Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) found that non-specialized, every day, organizational information technology (IT) can spark employee creativity.
Most businesses and organizations use common computer technology to help employees complete basic job responsibilities. The team wanted to know if standard IT could also be used to create new ideas in front end innovation.
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Motivation and creativity are much more likely to happen when technology is in the hands of those who want to master technology, understand their role in an organization, are recognized for their efforts and are encouraged to develop their skills.
The team created a theoretically grounded model for their empirical study. The model found that employees who are motivated to master IT can use standard technology as a creativity tool. This increases the return on investment of technology that most companies already have in house.
"An organization can get a lot more value out of their IT technology if they let the right people use them and then support them," Dorit Nevo, an associate professor in the Lally School of Management at RPI, said. "This added value will, in turn, save organizations money because they don't always have to invest in specialized technology in order for their employees to generate solutions to work-related issues or ideas for improvement in the workplace. You just have to trust your employees to be able to innovate with the technologies you have."
The study was published in Information and Organization.
