Drawing Snow White and Animating Buzz Lightyear: Technological Toolkit Characteristics and Creativity in Cross-Disciplinary Teams

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mannucci, Pier Vittorio
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2017.1141
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 711-728
• 关键词: team creativity; TOOLKITS; TECHNOLOGY; cross-disciplinary teams; KNOWLEDGE

摘要

The use of technological tools to execute creative tasks is pervasive within cross-disciplinary teams, yet little attention has been paid to their role in influencing team creativity. In particular, no research has focused on how the characteristics of a team's technological toolkit-the set of technological tools a team can draw upon to construct its actions-can affect team creativity. I propose that considering the toolkit, rather than just isolated tools, and the multiple functions played by tools is critical to understanding how technology characteristics influence team creativity. I hypothesize that creativity in cross-disciplinary teams is influenced by the size and field diffusion of the team toolkit, with size having a curvilinear relationship with creativity, and diffusion having a positive relationship. Moreover, I hypothesize that these effects will be attenuated when the number of team members who are experts with the focal tool is high. I test and find support for these hypotheses in a study set in the context of the Hollywood animation industry, a knowledge-intensive industry characterized by the presence of cross-disciplinary teams using a variety of technological tools. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.