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Comprehensive Support for Creativity-Intensive Processes

An Explanatory Information System Design Theory

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Abstract

Creativity is an important precondition of innovation. However, the management of creativity-intensive processes (CIPs) is beyond the scope of standard methodologies for business process standardization and automation because of the contradictory properties of CIPs, which require both process structure and creative freedom. We develop an explanatory design theory based on theoretical constructs from BPM theory, creativity research, and collaboration engineering, with the core component of an integrated IS architecture that facilitates the design of systems providing comprehensive support for CIPs. Automated control of structured processes and support of idea development in groups increase process efficiency and creative performance. Evaluation of a sub-portion of an expository instantiation (CreativeFlow) of the architecture in a laboratory experiment suggests that working with CreativeFlow leads to ideas that are more specific, while working without the tool generates ideas that are more feasible. Further, idea evaluation support of CreativeFlow must be improved in order to increase ideas’ feasibility and relevance. The validity of our theory is derived from a deductive development approach. We indicate limitations and further research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair for Information Systems and Information Management, European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS), University of Münster, Leonardo-Campus 3, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Matthias Voigt, Katrin Bergener &  Jörg Becker

Authors
  1. Matthias Voigt
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  2. Katrin Bergener
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  3. Jörg Becker
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Correspondence to Matthias Voigt.

Additional information

Accepted after two revisions by Prof. Pries-Heje, Ph.D.

This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Voigt M, Bergener K, Becker J (2013) Ganzheitliche Unterstützung für kreativitätsintensive Prozesse. Eine Informationssystem-Designtheorie. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: 10.1007/s11576-013-0367-1.

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Voigt, M., Bergener, K. & Becker, J. Comprehensive Support for Creativity-Intensive Processes. Bus Inf Syst Eng 5, 227–242 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-013-0272-6

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