Information Technology Development Creativity: A Case ... · other case studies, in that it focuses...

Information Technology Development Creativity: A Case Study of Attempted Radical ChangeAuthor(s): Randolph B. CooperSource: MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Jun., 2000), pp. 245-276Published by: Management Information Systems Research Center, University of MinnesotaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3250938 .

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Cooper/IT Development Creativity

MIS

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CREATIVITY: A CASE STUDY OF ATTEMPTED RADICAL CHANGE1

By: Randolph B. Cooper School of Business Administration

University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-6282 U.S.A.

[email protected]

Abstract

Many calls for reengineering suggest that information technology (IT) can be employed to enable

significant organizational change. However, organizational inertia typically inhibits such

change, resulting in IT development that reflects the organizational status quo. Of interest, then, are strategies and techniques that can be em-

ployed to support IT-enabled reengineering. Key to such reengineering is creativity. Therefore, this

paper attempts to better understand creativity during IT requirements and logical design phases, at which time reengineering can be devised.

A creativity model is adapted from the organizational literature and used to interpret the

requirements gathering and logical design experiences of a firm attempting to reengineer its operations through the use of imaging technology. A

comparison of creativity and traditional ITdevelop-

1Allen Lee was the accepting senior editor for this paper.

ment viewpoints reveals significant differences as well as similarities.

Insight resulting from this exercise is offered to

help managers and researchers identify important variables and relationships in the IT development creativity management process. The model, and future associated research, can help researchers and managers: (1) determine to what degree creative IT requirements and logical design is feasible in a given organizational context and

(2) plan and execute a creative IT requirements and logical design process.

Keywords: Creativity, innovation, diffusion, information system development, information

technology requirements, reengineering, radical

change, organizational change

ISRL Categories: HA01, HA14, HB11, FB03, FB04, FD08, DD01, DD0402, DD0501, EL0301, EL05

Introduction

New information technology (IT)- such as CASE, communications, manufacturing, and imaging systems-can increase degrees of freedom associated with organizational design by providing opportunities for organizational structures and functions that were previously not possible

MIS Quarterly Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 245-276/June 2000 245




(Buitendam 1987; Child 1987; Child et al. 1987). With increasingly complex and competitive environments, reengineered organizations made feasible with new IT can be an important factor in

achieving and maintaining competitive advantage (Applegate et al. 1988; Davenport 1993; Drucker

1988). It is interesting, then, that implementation of these technologies typically reinforces organizational status quo rather than contributing to

significant organizational change (Child et al. 1987; Cooper 1994; Kimberly 1987; Orlikowski 1991). It is this dilemma which is addressed here. That is, what characteristics result in organizations forgoing potential benefits associated with significant changes that are made possible by new IT?

IT projects that can enable large organizational change can be complex, with resulting systems emerging from the interaction of technical, personal, political, and social issues (Barley 1986; Markus and Robey 1988). For example, Markus

(1983) describes an attempt to use a financial information system to accomplish radical organizational change. She found that significant change was not accomplished due to political resistance. Orlikowski (1991) provides an ex-

ample of CASE being employed to reinforce the status quo of an organization, rather than to enable organizational change. She suggests that "the potential of information technology to loosen the hierarchical stranglehold on organizational practices, creating networked and lateral relations that can usher in new organizational forms and practices" is much over rated. Both of these ITs were successful in the sense that they were technically correct, being used, and at least some of the stakeholders believed that the systems added value.

The case study provided in this paper is another "success" story in technical, usage, and value added terms. It is similar to the Markus case in that it examines an attempt to employ IT to facilitate radical organizational change. However, the study is different from the above, as well as other case studies, in that it focuses on the role of

creativity when employing IT to enable such change. This focus is important because there must be a significant amount of creativity during the requirements and logical design phases for IT- enabled reengineering changes to be made

(Applegate et al. 1988; Couger et al. 1993; Davenport 1993; Davenport and Short 1990, Drucker 1988).2 It is only creative thinking that can develop the type of novel, non-analytical, solutions that are the hallmark of reengineering (Davenport 1993; Woodman et al. 1993). Unfor-

tunately, creativity is generally foreign to organizations (Scott 1987; Staw 1990). Successful IT- enabled reengineering, then, requires an organizational climate (Amabile et al. 1996) that can foster creativity.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate problems associated with achieving the creativity required for IT-enabled organizational reengineering in order to help managers and researchers understand how to foster such creativity. We examine one organization's experience with employing new IT to enable reengineering and find that reengineering did not occur. This failure to reengineer is in accord with the lack of an appropriate climate. Although there were significant top management support, significant user participation, and a powerful champion, creativity-fostering elements such as risk-taking reward structures were not provided. This contributed to developing a system that automated the existing manual tasks within the constraints of existing departmental boundaries, job descriptions, and workflows. Although its implementation was technically successful (it works), is being used, and has garnered some benefits, significant organizational changes that were hoped for were not attained.

Creativity can be important in all aspects of IT development, from requirements definition through program design (Couger 1996). The focus of this paper is on the interaction of users and IT staff as

they work together on the requirements and logical design of a new IT, for it is during these activities that organizational reengineering can occur. A model is adapted from the creativity literature to help IT managers and researchers identify important variables and relationships in the creativity management process. Insight from this model, and future associated research, can

2Some of these authors do not specifically cite creativity but instead indicate that innovation is key to reengineering; however, as Amabile (1988) notes, innovation requires creativity.

246 MIS Quarterly Vol. 24 No. 2/June 2000




help managers and researchers: (1) determine to what degree creative IT requirements and logical design is feasible in a given organizational context and (2) plan and execute a creative IT requirements and logical design process.

In the following discussion, a creativity model is adapted from organization theory and used to develop propositions regarding organizational characteristics that can foster IT development creativity in organizations. The experiences of a large financial institution attempting IT-enabled reengineering are then examined in light of these propositions to determine the degree to which a climate fostering creativity existed. We find that such a climate did not exist. Since creativity is a key factor in reengineering success, this is interpreted as an important factor contributing to the reengineering failure. The case is then briefly revisited and the data reinterpreted in light of traditional IT development theory in order to determine the value added from employing creativity theory. This reveals several areas where creativity theory and traditional IT development theory overlap; where both theories predict successful outcomes based on the same independent variables. For example, both theories suggest that a high degree of collaboration among IT staff and users is important for project success. However, there are also several instances where the theories differ. For example, though traditional IT development theory encourages extrinsic rewards such as performance bonuses, creativity theory suggests that such rewards can have a detrimental effect on creativity.

Creativity Model

This section describes the need to look outside IT research to find a relevant creativity model, and then adapts such a model from organization theory. This model is used to formulate IT development propositions, which are employed later in interpreting the case.

There seem to be two major thrusts to IT development creativity research. The first identifies methods, techniques, and tools that can enhance the creativity skills of IT development individuals

and groups (e.g., Couger 1990a; Couger et al. 1992, 1993; Galletta et al. 1992; Snow and Couger 1991; Telem 1988a, 1988b). The second identifies requirements and strategies for diffusing these methods, techniques, and tools within IT departments (e.g., Sampler and Galletta 1991; Snow and Couger 1991). Although not directly associated with IT development, another IT research stream combines creativity techniques with computer technology in order to provide creativity support systems for individuals (e.g., Clements 1994; Elam and Mead 1987, 1990; MacCrimmon and Wagner 1994; Mackay et al. 1994; Massetti 1996) and for groups (Fellers and Bostrom 1993; Nagasundaram and Bostrom 1995; Nunamaker et al. 1987). Although this work does not focus on IT developers, it can be applied to IT development.

In summary, the IT articles concerned with developer creativity have focused on (what will be shown to be) a subset of the important creativity issues. We, therefore, look to the creativity literature for a more comprehensive creativity model. Since the IT project to be examined later involves the collective action of employees, it is sensible to adopt a group level perspective. We accordingly employ an adapted version of the "comprehensive theory of...creativity" proposed by Woodman et al. (1993), which is based in interactional psychology. The appropriateness of interactional psychology

for modeling complex behavior (Schneider 1983; Terborg 1981), the group perspective, and the comprehensiveness of the theory provide a com- pelling rationale for employing the Woodman et al theory here.

The complete theory developed by Woodman et al. is not utilized. Rather, the theory is adapted for the IT development context of interest. For example, although the theory describes organizational creativity in terms of individual, group, and organizational interactions, we focus on group creativity, and include interactions among individuals and the IT development group. In addition, there are some individual (e.g., personality) and group (e.g., size) characteristics suggested by Woodman et al. to affect creativity that are not specifically addressed below. This is not because they are less important for creativity, but rather because they proved to be less interesting in terms of the specific IT development project examined.

MIS Quarterly Vol. 24 No. 2/June 2000 247




From this theoretical perspective, organizational creativity results from individuals working together in a complex social system on a heuristic, rather than algorithmic, task with an outcome consisting of a useful and novel product, service, procedure, or process (Amabile 1983; Newell and Simon 1972; Woodman et al. 1993). Heuristic tasks do not have clear and readily identifiable paths to solution, and may not have clearly defined goals (Amabile 1983). Useful outcomes are those appropriate for the task and task goals (Amabile 1983). Novel outcomes are those that require modification or rejection of previously accepted ideas (Newel et al. 1962). Novelty can be thought of as a continuum,

from the lowest "garden variety" levels where ordinary individuals are doing everyday things...that are somewhat novel, to highest levels...where geniuses are producing notable work that trans- forms fields and even societies. (Amabile 1983)

The notion of paradigm modification (Nagasunda- ram and Bostrom 1995) can be used to illustrate the degree of novelty, with greater modification representing greater novelty. This suggests that modification of paradigms can be envisioned in terms of changes to elements and changes to relationships among elements, as illustrated in the following example.

The Apple Macintosh computer's graphi- cal user interface represented a radical departure from prevailing interfaces when it was introduced-it involved new elements such as icons, mice, and windows, and new relationships among those elements as well as with the user....When the hierarchical file system was introduced into the MS-DOS operating system, there was a change in

relationships but no change in ele-

ments....Major new features that are added to operating systems...often... [add elements but] do not alter rela-

tionships among elements of the system, or the relationship of the system with the user. (Nagasundaram and Bostrom

1995)

In this example, the Apple Macintosh user interface reflects the most novelty, with substantial changes to both elements and their relationships. The MS-DOS hierarchical file system and new operating system features reflect lower novelty levels since they resulted in changes to relationships and elements, respectively. Given the radical nature of reengineering, creativity specific to an IT-enabled reengineering project should be high in novelty, with significant changes to elements and their relationships. This notion of creativity is operationalized during project discussions below.

Figure 1 illustrates the Woodman et al. theory, simplified and adapted for the IT development context. Briefly, creative IT requirements and logical design result from group characteristics, such as the task, norms, diversity, and problem solving approach, as well as from characteristics of individuals in the group, such as cognitive factors, motivation, and knowledge. Group and individual characteristics are affected by contextual influences, which result from organizational characteristics such as culture, resources, and rewards. For example, certain reward systems can reduce creativity by reducing individual motivation as well as affecting the group problem solving approach. In addition, group characteristics can result in social influences that affect individual characteristics. For example, norms can support the open sharing of information among individuals, thereby increasing individuals' knowledge and associated creative behavior. The following discussions describe the adapted Woodman et al. model and provide propositions that are later employed to help understand the IT development project.

Knowledge

Knowledge consists of

factual knowledge...in the domain...and comprise[s] the...complete set of re-

sponse possibilities from which the new response is to be synthesized and information against which the new response is to be judged. [Knowledge] can be viewed as the set of cognitive pathways for solving a problem or doing a task. (Amabile 1988).





Creative IT b Requirements and

Logical Design

S S - - S O





Creativity is facilitated by greater knowledge in the domain of study (Amabile 1988; Newell and Simon 1972).

Even though previous experience or knowledge could lead to a "functional fixedness" that prevents individuals from

producing creative solutions, on balance it is hard to conceive of any creative behavior that is somehow knowledge- free. (Woodman et al. 1993)

IT-specific knowledge is important for creative development: when more is known about the potential of an IT in terms of what it can do and what its impacts are, group members are more able to creatively develop and apply it to the

organizational context. In addition, task-specific knowledge is important since creative development requires knowledge about procedures, processes, and context to which the IT is being applied. IT and task knowledge constitute the basis from which IT solutions are derived. This leads to the following proposition.

KN Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by significant depth and breadth of knowledge concerning (1) potential IT capabilities and (2) the tasks (procedures, processes, context) to which the IT is being applied.

Cognitive Factors

Cognitive factors include cognitive styles favorable to taking new perspectives on problems (e.g., breaking mental set), the ability to use heuristics for the exploration of new cognitive pathways (e.g., use of analogies), and working styles con- ducive to persistent, energetic pursuit of the task

(e.g., a risk orientation) (Amabile 1988; Hogarth 1987). Everyone is creative to some degree (Gordon 1961; Rogers 1970), with creativity normally distributed within the population (Shall- cross 1985; Tardiff and Sternberg 1988). How- ever, different kinds of organizations attract, select, and retain different kinds of people (Schneider 1987; Tom 1971; Vroom 1966). As a

result, over time, people in an organization tend to exhibit the same kinds of personality traits and behaviors (Schneider 1987). Although no research was found that examined the homo-

geneity of creativity levels in organizations, work

by Kirton (1976, 1977) and Hayward and Everett

(1983) demonstrate the tendency of organizations to be composed of individuals possessing homogenous types of creativity. Therefore, for example, employees within a conservative culture are less likely to be creative, in that it is less likely that mental sets would be broken and new

perspectives taken.

However, whatever the level of creativity within an

organization, individual creativity can be improved by creativity enhancing techniques (Parnes 1987), such as progressive abstraction (Geschka et al.

1973) and wishful thinking (VanGundy 1988). Couger et al. (1993) provide an extensive summary of individual creativity techniques which are appropriate for IT development. Couger et al.

(1992), Snow and Couger (1991), and Telem

(1988a, 1988b) provide IT development applications of these techniques. Elam and Mead (1987, 1990), MacCrimmon and Wagner (1994), and Massetti (1996) combine these techniques with

computer technology for individuals. Together, this research demonstrates that non-computer as well as computer-aided tools and techniques can be employed to enhance the creativity of individuals involved in IT development. This leads to the following proposition:

CF Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be constrained by conservative organizational cultures and can be im-

proved by employing individual

creativity improvement techniques or tools.

Task Motivation

Task motivation

includes...an individual's baseline atti- tude toward the task and the individual's perceptions of his or her reasons for undertaking the task in a given instance (Amabile 1988)





Task motivation reflects inner drive and deter- mines what individuals will do. Such motivation affects creativity by influencing the use of know-

ledge and cognitive factors, thereby affecting the

degree of exploration and the likelihood that alternative (and potentially more creative) response possibilities will be examined (Amabile 1988). Motivation can be intrinsic and/or extrinsic, with intrinsic motivation more important for

creativity (Amabile 1988).

Intrinsic motivation comes from within an individual and results from the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself. Intrinsic motivation can result from increased autonomy (allowing individuals to be more in control of their work) as well as increased opportunity for professional growth (Amabile 1988; Deci 1971; Lepper et al. 1973). For example, due to its impact on these issues, project goals that are too

tight can significantly reduce motivation:

if project managers manage too tightly at the procedural level [day-to-day carrying out of specific tasks] team members may become de-motivated and their efforts uninspired. (Amabile 1988)

Energy and exploration during problem solving can also increase when the process itself is fun. For example, work by Elam and Mead (1987, 1990) suggests that, while typical decision support systems generally decrease creativity, such systems can increase creativity when the systems are fun to use. This leads to the following proposition:

TMI Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by fostering intrinsic motivation through tasks that (1) provide for increased autonomy, (2) provide an opportunity for

professional growth, and (3) are

perceived as enjoyable by group members.

Extrinsic motivation comes from without an individual and results from rewards in traditional forms, such as money and advancement (Amabile 1988). Appropriate reward structures should

recognize and reward risk taking whether suc-

cessful or not (Kuratko et al. 1990; West 1990), providing an atmosphere where innovation is

prized and failure is not fatal (Amabile 1988; West

1990). Care should be taken to make sure that

group members do not feel that every move they make is tied to rewards, as this will tend to reduce their motivation to take risks (Amabile 1988). Creativity can be enhanced with extrinsic motivation if intrinsic motivation is low (Amabile 1988). However, high levels of extrinsic motivation can be

dysfunctional in that it tends to cut exploration short and directs energy into very narrow thought patterns, focusing attention on the technical or rule-bound aspects of task performance, in pursuit of the extrinsic goal (Amabile 1988; Hogarth 1987; Woodman et al. 1993). This leads to the following proposition:

TME Creative IT requirements devel-

opment and logical design can be

improved by fostering appropriate moderate levels of extrinsic motivation through reward structures that (1) provide for increased

money or advancement and

(2) reward risk taking whether successful or not.

Group Task

Well conceptualized goals and purposes are essential for creativity. Managers should know where they are going and why (Souder 1987).

If managers fail to provide clear direction for the project, if they fail to carefully conceptualize and communicate the overall mission, members of the team

may make fragmented and disjointed efforts. (Amabile 1988)

However, there should be considerable uncer-

tainty as to how to get there (Souder 1987). Such

uncertainty provides an opportunity for the

exploration of alternative frames of reference and new cognitive paths. Managing the process too

tightly can lead to decreased individual autonomy and thereby decreased motivation (Amabile 1988). This leads to the following proposition:





GT Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be im-

proved by (1) clear development goals along with (2) considerable

uncertainty regarding the process by which those goals are met.

Group Norms

Norm coherence and consistency foster creativity in organizations due to the reduction of uncer-

tainty surrounding roles and responsibilities (Kuratko et al. 1990; Souder 1987). A coherent and consistent normative structure facilitates

seeking out assistance and collaboration and

helps in knowing whom to keep informed. In addition, norms providing a supportive atmo-

sphere emphasizing cooperation and trust are

important. Creativity flourishes in environments where power plays and gamesmanship are kept to a minimum and where inter-group cooperation and pooling of resources are emphasized (Amabile 1988; Souder 1987).3 The environment should be psychologically safe: a person is more

likely to propose a new idea or challenge an

existing idea if he or she feels that such a proposal will not lead to penalties, ridicule, or censoring (West 1990). This leads to the following proposition:

GN Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be

improved by group norms that

(1) foster certainty regarding roles and responsibilities and (2) foster

cooperation and trust.

3Examples of competition rather than cooperation engendering creativity may seem to run counter to this creativity literature. However, a distinction must be made between conditions internal to a group working together in a creative activity and those external to that group. The examples typically involve groups competing against each other in the creation of new products. However, as indicated by the creativity literature, cooperation within each of those groups will increase its chances of developing a novel and useful solution.

Group Diversity

Creativity thrives on the cross-fertilization of ideas (Staw 1990). Creativity can be enhanced by group diversity such as when group members are drawn from diverse fields or functional backgrounds (Andrews 1979; King and Anderson 1990; Payne 1990). Such diversity can increase the "network of possible wanderings" for problem solving (Newell and Simon 1972) at a group level. Since many creativity techniques require mental excursions outside of the work domain (Couger et al. 1993), diversity in areas such as culture, education, and leisure time pursuits can also be important. In addition, diversity in the form of disparate viewpoints can increase the incidence of dissension, thereby ensuring that decisions are thoroughly questioned and explored (King and Anderson 1990). This leads to the following proposition:

GD Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by group diversity in terms of (1) work-related experiences such as fields and functional backgrounds as well as (2) non-work- related experiences and interests such as culture, education, and leisure time pursuits.

Group Problem Solving

Systems analysis and design methods should be appropriate to handle the high level of uncertainty associated with linking the potential IT to the organizational context. For example, prototyping has been suggested for such high uncertainty (Davis and Olson 1985). These methods should control for process losses (errors in task- performance strategies) and coordination losses (poor integration of members' efforts) (Hackman and Morris 1975). In addition, creativity can be enhanced through the employment of group problem solving techniques such as synectics (Gordon 1961), which makes the process enjoyable, encourages different frames of reference, and pro- motes the exploration of new cognitive pathways (Hogarth 1987). Couger et al. (1993) provide an extensive summary of group creativity techniques which are appropriate for IT development. Couger et al. (1992), Snow and Couger (1991), and Telem





(1988a, 1988b) provide IT development applications of these techniques. Nunamaker et al. (1987) and Fellers and Bostrom (1993) combine these techniques with computer technology for groups. Together, this research demonstrates that computer-aided and non-computer tools and techniques can enhance the creativity of groups involved in IT development. This leads to the following proposition:

GPS Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by employing (1) systems analysis and design methods appropriate for high levels of uncertainty as well as (2) group creativity improvement techniques or tools.

Organizational Characteristics

Organizational characteristics include organizational culture, resources, and rewards. In order to reduce the complexity of discussions, specific propositions concerning these characteristics are not presented. However, since the creativity impacts of organizational characteristics are mediated by individual and group behavior, these impacts have been specifically included in the above propositions as follows:

* The impact of organizational culture was recognized in CF, proposing that a conservative culture tends to constrain individual creativity.

* The impact of organizational resources was recognized in CF, TMI, and GPS, proposing the use of computer technology to improve individual creativity, intrinsic motivation, and creative group problem solving.

The impact of organizational rewards was recognized in TME, proposing the effects of rewarding risk taking on extrinsic motivation.

Social Influence

Social influence refers to the "verbal and non- verbal cues and signals that people provide to

others regarding what factors they value in the workplace and how they evaluate those factors in their current situation" (Woodman et al. 1993). In order to reduce the complexity of discussions, specific propositions concerning these influences are not presented. However, since the creativity impacts of social influences are mediated by individual behavior, these impacts have been specifically included in the above propositions as follows:

* The impact of the group task was recognized in TMI and GT, proposing the effects of opportunity for professional growth, individual autonomy, and tight project management on individual task motivation.

* The impact of group norms was recognized in GN, proposing the effects of a consistent and coherent normative structure on individual knowledge.

* The impact of the group problem solving process was recognized in GPS, proposing the effects of the process on intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) and on individual knowledge (different frames of reference and new cognitive pathways).

Research Method

This section describes the validity and reliability of the case study method employed. Case studies can be employed to develop and to test theory (Yin 1994). When employing case studies to

develop theory, an ethnographic or grounded theoretical position can be taken where no a priori theory is posited (Eisenhardt 1989). When

employing case studies to test existing theory, a natural science model can be followed by, for

example, making controlled observations and controlled deductions within cases and by employing multiple cases to enable generaliza- tions (Lee 1989). Given the substantial research into creativity in general and its recognized importance in reengineering, developing creativity theory or testing its appropriateness in IT-enabled

reengineering is not of interest here.





Rather, what is currently missing in the IT literature is insight based on creativity theory that

provides a greater understanding of the processes and problems involved in IT-enabled reengineering. An IT-enabled reengineering project is, therefore, viewed and described through a creativity theory lens. Employing the project in this positivist fashion requires attention to construct validity, reliability, and external validity (Kirk and Miller 1986; Yin 1994). Note that internal validity is not an issue when employing a case to illustrate theory.

An approach is employed in which data are based on participants' own interpretations of events and processes that are assumed to reasonably reflect an external reality (Kirk and Miller 1986; Niedumolu et al. 1996). Construct validity is supported by employing multiple data collection methods (Benbasat et al. 1987; Yin 1994). I was allowed full access to all written documentation concerning the project, including meeting minutes, interoffice memos, and proposal and presentation materials. In addition, I interviewed 15 employees (see left column in Table 1). These employees were selected for two reasons: (1) they represented all the areas directly impacted by the project and (2) they were the most closely involved in the decision making processes that shaped development. As a result, the case discussion is informed via both interviews as well as project documents. For example, evidence for disappointment with the way the project turned out is provided by a memo from the project team leader as well as interviews with the Senior Vice President of Operations and with the Internal Consultant.

Construct validity is also supported by using multiple sources (Benbasat et al. 1987; Yin 1994). Each proposition can be thought of as composed of two parts. The first part indicates conditions (states of important independent variables), while the second part indicates impacts (effects of the independent variables). Based on the notion of triangulation, construct validity is supported if at least two sources (different interviewees and/or documents) identify a proposition's conditions and at least two sources identify the proposition's impacts. As illustrated in Table 1, this criterion is met for all propositions except intrinsic motivation,

group diversity, and the techniques portion of

group problem solving.4 In these cases, there is reasonable evidence of the propositions' conditions, but specific evidence of their impacts is

lacking.

Construct validity was also supported by getting feedback on a draft of this article from a key informant. This informant was the Internal Con- sultant assigned to the project, who worked in a "matrix fashion" for both the Information Technology Department and the Operations departments and thus provided a broader view of the project than either the users or the IT staff. Many of the quotes citing her as a source resulted from her expansion on, or interpretation of, the draft.

Reliability is demonstrated by the appropriate use of case study protocol (Yin 1994). Employee interviews began two months after the first development phase and continued for three months. The interviews were open ended rather than focused, but comments on the basic set of development issues suggested by Van de Ven and Rogers (1988) were encouraged. This basic set consists of the interviewees' understanding of:

4All of the propositions are cast in the form that certain conditions affect the creativity associated with IT requirements development and logical design. In most cases, sources directly express these conditions. For example, the first proposition suggests that knowledge concerning potential IT capabilities is important for creativity. When the Pensions Manager states that users started out with little understanding of the potential of image, and the Transactions Director states that the methods used to increase user understanding tended to be inadequate, these are interpreted as indications of a low level of user knowledge concerning IT capabilities. In contrast to proposition conditions, there are a number of instances when case sources do not directly describe impacts on creativity. Rather, sources describe effects of the conditions on intermediate variables that have been shown to lead to creativity in the theoretical discussions supporting the proposition. For example, theoretical support for the first proposition indicates that greater knowledge concerning IT capabilities leads to greater creativity in IT requirements and logical design via an impact on the breadth of response possibilities. When the Team Leader and Internal Consultant state that the severely limited ideas of image's potential eliminated many possibilities of employing image and reduced the number of image alternatives that could be considered, this is interpreted as a reduction in the breadth of response possibilities.




Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic

Mntivatinn Grnoin Task Groun Norms

Information Indlvi- Tech- Auto- Enjoy- Coope- Non-

Source IT Tasks duals niques nomy Growth able Rewards Risk Goals Process Roles ration Work Work Analysis Techniques

Pensions Department Director CI I

Manager C C C I I C

Document Control Depart Manager C C C C C

Director C

Accounting Department Manager C/I C C C

Transactions Depa i-tntent Director C IC I C

Associate Director C C

Maintenance C C

Supervisor Transactions C C C/I I C

Supervisor Communications Depart Manager C C C C/I C

uroup

Diversity

Group Problem

Solvina

N) 01 0n

0 0 o CD

-

C) ca

cD

gS Q)

Knnwuldlna tnnitive Factorsrc



Knowledae Coanitive Factors Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic

Motivation Gronn Task Grnon Nnrms

Group

niversitv

Group Problem

Sonlvina

Information Indivi- Tech- Auto- Enjoy- Coope- Non-

Source IT Tasks duals niques nomy Growth able Rewards Risk Goals Process Roles ration Work Work Analysis Techniques Information Tech Depart Director of Tech- C

nology Integration

Image Team I C/I C C C I I C C C C Leader

Other

Operations Senior C I C C C Vice President

Internal Consultant I C C/I C C C C/I C C C

Project I* C* C* Documentation**

*This is a company document that went through reviews by IT and user management. There was therefore consensus by multiple individuals and can reasonably be counted as multiple sources. ** Documentation that could be identified with a specific individual (e.g., a memo from an individual) is associated with that individual as the information source in the table. KEY: C denotes a source for a proposition condition. I denotes a source for a proposition impact.

hj en a)

c

CO

0 QI

CD N,

0

h~

(Z Q)

;I1I1LI1IIIII1I I




the available information technology and changes in this understanding throughout the development process,

key players during the development process,

relationships among the key players during the development process,

* elements of the organization and how these elements influenced the development process, and

* what went well and what went wrong with the development process.

Each interview was transcribed to a word proces- sor, with the interview date, time, and codes relating to the creativity model propositions as well as reflective remarks (Miles and Huberman 1984). These notes were then combined with similarly coded notes covering written documentation, and formed a case study database. The analyses presented below are formulated from this database.

External validity establishes the domain to which a study's findings can be generalized (Yin 1994). The following case study is an interpretation of single project in an organization. Although significant insight can be gained from such interpretation (Yin 1994), further examination of the creativity model in other IT development contexts should be pursued to enhance external validity.

The Organization and Project

Investments Inc.5 is a large financial institution that has experienced significant growth (in the past five years both number of accounts and total assets doubled) and puts a high priority on future growth. The development project has substantial management support because it fits well with this

priority and associated firm strategies. According

5This is not the organization's real name. I thank the management and employees at Investments Inc. for allowing me to interview them.

to its advertising brochures, growth has been fueled by innovation in products offered to customers, nation-wide personal service (over 500 account representatives based in more than 40 regional and branch offices), and state-of-the-art computer systems. Details concerning the com-

pany and the project follow.

Growth is an important goal for Investments Inc. Its President has stated that he wants the firm to double its size within the next five years. A critical success factor in achieving that goal is believed to be innovation in products and information technology-enabled processes. However, the company combines the need to innovate with caution appropriate for handling retirement accounts. As the Senior Vice President of Operations (Sr. VP) commented,

Leading edge technology doesn't have a

place in this industry...it is too much of a

gamble....However, it is important to implement change using established technologies.

Therefore, only new technologies that have substantial track records are of interest.

An information technology that fits well with this criterion is imaging information technology (image). In some respects, image is to text and

pictures what database management systems are to data. An image system can store, index, and retrieve images of documents on optical disk, and makes a single document available to several

people at the same time. In addition, work can be

automatically distributed and an audit trail of

changes made to that document can be main- tained by the system. The storage and retrieval

capabilities are similar to database management system capabilities. However, other aspects- such as the ability to store pictures and the automatic distribution of work-are features not available in database management systems. At the time Investments Inc. decided to adopt image, there were a significant number of image success stories in the financial services industry. This

technology thus had a track record that conformed with Investments Inc.'s cautious innovation

approach.





Indeed, there are substantial reasons for enthusiasm with image at Investments Inc. For example, consider the retrieval of a document from the archives prior to the development of image. Documents were archived using micro- fiche with retrieval keys based on the customer social security number and the date the document was archived. Since it took weeks to convert from documents to fiche, documents were not released to be archived until workers were sure that they would not have to refer to them. This resulted in archive retrieval key dates that had little to do with the actual date documents were received. Retrieval of archived documents in response to customer needs was thus made more difficult. In addition, while one clerk held on to a specific document before releasing it to archiving, others who may have needed it had little idea where to find it.

Image was seen as a solution to document access and control problems throughout operations. With the entrance of documents into the image system within 24 hours of receipt, multiple retrieval keys based on the content of the document, unlimited access to a single document at one time, and control over the processing of documents, image was seen by some as a technology that would "save our lives."

In light of this potential, the IT Department was asked to do a study to determine whether the current imaging technology was sufficiently capable and reliable for Investments Inc. The study was completed in about four months and initial image hardware and software costs were estimated at one million dollars. The project was approved by the Senior Vice President and development began six months after approval and continued for about a year. The development group consisted of IT staff and user representatives and was charged with identifying requirements and designing the image system. The group was led by a member of the IT staff.

The project was completed on time and within budget. In addition, there were very few technical problems after implementation, and there is consensus that the effectiveness and efficiency of operations have and will continue to improve. However, the Senior Vice President, who initiated and championed the project, believes this to be

his "greatest failure." He wanted to use image to help radically alter his departments by facilitating the changing or eliminating of departmental boundaries, job descriptions, and work flows. In contrast, what actually occurred was an automation of manual tasks within the constraints of existing departmental boundaries, job descriptions, and workflows. To the Senior Vice Presi- dent, failure lies in Investments Inc.'s inability to take advantage of the potential to use information technology in a creative way in order to reengineer operations. This disappointment is echoed by many in the development team. We "stuck to the old ways of doing things" [Team Leader memo] and did not allow "the system to do as much as it could" [Internal Consultant].6

We were not prepared to deal with the technology in any way other than trans- ferring a paper document to a terminal screen. We are using the technology as in a paper system. [Pensions Depart- ment memo]

This resulted in "many lost chances" [Transactions Supervisor], and resulted in dissatisfaction that no "reengineering or process changing" occurred [Document Control Department Director].

If there had been significant creativity during the requirements and logical design phases, one would expect to see a novel organizational design that significantly diverged from the status quo. For example, instead of using the IT to route account processing across existing departmental boundaries, imaging technology could have been employed to enable a single individual to handle, and be responsible for, all aspects (opening, changes, withdrawals, etc.) of an account, thereby effectively dissolving departmental boundaries. This personal attention to individual clients could result in enhanced customer service. Since such novelty in design did not occur, we next review this project in terms of the creativity propositions (summarized in Table 2) to provide insight into why that which was intended to be a reengineering project resulted in a simple automation of manual procedures. Each proposition relates to aspects of organizational climate, which are key

6Square brackets indicate case material sources.





KN Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by significant depth and breadth of knowledge concerning (1) potential IT capabilities and (2) the tasks (procedures, processes, context) to which the IT is being applied.

CF Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be constrained by conservative organizational cultures and can be improved by employing individual creativity improvement techniques or tools.

TMI Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by fostering intrinsic motivation through tasks that (1) provide for increased autonomy, (2) provide an

opportunity for professional growth, and (3) are perceived as enjoyable by group members.

TME Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by fostering appropriate moderate levels of extrinsic motivation through reward structures that (1) provide for increased money or advancement and (2) reward risk taking whether successful or not.

GT Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by (1) clear development goals along with (2) considerable uncertainty regarding the process by which those goals are met.

GN Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by group norms that (1) foster certainty regarding roles and responsibilities and (2) foster cooperation and trust.

GD Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by group diversity in terms of (1) work-related experiences such as fields and functional backgrounds as well as (2) non-work-related experiences and interests such as culture, education, and leisure time pursuits.

GPS Creative IT requirements development and logical design can be improved by employing (1) systems analysis and design methods appropriate for high levels of uncertainty as well as (2) group creativity improvement techniques or tools.

ingredients for requirements and logical design creativity (Amabile et al. 1996). Therefore, examining the project in light of the propositions can help us understand what aspects of these key ingredients were not in place and how this contributed to a lack of reengineering.

KN-Knowledge

There is consensus that during development, users at Investments Inc. had limited knowledge concerning image's potential capabilities. Users started out with little "understanding of the poten-

tial of image" [Pensions Manager], and the methods used to increase user understanding tended to be "inadequate" [Transactions Director, Transactions Supervisor]. The understanding attained by users tended to be high level notions that images in the computer somehow replaced paper documents: "The image system is a great file cabinet" [Pensions Manager]. They did not understand, for example, the potential of image's workflow control capabilities that can enable real- time automated distribution and control of work based on priorities and on worker capabilities and responsibility levels. This was exacerbated in part by the initial "lack of image understanding" by the IT staff [Team Leader]. As a result, both IT staff


=I1I=J11IIIIIII ?rl 1I)cllI




and users had "severely limited ideas of its potential," which eliminated many possibilities of

employing the technology (e.g., the real-time automated distribution and control of work) [Internal Consultant]. This limited understanding of

image's potential reduced creativity by decreasing the number of image alternatives that could be considered [Team Leader].

Problems with knowledge concerning tasks in some of the user areas reduced the potential for creative IT development. For example, due to

significant growth and change at Investments Inc., some of the user representatives were either new to the company or new to the areas they were representing [Team Leader]. In addition, two user areas (Communications and Accounting) did not

always have representatives in the development group [Communications Manager, Accounting Manager]. Also, users in the development group were generally low-level management with reasonable knowledge concerning what and how

things were being done but not why they were

being done [Internal Consultant]. This low level of task-specific knowledge resulted in problems when significant changes to current processes were suggested. According to the Team Leader and the Accounting Manager, their typical response was that we "have to have it [done that

way] because that's the way we do it." Without knowledge concerning why activities were being done, users could not consent to fundamental

changes to their procedures and work processes. This reduced the likelihood of identifying anything but superficial organizational changes.

CF-Cognitive Factors

Investment Inc.'s employees are "typically not creative" [Internal Consultant], reducing the potential for creative IT development. Investments Inc.'s relative conservatism led to a "selection away from employees with [creativity-relevant] skills," which reduces the potential to take new perspectives and explore new cognitive pathways, and thereby generate "truly novel ideas" [Internal Consultant]. This evaluation of conservatism is supported by the cautious innovation stance of upper management-change should be implemented only through "established technologies"

[Senior Vice President]-and the focus on main-

taining the status quo by middle management [Transactions Director]. This increases the likelihood that image would be developed based on old

ways of doing things.

Regarding the use of individual tools and techniques to help during the project, group members

typically referred to a methodology that had been institutionalized through a proprietary course provided to many Investments Inc. employees. The methodology offers procedures for identifying and implementing organizational change. For example, over 150 models are provided to help identify potential implementation problems and solutions, such as changing frames of reference and garnering resources. In addition, a ques- tioning technique is suggested that provides guidance for obtaining the "what, where, when, how, why, and who" associated with any problem. This methodology has many elements in common with individual creativity techniques, such as Attribute Association, Manipulative Verbs, and Interrogatories techniques (Couger 1995). Inter- views did not indicate that user representatives actively employed this methodology when pre- paring inputs for the group meetings. However, they typically employed the methodology jargon during interviews and in project memos (e.g., there were problems with user representatives being "locked in their logic box" [Communications Manager]), which implies that the methodology may have had a positive impact on individual creativity. In addition, interviews with, as well as project documentation created by, the IT staff suggested extensive use of the methodology. For example, communications to management were prepared on preprinted forms that required individuals to go through the various steps called for by the methodology [Project Documentation]. In summary, the methodology seemed to have a modest impact on group members' abilities to break mental sets and take new perspectives, thereby increasing individual creativity.

TMI-Intrinsic Motivation

User representatives had little control over the

project and, therefore, little autonomy in their project-related tasks. Though initiated by the





Senior Vice President, the project seemed to be driven by the IT staff. The Team Leader was an IT staff member. She organized the project, developed roles, came up with project plans, and developed cost estimates and estimates of user cost savings [Internal Consultant]. In addition, many times when user representatives vetoed design suggestions by the IT staff, these vetoes were appealed by the Team Leader to upper management and thereby overturned [Team Leader].

IT staff members found the new technology very interesting and believed that becoming familiar with image would be helpful in their professional growth [Team Leader]. Although some user representatives were intrigued by image technology [Document Control Manager, Communi- cations Manager], none described it as potentially important for their professional growth. In addition, as discussed below, there was little time for users to enjoy the process of learning about and exploring use of image [Internal Consultant, Document Control Manager]. The lack of autonomy and minimal perceived impact on professional growth reduced the time and effort users were willing to devote to the project, thereby reducing the likelihood that alternative (creative) IT development solutions would be identified and examined.

TME-Extrinsic Motivation

Users were rewarded based on their current jobs (processing customer transactions at the current level of accuracy and timeliness), with no obvious incentives for participation in the project. For example, user group members were involved in the image development process (sometimes multiple meetings per week in addition to "outside homework") without having their normal workload decreased [Internal Consultant]. In addition, there were no pay incentives to participate in anything but a perfunctory manner [Internal Consultant]. This sent a message that "management was not really interested in image" [Document Control Manager] and led to a lot of conservatism on the part of most users [Senior Vice President]. Users were, therefore, motivated to mitigate the impact of the image project on their daily activities: there

was "little motivation to do anything other than

merely automate current manual processes" [Team Leader].

In order for reengineering to occur, "there is a need to create a risk-taking environment by making risk taking part of the job of users" [Internal Consultant]. However, relative conservatism predominates at Investments Inc., thereby reducing the potential for creative IT development. This is evidenced by the cautious innovation stance of upper management, which directed that

change should be implemented only through "established technologies" [Senior Vice President]. This is also evidenced by the focus on maintaining the status quo by middle management:

We have a hard time letting go of [the current manual system] that at least works....This stems from the business we are in...if the [customers] don't receive their checks on time, they may pull their money out and go somewhere else...especially during these uncertain financial times. [Transactions Director].

This feeling, expressed by the Transactions Director, is reinforced by the recent policy, which requires that "all IT projects be justified in terms of

significant revenue increases" [Internal Consul- tant]. Such conservatism and emphasis on strict economic rationale results from the organization's conservative culture [Internal Consultant]. There was therefore little incentive for users to take risks

during the project.

GT-Group Task

Development goals and purposes stated by the Senior Vice President were not clear. His goal statements focused on the ability of image to

change Investments Inc. in an unspecified manner

making a "big deal" concerning the "many possibilities" that image offered and the associated "potential for [significant] organizational change" in order to enable Investments Inc. to cope with its future growth: "it will solve all of our problems." This lack of specificity resulted in conflicting interpretations by middle and lower level managers and among different departments.





For example, there were times when the Senior Vice President would contact the Team Leader with system needs and the users in the development group would reject those proposals [Team Leader]. It was suggested by the Transactions Associate Director that

top level managers needed to make explicit what can't be sacrificed, for example, checks going out the door within x days, and what can have some slippage.

She went on to say that

a more explicit notion of the goals of the system needed to be identified: a decrease in personnel, decrease in transaction processing time, increase in customer service, etc.

This led the users to form their own notions of development goals, many of which were con-

flicting [Pensions Department memo].

This conflict is illustrated by the controversy surrounding the number of terminals required by a user unit. The IT staff felt that, due to the eventual processing efficiencies from image, the number of terminals should be significantly less than the number requested by the users [Team Leader]. It was the users' contention that, although process efficiencies may be attained in the long term, the short term learning curve would result in a significant "decrease in customer service" unless more terminals were made available [Transactions Director]. Management acquiescence to the user request for more terminals was cited by the IT staff as an example of why the proposed image "cost economies were not attained" [Team Leader memo]. During an interview, the Team Leader acknowledged the short term problem, but indicated that such decreases in service "should be expected and allowed with any change of this magnitude."

The IT staff focus on gaining efficiencies at the expense of effectiveness and the user focus on maintaining effectiveness at the expense of efficiencies exemplifies the general goal disagree- ment between IT staff and users. This resulted in

the two factions working at cross purposes. From the IT staff perspective, the image project was their only job. Their performance was judged based on the timely development of an image system that garnered the cost economies stated in the project proposal [Internal Consultant]. In contrast, the users' job was to process customer transactions in a timely and accurate fashion, and this was currently happening with the manual

system. The manual system was "inefficient but it worked" [Transactions Director]. Thus, the IT staff wanted to "go full force" while the users wanted to proceed cautiously, attempting to provide at least the previous level of customer service at all times [Internal Consultant]. This led group members to work at cross-purposes, with users resisting new ways of doing things that could significantly disrupt their workflows [Team Leader].

In contrast to the lack of clarity regarding project goals and purposes, the process by which group members were to achieve their goals was

relatively constrained. Although the problems to be solved were not clearly delineated, solutions were to involve the use of image technology; group members were faced with a solution in search of problems. In addition, many times the Senior Vice President dictated specific designs. For example, he forced a department to accept a logical design developed for another department after substantial effort had gone into that department's logical design [Team Leader memo, Director of Technology Integration, Senior Vice President]. This interference from the Senior Vice President in the design process reduced the motivation of group members to be creatively involved since there was a good chance that their work would be wasted [Pensions Director, Pensions

Manager].

GN-Group Norms

Because of its significant growth, Investments Inc. has a history of continuous change: Investments Inc. "goes through a lot of change all the time"

[Accounting Manager] and "reorganizations occur every 12 to 18 months" [Document Control Direc- tor]. This resulted in multiple changes in group members. For example, "for the transaction appli-





cation, three different managers and two different supervisors were involved" [Team Leader memo]. In addition, the continuous change resulted in group members in new and newly reorganized units finding little guidance for their tasks, and their tasks kept changing. For example, the Communications Department was created in order to handle customer inquiries in a coherent manner. This department initially consisted of four people and mainly fielded calls concerning dis- bursements ("Why haven't I received my check?"). Two years later, the size of the department tripled and the types of questions fielded "seem to change daily" [Communications Manager].

This organizational turbulence led to significant uncertainty concerning member roles and responsibilities: the roles of user representatives were not well defined and changed in light of the changing project requirements [Transactions Supervisor, Internal Consultant]. This resulted in much group member "communication...lost through the cracks" [Transactions Supervisor] and ideas "not always given adequate weight" [Pensions Manager].

In addition, there was little cooperation and trust among the members [Internal Consultant]. One reason for this was the friction cited earlier surrounding conflicting goals. For example, many times, the IT staff had to bring upper level management into the decision process in an attempt to "force" the user representatives to adopt new image-enabled processes [Team Leader]. This decreased the supportive atmosphere, resulting in communications that were "manipulated" [Transactions Associate Director] and "discounted" [Communications Manager]. For example, two of the IT staff were formerly user group representatives. This diminished the input sought from current representatives of those groups: "needs that were communicated...were dismissed by the team" [Communications Manager].

GD-Group Diversity

As indicated by the project documentation, most user departments had representatives. Therefore, some functional diversity existed among group

members. However, there was much less diversity than would have resulted if, for example, there were hierarchical diversity (current user group membership consisted of low-level management) or if group members were chosen in part based on diversity in their non-work-related backgrounds and interests. This moderate diversity increased group creativity by providing moderately different frames of reference.

GPS-Group Problem Solving

Investments Inc. has a relatively structured proprietary development method in which systems analysis relies on observation and interviews [Inte- rnal Consultant, Team Leader]. Such methods are more appropriate for contexts with low uncertainty. Methods for high uncertainty reengineering contexts involve discovery through experimentation, such as prototyping. When the Transactions Supervisor and the Maintenance Supervisor indicated that an experimental lab would help the "users get a better feel" for what the system would be like, they were suggesting just such an experimentation and discovery approach. A prototyping system, which provided real-time feedback concerning alternative uses of image, could have provided users with more information regarding image's benefits, thereby making users more comfortable accepting novel changes to organizational tasks. Regarding techniques used during group meetings, group members commonly indicated that brainstorming was employed. This increased the potential for generating a variety of ideas, thereby increasing the likelihood of creative IT development.

Summary

This case provides a preponderance of evidence that the kind of climate that would encourage creativity did not exist at Investments Inc. We found some creativity support associated with three propositions (CF-cognitive factors, GD- group diversity, and GPS-group problem solving). However, examining Investments Inc. in light of all propositions suggests that the image development project would result in a system that took as little user effort as possible to develop,





had the least disruption to user daily activities, and mimicked their current systems.

As described earlier, in order to reduce the com-

plexity of this paper, propositions regarding the contextual influence of organizational characteristics on individuals, and the group, and regarding the social influence of group characteristics on individuals were not included. How- ever, some of their impacts were embedded in the propositions and described during the case discussion. For example, the contextual influence of organizational characteristics was illustrated through: (1) the conservative culture at Invest- ments Inc. resulted in employee hiring and retention that reduced individual group member creativity; (2) computer resources were not provided to enhance either individual or group creativity; (3) time resources were not available to user representatives in order to foster intrinsic motivation; (4) the reward structure at Investments Inc. did not promote user representative participation or risk taking in the project, and thereby reduced their extrinsic motivation. The social influence of group characteristics on individuals was illustrated through, for example: (1) user representatives had little autonomy and did not perceive opportunities for professional growth in their project-related tasks, which reduced their intrinsic motivation; (2) ill-defined user roles resulted in lost communication and in a negative impact on individual knowledge; (3) the use of a relatively structured development method and the lack of tools and techniques (such as prototyping) that allow discovery through experimentation reduced the potential for user representatives to enjoy the process and reduced the potential for introducing different frames of reference and new cognitive pathways.

Reflections on the Operationalization of Creativity

Creativity was operationalized above in terms of radical change to the operations of Investments Inc. There are two important issues that must be addressed in this regard. The first involves the assumption that creativity was necessary for

image-facilitated reengineering as intended by the Senior Vice President at Investments Inc. Organi- zational creativity was defined earlier as resulting from individuals working together in a complex social system on a heuristic, rather than algorithmic, task with an outcome consisting of a useful and novel product, service, procedure, or process. The criteria of heuristic task as well as product, service, etc., novelty have been much debated as to whether they should be defined in subjective (ipsative) or objective (absolute) terms. However, there is "considerable agreement" in favor of subjective definitions (Amabile 1983; Kaufmann 1993). From this perspective, for example, innovation within an organization involves creativity as long as, to those involved, the innovation process is heuristic and results in a novel solution. This subjective view provides the basis for the notion that creativity is necessary for organizational innovation in general (Amabile 1988) and is needed specifically when significant changes in information technology are involved (Couger 1996; Glass 1995). Given the radical nature of reengineering intended by the Senior Vice President, with significant changes to organizational elements and their relationships, the IT- enabled reengineering project should have been a heuristic process with a result that was high in novelty to those involved. This, however, did not occur. Although the project process may initially have been heuristic, it ended up being very algorithmic, with a goal of employing IT to mimic current manual procedures. The result contained little novelty, with little change to organizational elements or their relationships. It is, therefore, clear that the resulting system does not reflect organizational creativity. Whether this indicates that there was a lack of creativity in the requirements and logical design of the system is discussed next.

The second important issue concerning the operationalization of creativity involves what Kaplan (1964) calls the employment of auxiliary theories. That is, theoretical connections are required to link the operationalization (the reengineering of operations) to the construct (creative image requirements and logical design). For example, it could be that the requirements and logical design were creative, but the results of this creativity were confounded during the translation





to the system as implemented. We therefore turn to the literature describing problems associated with implementing reengineering changes.

Although there is not one process that leads to reengineering success (Stoddard and Jarvenpaa 1995), several potential problems have been identified by researchers (Caron et al. 1994; Grover et al. 1995; Hammer and Champy 1993). Preeminent among potential problems are politics and resistance to change (Clemmons et al. 1995; Grover et al. 1995). Although politics is considered in the creativity model, its impacts are only described in terms of effects on creativity. Politics may have played a larger role at Investments Inc. Reengineering may have been resisted by Invest- ment Inc.'s management due to the potential for significant power shifts that can accompany large organizational changes (Hirschheim and Newman 1988; Markus 1983). Resistance tactics include resistance by delay, where users raise multiple and continuing objections, which are justified in terms of developing a better system. Progress will be delayed as each objection is addressed. Resistance by delay can also be manifest by user management assigning to the project team representatives who are not qualified to make the decisions needed. Progress will be delayed when the representatives meet with their managers in order to make decisions. The idea behind both these tactics is to appear to be supporting the project while actually attempting to delay it until it is no longer viable (Martin et al. 1994). There is evidence that these kinds of resistance may have occurred. The Project Leader indicated that many suggestions for change were both offered by users and objected to by users. At times, top level management had to be consulted to reconcile conflicting demands. In addition, as described earlier, user representatives generally seemed to have little knowledge concerning why things were done the way they were. Therefore, they either rejected any significant changes or the project was delayed while they consulted with their managers.

As demonstrated above, the linkage between organizational creativity and reengineering success is not as straightforward as we would like. However, it is not the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that the lack of creativity was the

only cause of reengineering failure at Investments Inc. Rather, we have taken the importance of creativity to reengineering as given, and have employed creativity theory to shed light on some of the problems with the image project. The fact that there are other potential problems does not diminish the need for creativity and the fact that the climate at Investments Inc. did not support creativity.

Creative Versus Traditional IT Development

The preceding discussions offer insight, based on creativity theory, into characteristics that contributed to the image project outcome. A question remains whether creativity theory provides much value in interpreting the case as opposed, for example, to traditional IT development theory. If little is added by creativity theory, then its use is not warranted. To this end, the creativity propositions are revisited here and contrasted with traditional IT development guidance in order to get an idea of the value added from creativity theory. Details and references associated with following discussion are provided in Table 3.

From the perspective of traditional IT development theory, the use of a structured development method, management intervention in the process, and the conservative (non-risk taking) reward structures increased project control, thereby reducing uncertainty and increasing chances of project success. Project success was further supported by IT staff autonomy, opportunity for professional growth, and salaries based on project performance, all of which increased their motivation to make the project successful. This reduced uncertainty and high IT staff motivation was in contrast to the superficial knowledge, weak motivation, and perfunctory participation by users. Users' superficial knowledge, weak motivation, and perfunctory participation are generally thought by traditional IT development theory as problems, which reduce the chances of project success. However, in this case, these problems were mitigated by the ultimate choice to design and implement a system that mirrored relatively well-




Accord. Creativity theory indicates that important knowledge includes that which concerns potential IT capabilities and impacts on the organization, tasks to which the IT is being applied, and appropriate analysis and design skills. Such knowledge is also suggested by or in accord with the traditional IT development theory (Mensching and Adams 1991; Walz et al. 1993; White and Leifer 1986). Therefore, both creativity theory and the traditional IT development theory would agree that limited knowledge in terms of understanding image's potential and why tasks were being performed decreased the number of image alternatives that could be considered while reducing the likelihood of identifying anything but superficial organizational changes. This decreased creativity and the chances for project success.

Cognitive Factors Extend. Creativity theory goes beyond traditional IT development theory in high- lighting the importance of creativity skills, noting that development creativity can be altered by having more creative people in the development group and by employing individual creativity techniques. Therefore, only creativity theory would support the following explanation. The conservative organizational culture led to a lack of individual creativity, which reduced group members' abilities to take new perspectives and explore new cognitive pathways. Their natural inclination, then, was to develop image based on old ways of doing things. The moderate use of a proprietary creativity technique altered this inclination somewhat.

Traditional IT development theory typically describes motivation of IT staff in terms of their careers, rather than relative to specific development projects. Motivating characteristics include notions of autonomy, opportunity for professional growth, and task enjoyability that are also cited by the creativity literature as affecting intrinsic motivation (Couger 1990b; Hussain and Hussain 1988).

Extend. Creativity theory does not dis- tinguish between IT staff and users and, therefore, goes beyond traditional IT development theory, suggesting that these intrinsic motivation characteristics are important for users as well as IT staff. Therefore, only creativity theory would be in accord with the following explanation. The lack of autonomy, enjoyment, and potential for professional growth reduced users' intrinsic motivation for involvement in image, thereby reducing the time and effort they were willing to devote to the project. This reduced the likelihood that creative IT development solutions would be identified and examined.

Accord. Both traditional IT development theory and creativity theory would be in accord with the following explanation. The IT staff had the autonomy as well as opportunity for professional growth associated with the project. This increased the likelihood that alternative (creative) IT development solutions would be identified and examined, thereby increasing creativity and the chances for project success.



Knowledge

Intrinsic Motivation

M^i;dll=X`f=~il; 1 rii onal I oar

TraditionallT Theory |Creativity Theory




Traditional IT Theory Creativity Theory

Traditional IT development theory suggests that approaches such as garnering top management support, joint application development, and fre- quent feedback are important for motivating users to participate in development projects (Mahmood 1987; Martin et al. 1994; Weinberg 1991). There- fore, traditional IT development theory would be in accord with the following explanation. The lack of tangible top management support (e.g., pay incentives) decreased usermotivation. This decreased the chances for project success.

Traditional IT development theory stresses control and reduction in uncertainty (through, e.g., structured development methods) in order to avoid development problems (Beath 1987; Cash et al. 1992; Hussain and Hussain 1988). Therefore, traditional IT development theory would be in accord with the following explanation. Reward structures that inhibited risk taking reduced uncertainty, thereby increasing the chances for project success.

Traditional IT development theory suggests a monotonically increasing relationship between extrinsic rewards (e.g., performance bonuses) and motivation (Gray et al. 1989; Hussain and Hussain 1988).

Contradict. Creativity theory contradicts traditional IT development theory by promoting uncertainty, and suggesting that reward structures should compensate risk-taking, whether successful or not. Therefore, creativity theory would be in accord with the following explanation. Reward structures that inhibited risk taking made it hard for users to let go of the current system, thereby inhibiting creativity.

Contradict. Creativity theory contradicts traditional IT development theory, describing a nonlinear relationship between extrinsic motivation and creativity: both low and high levels of extrinsic motivation can decrease creativity.

Accord. Since extrinsic rewards for users were low at Investments Inc., both traditional IT development theory and creativity theory support the following explanation. Users were motivated to mitigate the impact of the image project on their daily activities since extrinsic rewards did not provide for participation in anything but a perfunctory manner. This decreased creativity and the chances for project success.


Extrinsic Motivation




IS *

Traditional IT Theory

Traditional IT development theory typically stresses the need for a high degree of project structure in terms of what needs to be done and how it is to be done (Henderson and Lee 1992; Hussain and Hussain 1988; Rettig and Simons 1993). Therefore, traditional IT development theory would be in accord with the following explanation. Use of a structured development method and tight process control by upper management increased project structure, thereby increasing the chances for project success.

Creativity Theory

Contradict. Creativity theory contradicts traditional IT development theory, describing a nonlinear relationship between project structure and creativity. Creativity theory suggests that clear development goals are needed in order to reduce the potential for fragmented and disjointed efforts. However, creativity theory also indicates that too much project structure may reduce autonomy and thereby reduce intrinsic motivation. There- fore, creativity theory would be in accord with the following explanation. Tight control by upper management over the design process reduced the motivation of group members to be creative.

Accord. Since clear goals and objectives were not provided, both traditional IT development theory and creativity theory are in accord with the following explanation. The lack of clear development goals led group members to come up with their own goals, which resulted in them working at cross purposes. This decreased creativity and the chances for project success.

Group Norms

Group Diversity

Accord. Creativity theory is in accord with traditional IT development theory when it suggests that collaboration among group members is important (Frenzel 1992; Holtzblatt and Beyer 1993; Mantei 1981), and that politicking can decrease collaboration (Franz and Robey 1984; Newman and Sabherwal 1989; Robey and Markus 1984). Therefore, the following explanation would be supported by the traditional IT and creativity theory perspectives. Growth and change as well as conflicting goals at Investments Inc. resulted in uncertainties and a nonsupportive atmosphere that decreased group members' willingness and ability to fully participate in the project This decreased creativity and the chances for project success.

Accord. Creativity theory is in accord with traditional IT development theory when it suggests that development group diversity should exist to the extent that IT technical areas and user groups are represented (Felix and Harrison 1984; Holtzblatt and Beyer 1993; Martin et al. 1994). Therefore, the following explanation would be supported by the traditional IT and creativity theory perspectives. Functional diversity among group members facilitated development by providing moderate differences in frames of reference. This increased creativity and the chances for project success.

Extend. However, creativity theory goes beyond traditional IT development theory when it suggests that diversity in areas such as culture, education, and leisure time pursuits can be important. This diversity is appropriate because many creativity techniques require mental excursions outside of the work domain, Therefore, creativity theory would be in accord with the following explanation. The lack of effort to promote non- work-related diversity among group members decreased potential creativity.


Group Task




Traditional IT Theory Creativity Theory

Traditional IT theory indicates that structured development methods in which systems analysis relies on observation and interviews are more appropriate for contexts with low uncertainty, while methods for high uncertainty contexts should include techniques such as prototyping (Davis and Olson 1985).

Extend. Creativity theory goes beyond traditional IT development theory, indicating the need for group creativity techniques that can encourage different frames of reference and the exploration of new cognitive pathways. Therefore, creativity theory would be in accord with the following explanation. Group creativity techniques were employed thereby increasing the likelihood of creative ideas surfacing during group meetings.

Accord. Creativity theory does not address the specific knowledge necessary for systems analysis and design. However, since prototyping enables discovery through experimentation, this guidance would seem to be in accord with creativity theory. Therefore, both creativity theory and traditional IT development theory would agree that there were potential problems with the use of a more traditional structured development method resulting in a lack of understanding of user requirements. This decreased creativity and the chances for project success.

Key: Accord-Creativity theory in agreement with traditional IT development theory. Extend-Creativity theory goes beyond traditional IT development theory. Contradict-Creativity theory goes against traditional IT development theory.

documented operational procedures. Since the

system merely substituted the handling of paper with the handling of their images on computer terminals, the need for user input (e.g., through prototyping) and cooperation was minimized. This reduced the potential negative impact of weak motivation and perfunctory participation by users. From a traditional IT development theory point of view, this, combined with the existence of a

powerful champion (the Senior Vice President of

Operations), suggests that conditions were favorable for project success. Traditional IT deve-

lopment theorists would verify this position in terms of the actual project outcome. The project met user requirement specifications, was implemented on time and within budget, and is currently being used.

Creativity theory is in accord with some of that which is suggested as important by traditional IT

development theory. For example, the lack of

knowledge about the IT and the organization as well as the low degree of participation and collaboration among IT staff and users can hinder

creativity. However, creativity theory provides for

a different interpretation of the image project in the

following ways. It contradicts traditional IT deve-

lopment theory regarding the importance of structure and uncertainty reduction. Management control over the design process as well as the conservative (non-risk taking) reward structures are interpreted as inhibiting creativity by reducing user motivation to let go of the current system and

reducing the likelihood of identifying anything but

superficial organizational changes. Note that there are other areas in which creativity theory contradicts traditional IT development theory, such as the (non)linearity of the relationships between

creativity and extrinsic motivation. However, conditions at Investments Inc. were at points (low user extrinsic motivation) such that predictions of

creativity and traditional IT development theories were in accord. In addition, creativity theory addresses areas not covered by, and therefore extends, traditional IT theory, when it addresses the impacts of individuals' and group creativity as well as tools and techniques for enhancing creativity. For example, we found that the ability and willingness of users to be creative was reduced due to their lack of individual creativity


Group Problem Solving




(resulting from the conservative organizational culture), lack of intrinsic motivation (resulting from lack of autonomy and opportunity for professional growth), and lack of diversity outside of the work domain. The use of individual and group creativity techniques (the proprietary organizational change methodology and brainstorming) tended to mitigate these problems. When viewed through the creativity theory lens, the organizational climate would be interpreted as generally nonsupportive of creativity. Creativity theorists would verify this position in terms of the actual project outcome, which did not include significant organizational redesign. Although project implementation was in accord with the requirements and logical design, the requirements and logical design merely automated the status quo, as opposed, for example, to significantly changing departmental boundaries, job descriptions, and workflow.

Are interpretations provided by traditional IT development theory right? Are the interpretations provided by creativity theory right? They are both "right," in that they shed light on two different aspects of the image project. Traditional IT development theory provides guidance for achieving requirements and logical designs that are both feasible and approved by users. If users approve the requirements, the system works according to these specifications, and implementation occurs on time and within budget, the system meets traditional standards of success (Lyytinen and Hirschheim 1987). In contrast, when evaluating an IT-enabled reengineering project from the creativity theory perspective, one would focus on the novelty and usefulness of the requirements and logical design. Success from this perspective would occur if the organization, as reflected by the requirements and logical design, significantly diverged from, and was potentially more effective and/or efficient than, the existing organization. The potential for such divergence at Investments Inc. could have been enhanced by increasing the climate for creativity through appropriate reward structures, clearer project goals, less control over the process, etc.

This comparison of traditional IT theory to creativity theory illustrates that benefits can be derived from examining a project from both perspectives.

Those familiar with the traditional IT development literature will recognize that many suggestions were not surfaced in the above comparison. This occurred because they do not have a directly related creativity proposition.

Concluding Remarks

With the increasing competitiveness and hostility of organizational environments, it has been suggested that radical organizational change is increasingly necessaryfor organizational survival, and that IT can help in that regard. Questions concerning the ability to use IT to enable change have been raised elsewhere in terms of the con- straining effects of politics (e.g., Markus 1983) and culture (e.g., Cooper 1994), as well as other social issues (e.g., Barley 1986). However, even if political, cultural, and other social issues are over- come, successful IT-enabled reengineering can only resu!t with the existence of creativity. Interestingly, without creativity, IT-enabled projects may still be successful in the traditional sense. However, creativity is necessary for significant organizational redesign to occur.

Given this key role, the purpose of this article is to help understand how to foster the kind of IT development creativity that is necessary. Based on creativity theory, therefore, we identified individual and group characteristics that can produce a creativity-fostering climate. In addition, through a case study, we illustrated problems associated with developing and maintaining these characteristics. It is this focus on the role of creativity (as opposed, e.g., to the role of politics) in project success that differentiates this case study from others.

Managing IT development creativity is a complex process, requiring a good grasp of characteristics that can affect creativity, and an ability to effectively manipulate those characteristics. The model and insights described in this article can help managers and researchers identify important variables and relationships in the IT development creativity management process. This model and future associated research can, therefore, help researchers and managers: (1) determine to what degree creative IT requirements and logical





design are feasible in a given organizational context and (2) plan and execute a creative IT requirements and logical design process. We end this article by (1) pointing out some complexities of the creativity model that were not made explicit earlier, (2) describing how previous IT creativity research fits within the creativity model, and (3) identifying limitations of this article and research areas that can make important con- tributions to IT development creativity theory.

Although creativity is not natural to organizations, the IT development creativity model suggests that it can be fostered by manipulating a variety of individual and group characteristics. The model also indicates that manipulating a single charac- teristic can result in potentially contradictory impacts on creativity. For example, increasing the diversity of group membership can increase creativity by the attendant increase in cross-fertilization of ideas. However, increased diversity can also decrease creativity if it decreases group member goal congruence and causes members to work at cross purposes. The model also proposes that relationships are not necessarily linear. For example, increasing extrinsic motivation via pay incentives can increase creativity to a point, after which it can decrease creativity. In addition, project structure through clear and concise project goals helps promote creativity through the coordination of group members' efforts. However, when project structure becomes too tight (e.g., through tight control over process), it can reduce intrinsic motivation, thereby decreasing creativity.

The model is in accord with many previous authors' IT development creativity findings. This work (described earlier) focuses on enhancing individual creativity skills and creative group problem solving through the provision of individual and group creativity techniques, as well as diffusing these techniques within the IT department. Although such techniques are important, as described in the context of Investments Inc., there are many other important characteristics to consider. This model is also in accord with the work of Lobert et al (1995), which describes information systems organization creativity.

Although there is a long history of research into individual and organizational creativity, research

at the group level (addressed in the organizational creativity and innovation literatures) is a relatively new and increasingly popular domain (West 1990; Woodman et al. 1993). As demonstrated by our case study, these literatures can be important sources of insight for research into the creative IT development process. As with any scientific research, the propositions from creativity theory are far from unassailable. This is especially true for group-level propositions, which are relatively new. Therefore, the assumption that current creativity theory, with little modification, could be applied to and provide insight for the IT development process should be explored in future research activities. In this regard, it will be important to provide a more direct operationalization of creativity, in which the non-creativity effects of political, cultural, etc., factors can be identified and controlled.

Acknowledgements

I thank Allen Lee, acting as senior editor, and the associate editor, both of whom went above and beyond the call of duty in providing valuable

guidance and championing this paper through the review process. I also thank the anonymous reviewers who have had significant input. Finally, I thank Dennis Adams, Rudy Hirschheim, Bob Keller, Anju Seth, Richard Wolfe, and members of the University of Houston's MIS Colloquium, all of whom helped the paper in its formative stages.

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About the Author

Randolph B. Cooper is an associate professor of Decision and Information Sciences at the Univer- sity of Houston. He received his A.B. in Econo- mics, his M.B.A., and his Ph.D. in Management Information Systems at the University of Califor- nia, Los Angeles. His current research interests focus on examining the impact of culture and creativity on the development and diffusion of information technology in organizations. His research has been published in a variety of jour- nals, which include Data Base, Information and Management, Information Processing and Management, Journal of Management Information Systems, Management Science, and Omega.




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