1 The Impact of Knowledge Sharing Modes and Projects Complexity on Team Creativity in Taiwan ’ s Information Systems Development Team 1 Mei-Hsiang Wang Southern Taiwan University Chen-Fen Huang National United University Tarng-Yao Yang Southern Taiwan University

2 Agenda 2  Research Motivation/Objectives  Theoretical Framework & Hypotheses  Research Method  Empirical Results  Analysis and Implications  Limitations and Future Research

3 Research Motivation  Creativity is essential to Information systems development (ISD)  ISD is knowledge-intensive  Creative ISD task requires team members to share knowledge  The role project complexity plays in team functioning

4 Research Objectives  Identifying knowledge sharing modes for ISD teams  Exploring the relationship between knowledge sharing modes and team creativity  Introducing the idea that ISDP complexity can serve as a potential link between knowledge sharing and team creativity

5 Term Definition  Team creativity  ISD is an inherently creative process (Ocker et al., )  project team’s processes are novel in the context of the project (Drazin et al.,1999)  team’s processes were creative (Tiwana & McLean, 2005)  team’s processes were creative in the context of the project

Term Definition  Knowledge sharing  as activities of transferring or disseminating knowledge from one person to another (Lee, 2001; Cheung et al., 2007; Matzler, 2008)  knowledge sharing: task-centric KS, structure-centric KS, human-centric KS structure-centric KS: team objective, procedures and specifications knowledge human-centric KS : the interpersonal interaction by informal social system task-centric KS: specific task domain knowledge

Term Definition  ISD project complexity  consisting of many varied organizational and technological elements that are interrelated and change over time (Xia & Lee, 2005) organizational environment: user information needs, business processes, organizational structures technological element: technology platform, software environment, data processing requirements and other integrated systems

8 Theoretical Framework & Hypotheses task-centric KS ISDP Complexity structure-centric KS human-centric KS Team Creativity Knowledge Sharing H2 H6 H5 H4 H1 H3

9 Theoretical Framework & Hypotheses  The relationships between knowledge sharing and team creativity  Creativity and knowledge are closely linked  knowledge sharing makes the ideas increasingly likely H1: Task-centric KS is positively related to team creativity H2: Structure-centric KS is positively related to team creativity H3: Human-centric KS is positively related to team creativity

 Moderator of ISDP complexity  H4: Task-centric KS is more positively related to team creativity when the project is high complexity than when the project is low complexity  H5: Structure-centric KS is more positively related to team creativity when the project is high complexity than when the project is low complexity  H6: Human-centric KS is more positively related to team creativity when the project is high complexity than when the project is low complexity Theoretical Framework & Hypotheses

11 Research Method  Survey method: empirical test using questionnaires distributed in Taiwan  Sample frame: the lists of domestic software development industries in 104.com.tw website classifications in Taiwan  Data set: 52 ISD teams in 40 companies (109 team members) conducting software development activities  Development of measurements: from the previous literature on knowledge management and creativity theories

12 Reliability and Validity  52 valid teams for the final analysis  Content validity: Established through the adopting of validated instruments by prior studies  Convergent validity: Evaluated by the item-to-total correlation  Discriminant validity: Checked by means of factor analysis  Reliability: Calculated using Cronbach’s alpha

13 Reliability and Validity 13 Item Reliability Convergent Validity Discriminant Validity Task-centric KS I provide the ideas to help team members with work problems. When I ’ ve learned something new, I see to it that team members can learn it as well. I enjoy exchange task-related knowledge and experience to team members. I am pleased to tell team members what I know, when they ask me about it. I am pleased to demonstrate the way that is difficult to explain with team members. I would share the right method with team member, when they work in ineffective ways. I would tell team members the knowledge, when they are unfamiliar with the work method and process Structure-centric KS I am pleased to tell team members the norms, when they are unknown. I would communicate the subject with team members, when they don ’ t understand. I am pleased to tell team members the specification, when they are unknown Human-centric KS I would share with team members about the work condition. I discuss with team members about the treatment of something. I provide suggestions to team members, when they are in trouble. I remind team members, when their behaviors are far form perfect

14 Hypothesis Testing  Hierarchical Regression Model was used  Followed the GLM procedures in SPSS  The effects of the moderating variable on the base relationships were assessed

Hypothesis Testing Team creativity VariableModel 1Model 2Model 3 Task-centric KS ***-0.362***-1.306** Structure-centric KS 0.383***0.470***1.945*** Human-centric KS 0.243** * ISDP Complexity 0.487***1.783*** Task-centric* ISDP Complexity Structure-centric* ISDP Complexity 2.018*** Human-centric* ISDP Complexity 1.266* R2R △R2△R △F△F ***3.692**

16 Interaction Plots – ISDP Complexity (a)Moderating effect of structure-centric KS (b) Moderating effect of human-centric KS  The increase in the team creativity associated with increases in (a) structure-centric KS and (b) human-centric KS is greater when there is a high level of ISDP complexity, which supports Hypotheses 5 and 6.

17 Empirical Results HypothesisResult H1 Task-centric KS mode is positively related to team creativity. not Supported H2 Structure-centric KS mode is positively related to team creativity. Supported H3 Human-centric KS mode is positively related to team creativity. Supported H4 Task-centric KS mode is more positively related to team creativity when the project is high complexity than when the project is low complexity. not Supported H5 Structure-centric KS mode is more positively related to team creativity when the project is high complexity than when the project is low complexity. Supported H6 Human-centric KS mode is more positively related to team creativity when the project is high complexity than when the project is low complexity. Supported

18 Discussion and Conclusion Theoretical implications:  Develop an extended framework in the team context of knowledge sharing and team creativity  Highlight the importance of sharing structure/human -centric knowledge with team creativity  Confirm the moderating effects of ISDP complexity between KS and team creativity Practical implications:  Establishment of proactive structure/human -centric KS  Construction of multiple ISD environment

19 Limitations and Future Research Limitations:  Self-reporting : possibility of common source bias  Limitation of generalizability Future research:  Multiple informants  Replicate the studies in different team settings

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