Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

1-2018

Abstract

Two broad sets of activities underlie team innovation: the creation and the implementation of new ideas. Despite the prevalence of this distinction, the temporal dynamics of creativity and implementation in teams and their relation to successful team innovation are not well understood. Building on and integrating linear phase models and complexity perspectives on the innovation process, we propose a temporal pattern of creativity and implementation that is linked to team innovation. We examine this temporal pattern in a longitudinal study of 76 project teams. Results show that teams engage in creativity throughout the entire life cycle of team projects; however, innovative teams refrain from focusing on implementation in early time frames and increase their focus on implementation over the course of the project. Episodes of unconstrained creativity in early time frames of a project appear to be a critical factor for team innovation. Our research provides a foundation for future research on team innovation that explicitly considers the temporal interplay of creativity and implementation.

Keywords

Complexity, Creativity, Implementation, Innovation process, Linear phase model, Team innovation

Discipline

Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

Volume

91

Issue

4

First Page

798

Last Page

822

ISSN

0963-1798

Identifier

10.1111/joop.12226

Publisher

Wiley: 12 months

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12226

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