How knowledge collecting fosters organizational creativity

Structured Abstract: Purpose Based on the interactionist perspective proposed by Woodman, Sawyer, and Griffin (1993), this paper conceives organizational creativity as a complex concept whose investigation requires the understanding of the process, the product, the person, and the situation. Accordingly, this work attempts to enrich the understanding of how organizational creativity can be fostered by offering a framework which combines (inter-)individual-level learning (collecting knowledge from others), information sharing (through ICT infrastructures), and contextual factors (perceived top management support). Design/Methodology/Approach The empirical analysis draws on a sample of 362 employees from five subsidiaries of multinational corporations. The analysis is based on multivariate regression models considering Organizational Creativity as dependent variable. Findings The paper shows that individuals’ orientation toward learning from others significantly enhance organizational creativity. However, heavy ICT use negatively moderates the relationship between knowledge collecting and organizational creativity, while top management support does not show a significant moderating effect on the association between knowledge collecting and organizational creativity. Research limitations/implications Although based on a geographically-bounded perimeter, the analysis allows some generalizations. Originality/Value Based on these results, the paper contributes to the literature on organizational creativity by confirming the importance of providing a holistic view of the phenomenon, consistent with its inherent complexity. In so doing, it suggests organizations and their managers should simultaneously pay attention to individual and contextual factors when planning