Individual Information Technology (IT) creativity: a conceptual and operational definition

Abstract

Purpose

An organization’s competitive advantage can be strengthened if they are able to identify highly creative individuals. In fact, organizational success in the 21st century may depend upon a firm’s ability to identify highly creative individuals who are able to develop novel and useful ideas, which are the outcome of creativity. The authors posit that Information Technology (IT) plays a significant role in creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying the componential view of creativity, the authors propose the theoretically-derived concept of Individual IT Creativity (IITC). Utilizing a 5-phase methodology, the authors provide a theoretically-derived and rigorously-validated measure of IITC.

Findings

This study demonstrates that IITC is manifested in individuals who (1) possess IT expertise; (2) are motivated by IT tasks and (3) exhibit IT creativity-relevant processes. The authors then develop a scale to measure IITC and examine IITC within a broader nomological network.

Originality/value

This study facilitates the investigation of new streams of research into IITC, including new possible outcomes in addition to IT acceptance.

Citation

Carraher Wolverton, C., Rizzuto, T., Thatcher, J.B. and Chin, W. (2023), "Individual Information Technology (IT) creativity: a conceptual and operational definition", Information Technology & People, Vol. 36 No. 6, pp. 2469-2514. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-08-2021-0590