Mapping the Challenges of Creativity Management in IS and ISD Organizations

Managing for creativity has proven to be one of the most important drivers in IS and IS development, providing competitive advantages for strong companies as Google, SAS Institute and LEGO. The continuous changing market environment drives companies to focus on creativity as an increasing necessity when competing through sustained innovations. However, creativity in the IS environment is a challenge for most organizations - primarily caused by the lack of knowledge in strategizing creative processes in relation to the IS strategies - causing companies to act ad hoc in their creative endeavors.
In this paper, I address these organizational challenges in creativity and IS. Grounded in a literature review conducted previously and a rigorous selection process, I have identified and presented a model of seven important factors for the creative context in IS organizations. From these factors, 21 common challenges was identified that IS organizations experience when embarking on creative endeavors and was further studied through an interpretive study of the integration in 27 IS and ISD organizations.
The study provides insights for managers who seek to enhance their businesses creative output by providing normative advice for designing, using, and deploying Creativity Support Systems (CSS). Moreover, the framework created and used for the paper can help practitioners can use to further advance creativity IS and ISD organizations. Researchers can also use the framework to provide further advancement within creativity and the IS research field.