Information and Communication Technologies, Employee Engagement in Innovation, and Team Innovation Process

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Many jobs in today's economy are dependent on information communication technology (ICT). This includes traditional e-mail and telephone communications, as well as new and evolving technologies like videoconferencing, instant messaging, and social media tools. ICT is often used for coordination and cooperating across different corporate units. ICT also makes it easier for many employees to quickly and efficiently share their knowledge and plans. Altogether, ICT could be very advantageous for producing innovation. At the same time, there could be drawbacks such as information overload or lack of attention to more focused formal communication channels. As a result of these concerns, this research aims to determine how ICT facilitates employee engagement in innovation, how ICT interacts with formal communication methods, and how the general social climate for innovation changes the ways that ICT affects work processes. With this knowledge, organizational decision makers will have better ideas of what to expect when new ICT systems are implemented, and have a better sense of what activities might emphasize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages. This research aims to address three key research questions. First, how does ICT use shape employee engagement in innovation process, and in turn influence individual-level emergent states and outcomes? Second, how does ICT use interact with formal communication structure to shape intra- and inter-team dynamics in communication and knowledge creation, and to impact team-level emergent states and outcomes? Third, how does organizational climate for innovation shape the influence of ICT use on organizational innovation processes and outcomes? This project contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical model that explicates the influence of ICT use on individual and team innovation processes, extending the stream of literature on organizational learning by clarifying the most significant dynamic process, examining how organizational climate for innovation influences the effects of ICT use on innovation, and providing a clearly specified and rigorous mathematical model that facilitates future extension and integration with other theoretical models of learning and innovation. The project takes a multi-method approach, including computational modeling, laboratory experiments, archival data analysis, and a field study.