Information and Communication Technologies, Employee Engagement in Innovation, and Team Innovation Process

当今经济中的许多工作都依赖于信息通信技术（ICT）。这包括传统的电子邮件和电话通信，以及新的和不断发展的技术，如视频会议、即时消息和社交媒体工具。信息通信技术通常用于不同公司单位之间的协调和合作。信息通信技术还使许多员工更容易快速有效地分享他们的知识和计划。总之，信息和通信技术对产生创新非常有利。同时，也可能存在诸如信息过载或缺乏对更集中的正式沟通渠道的关注等缺点。鉴于这些问题，本研究旨在确定信息通信技术如何促进员工参与创新，信息通信技术如何与正式沟通方法相互作用，以及创新的一般社会氛围如何改变信息通信技术影响工作流程的方式。有了这些知识，组织决策者将更好地了解在实施新的信息和通信技术系统时会发生什么，并更好地了解哪些活动可以强调优点和尽量减少缺点。本研究旨在解决三个关键的研究问题。首先，信息通信技术的使用如何塑造员工在创新过程中的参与度，进而影响个人层面的紧急状态和结果？其次，信息通信技术如何与正式的沟通结构相互作用，在沟通和知识创造中塑造团队内部和团队间的动态，并影响团队层面的紧急状态和结果？第三，组织创新氛围如何塑造ICT使用对组织创新过程和结果的影响？本项目通过提供一个理论模型来解释ICT使用对个人和团队创新过程的影响，通过澄清最重要的动态过程来扩展组织学习的文献流，研究组织创新氛围如何影响ICT使用对创新的影响，从而为文献做出贡献。并提供一个明确而严谨的数学模型，便于未来与其他学习创新理论模型的延伸和整合。该项目采用多种方法，包括计算建模、实验室实验、档案数据分析和实地研究。

Many jobs in today's economy are dependent on information communication technology (ICT). This includes traditional e-mail and telephone communications, as well as new and evolving technologies like videoconferencing, instant messaging, and social media tools. ICT is often used for coordination and cooperating across different corporate units. ICT also makes it easier for many employees to quickly and efficiently share their knowledge and plans. Altogether, ICT could be very advantageous for producing innovation. At the same time, there could be drawbacks such as information overload or lack of attention to more focused formal communication channels. As a result of these concerns, this research aims to determine how ICT facilitates employee engagement in innovation, how ICT interacts with formal communication methods, and how the general social climate for innovation changes the ways that ICT affects work processes. With this knowledge, organizational decision makers will have better ideas of what to expect when new ICT systems are implemented, and have a better sense of what activities might emphasize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages.This research aims to address three key research questions. First, how does ICT use shape employee engagement in innovation process, and in turn influence individual-level emergent states and outcomes? Second, how does ICT use interact with formal communication structure to shape intra- and inter-team dynamics in communication and knowledge creation, and to impact team-level emergent states and outcomes? Third, how does organizational climate for innovation shape the influence of ICT use on organizational innovation processes and outcomes? This project contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical model that explicates the influence of ICT use on individual and team innovation processes, extending the stream of literature on organizational learning by clarifying the most significant dynamic process, examining how organizational climate for innovation influences the effects of ICT use on innovation, and providing a clearly specified and rigorous mathematical model that facilitates future extension and integration with other theoretical models of learning and innovation. The project takes a multi-method approach, including computational modeling, laboratory experiments, archival data analysis, and a field study.