individual team members. Thus, it is important to understand how the formation of individual‐level creativity factors influence the creative solution formation process. The creative solution formation process can be divided into four phases: idea generation, idea screening, idea development and solution verification. Prior research suggests that the creative process may be affected by motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic), knowledge stock (explicit and tacit), individual creativity (intelligence and divergent thinking), and pressure (challenge and time). We tested the effects of these eight factors on performance in the idea generation and idea development phases by conducting an experiment. Our results indicate that intrinsic motivation, intelligence and divergent thinking have a significant positive effect on both idea generation and idea development. Tacit knowledge and challenge pressure have a significant positive effect on idea generation. Time pressure has a significant negative effect on idea development. We also show that both idea generation and idea development have a significant impact on the quality of the final creative solution.     

Corporate Motivation to Risk Prevention: Applied Exploratory Analysis in Construction Sector in Catalonia

In this article, we have undertaken an exploratory analysis of the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting an employer's safety motivation in the construction industry, and their correlation with firm size, management level, and perceived risk. We have employed a model based on previous research by Michael Wright for the Health and Safety Executive (UK). Methods: A sample of managers from 198 construction firms in Catalonia (Spain) were interviewed collecting relevant data. The exploratory factor analysis of this data detected two factors: extrinsic (prosecution, inspection, external pressure) and intrinsic (legal, responsibility, internal involvement). Confirmatory factor analysis did not rule out the presence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors (Wright), and the analysis with covariates (MIMIC model) showed significant positive relationships between extrinsic factors, management level, and perceived risk. It also showed a significant positive relationship between intrinsic factors and firm size. Conclusion: The aim of this study was to make a preliminary diagnostic of an employer's safety motivation. Our findings indicate that it is possible to develop external motivators (advice from inspection bodies, union activities, publicity of prosecution records, etc.) that are addressed to top managers and to firms more exposed to risk. We have also found that it is possible to develop internal motivators by introducing experience modification ratings, social accounting, advertising in the mass media, and promotion campaigns, particularly among bigger firms. Our findings will be useful to government agencies, company managers, and consultants and may be adapted for use in motivating midlevel staff to adopt participatory intervention programs.© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An empirical study of the determinants of the intention to participate in user-created contents (UCC) services

Up to now UCC services have been dominating the majority of the internet traffic, yet the answers to what motivates people to participate in the UCC services still remain vague and unclear. It is the motivation to find these answers that lead to this study. We adopted technology acceptance model (TAM) to our model and examined the effects of external variables—social identity, telepresence, altruism, perceived playfulness and social trust. Data was collected from undergraduate students in Jeonju University, South Korea, who had experience in UCC. The findings showed that social trust and perceived playfulness play a pivotal role in explaining the individual’s behavioral intention to participate in UCC services. Also, perceived encouragement was found to have significant influence on social trust instead of its direct effect on the intention to participate in UCC services. Additionally, social identity and telepresence were the most important factors of perceived encouragement. This implication can help both researchers and Web practitioners to better understand user behavior in UCC context.     

Standing in others' shoes: The role of leader prosocial motivation in facilitating employee creativity

By reference to social learning theory, this research examines the effect of leader prosocial motivation on employee creativity through investigating the mediating role of employee perspective taking and the moderating role of leader performance. Using a dyadic sample of 262 subordinates and their direct supervisors, the results reveal that leader prosocial motivation positively relates to employee perspective taking and employee perspective taking can mediate the correlation of leader prosocial motivation with employee creativity. Meanwhile, leader performance can moderate the correlation of leader prosocial motivation with employee perspective taking. Moreover, the perspective taking's mediating role between leader prosocial motivation and employee creativity can be moderated by leader performance. Finally, according to the findings and limitations of the study, its future research and managerial implications are discussed.     

The influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on individuals' knowledge sharing behavior

A major challenge in knowledge management involves motivating people to share knowledge with others. The objective of this study is to deepen our understanding of how to influence an individual's tendency to engage in knowledge sharing behavior in a team setting. Specifically, we investigate the effects of intrinsic motivation (altruism) and extrinsic motivation (economic reward, reputation feedback and reciprocity) on knowledge sharing (number of ideas generated, idea usefulness, idea creativity and meeting satisfaction) in a group meeting. Results of our experiment show that a knowledge management system with built-in reputation feedback is crucial to support successful knowledge sharing.     

Does the source of external knowledge matter? Examining the role of customer co-creation and partner sourcing in knowledge creation and innovation

External knowledge is widely acknowledged to be critical for organizational innovation. However, we lack understanding of how different sources of knowledge—namely knowledge from customers and partners—influence innovation. Grounded in the knowledge-based view of the firm, we theoretically develop and empirically test a model of mechanisms through which two forms of external knowledge acquisition i.e., customer co-creation and partner sourcing, foster knowledge creation and innovation. We posit that the different forms of external knowledge acquisition contribute differentially toward innovation outcomes. Finally, we examine the moderating role of knowledge dissemination capability on the relationships between external knowledge of both forms. We test our proposed model using data gathered from 655 organizations in two knowledge intensive sectors i.e., financial and information technology. Our model explains 65 % of the variance in knowledge creation and highlights that organizations with higher degree of knowledge creation are more likely to innovate through new patents. We extend prior research on customer co-creation and organizational innovation by identifying intervening organizational variables and mechanisms that explicate the effects of external knowledge on innovation. The results provide important implications for organizations regarding the capabilities needed to utilize external knowledge for innovation.     

Nonlinear technology: Changing the conception of extrinsic motivation?

Think-aloud and self-report data from 84 undergraduates were used to examine the relationship between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and use of self-regulated learning (SRL) processes. Participants individually learned about the circulatory system with a hypermedia environment for 30 min. During this experimental session, three measures were used to examine the research questions guiding the study. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire that measured their extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. They also completed a pretest and posttest, which assessed learning outcomes. Lastly, think-aloud data were collected to determine the frequency in which participants used SRL process related to planning, monitoring, and strategy use. Results indicate that participants who had high extrinsic and high intrinsic motivation used significantly more planning and monitoring processes when compared to participants who had lower motivation scores for either the extrinsic or intrinsic category. Additionally, participants who had high extrinsic and high intrinsic motivation significantly outperformed those who had low extrinsic and low intrinsic motivation.     

User idea implementation in open innovation communities: Evidence from a new product development crowdsourcing community

In collaborative crowdsourcing communities for open innovation, users generate and submit ideas as idea co‐creators. Firms then select and implement valuable ideas for new product development. Despite the popularity and success of these open innovation communities, relatively little is known about the factors that determine the implementation of the user‐generated ideas. Based on research on individual creativity, we propose a conceptual model integrating users' previous experience, idea presentation characteristics and feedback valence to explain the likelihood of idea implementation. We validate our research model with a panel data analysis of 43 550 ideas submitted by 16 360 users in the MIUI new product development community hosted by Xiaomi, a large electronics manufacturing company in China. We find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between users' past successful experience and idea implementation. Furthermore, the length of ideas is positively associated with the likelihood of idea implementation. There is also an inverted U‐shaped relationship between supporting evidence and idea implementation. Finally, we demonstrate the negative effect of positive feedback and the positive effect of negative feedback on idea implementation. These findings offer rich insights to understand the phenomenon of open innovation better. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

When carrots and sticks meet: A mixed-methods study on internet taxi drivers’ job engagement in the IT-driven sharing economy

Information technology (IT)-enabled taxi services facilitate people's lives. However, little is known about how Internet taxi employees are motivated and how motivation relates to their job engagement. Using a mixed-methods design, this research explores intrinsic motivators and the effects of external regulations on intrinsic motivation and job engagement. The qualitative study identified three context-specific intrinsic motivators: stress reduction, self-efficacy, and job autonomy. A follow-up quantitative research revealed the significance of external regulations in determining intrinsic motivation and job engagement. The study contributes to knowledge by emphasizing the role of intrinsic motivators and the significance of both monetary incentives and punishment.     

Not just an ego-trip: Exploring backers’ motivation for funding in incentive-based crowdfunding

Incentive-based forms of crowdfunding – such as reward-, equity- and lending-based crowdfunding – are becoming increasingly popular. However, research that studies backers’ motivations for funding in these environments is still in an embryonic state, revealing an inconsistent and narrow picture. The few existing studies are largely guided by the idea that backers are mainly egoistically motivated and do not have prosocial motives. We developed a research model that describes backers’ motivation and conducted an empirical study to examine this model. Results indicate that backers indeed have several self-interest motivations for funding: prospect of a reward; expectation of recognition from others; to lobby a certain project in the hopes of its fruition; and to develop their image. However, some backers are also prosocially motivated in that they develop feelings of liking for a certain venture and/or project team. Furthermore, we found evidence that herding has a significant moderating effect on backers’ reward motivation. Strategic IS researchers as well as crowdfunding practitioners can draw on our findings to systematically design, implement, and evaluate potential incentive systems that respond to reward-, recognition-, lobbying-, image- and liking-motives and thereby attract the crowd more effectively to invest in ventures presented on incentive-based crowdfunding systems.