Beaucoup d'organisations se sont appuyées sur la créativité pour dépasser leurs concurrents et le savoir sur la façon de soutenir la créativité est devenu critique. En règle générale, la créativité aurait pour origine les individus ou un groupe de personnes travaillant ensemble. Par conséquent, dans cette thèse, notre objectif est de fournir une meilleure compréhension de la façon de faciliter la créativité à la fois au niveau individuel et de l'équipe. Pour l'équipe, nous nous concentrerons sur la créativité de l'équipe virtuelle qui a été peu étudiée malgré l’intérêt de l’analyse. Les quatre articles de cette thèse visent à fournir une meilleure compréhension de la créativité et à en identifier les déterminants tant au niveau individuel que pour l’équipe virtuelle. Nous avons analysé la littérature sur la créativité individuelle pour améliorer la compréhension de la créativité des employés. Notre analyse suggère qu'il est plus efficace de tenir compte à la fois des facteurs individuels et contextuels pour évaluer la créativité des employés. Pourtant, les interactions entre les facteurs individuels et contextuels sont multiples. Par conséquent, nous suggérons d'envisager une approche en terme de fit de la créativité entre les facteurs individuels et contextuels, ce qui nous permet également de proposer de nouvelles pratiques pour le management des ressources humaines. De plus, d’un point de vue théorique, plusieurs chercheurs suggèrent une relation étroite entre la prise de risque et la créativité des employés alors que peu d'études ont analysé cette relation. Le second article confirme qu'il existe une relation positive entre la prise de risque et la créativité des employés et aussi démontre que les facteurs individuels et contextuels issus de la littérature sur le risque et sur la créativité ont mutuellement un impact sur la prise de risque. Ensuite, sur la base de la relation étroite entre les théories du risque et de la créativité, nous abordons le comportement créatif des managers en intégrant le modèle BAM (behavioral agency model) et la théorie des capacités dynamiques. L'objectif de notre modèle théorique est d'expliquer en quoi le comportement créatif des managers devant décider d’importantes décisions stratégiques pourrait être considéré comme dynamique et évoluer avec le temps. Concernant la créativité de l'équipe virtuelle, nous avons examiné les déterminants de la créativité. Nous avons constaté que l’approche par les TMS est fructueuse pour la compréhension de la créativité de l'équipe virtuelle. Nos résultats apportent une contribution à la fois à la littérature sur la créativité et à celle concernant les équipes virtuelles et fournissent d'importantes implications managériales pour les équipes virtuelles.Dans l'ensemble, nos recherches sur la créativité individuelle sont également utiles pour les membres de l'équipe virtuelle alors considérés au niveau individuel et l’étude du comportement créatif des managers pourrait aussi s’appliquer aux managers d’équipes virtuelles. Ces quatre articles permettent (1) de fournir une vision globale de la créativité des employés en proposant l'approche par le fit; (2) d’examiner les relations précises entre la prise de risque et la créativité des employés; (3) d’étendre la théorie de la créativité en intégrant le modèle BAM et la théorie des capacités dynamiques afin de considérer la créativité comme dynamique; (4) et de révéler le rôle important du TMS pour la créativité de l'équipe virtuelle. / Many organizations have relied on creativity to outclass their competitors and the knowledge of how to support creativity has been critical. Generally, creativity could be derived from individuals or a group of individuals working together. Hence, in this thesis, we aim to provide a better understanding on how to facilitate creativity at both individual and team levels. Precisely, for the team level, we focus on virtual team creativity which has been under-researched and challenging to discover. The four articles in this dissertation aim to provide a better understanding and identify the determinants of both individual and virtual team creativity. We have reviewed individual creativity literature to extend the understanding of employee creativity. The review suggests that it is more efficient to consider both individual and contextual factors in order to assess employee creativity. Still, the interactions between individual and contextual factors are varied. Therefore, we suggest considering creativity fit approaches between individual and contextual factors derived from the review and we also provide the comprehensive practices for human resource management. In addition, theoretically, several theorists suggest the close relation between risk-taking and employee creativity whereas very few studies have investigated its relations. The second article confirms that there is a positive relation between risk-taking and employee creativity and also demonstrate that individual and contextual factors from both risk and creativity literature are mutually impacted on risk-taking. Later, based on the close relation between risk and creativity theories, we develop the creative behavior of managers by integrating the behavioral agency model and dynamic capabilities theories. The objective of this theoretical model is to explain how the creative behavior of managers in making an important strategic decision could be viewed as dynamic and evolved over time. For virtual team creativity, we aim to examine the determinants of virtual team creativity which have been recently explored. We found that Transactive Memory Systems, which have been challenging due to their importance with regard to virtual teams, have a positive impact on virtual team creativity. The findings extend both creativity and virtual team literature and provide important practical implications for virtual teams. Overall, the investigation of individual creativity is also useful for virtual team members at an individual level and managers’ creative behavior could also assess the creative behavior of virtual team managers. These four articles could in fact (1) provide the global view of employee creativity by proposing the fit approach; (2) examine the precise relations of risk-taking and employee creativity; (3) extend the creativity theory by integrating BAM and the dynamic capabilities theory to consider creativity as dynamic; (4) and reveal the critical roles of TMS in virtual team creativity.

The objective of this dissertation study is to provide the theoretical foundation for collaborative information technology moderation on team performance and give empirical evidence to support this relationship. The model provided in this study is supported by analytical proofs for the proposed hypotheses to define relationships among constructs in this research including departure (reduction in the number of team members), collaborative information technology functionality, transactive memory strength, and team performance. This research offers a theory that utilizes transactive memory systems (TMS) to examine the departure problem. The main research question is: Can collaborative information technologies (CIT) alleviate negative effects of departure? The theory in this study is structured around the indicators of TMS: specialization, coordination, and credibility. Findings showed that CIT functionality level plays a role in enhancing the group performance. This role is not direct but instead, is a moderation effect that alleviates the negative departure impact. In absence of departure, CIT impact can be confusing as it can be either positive or negative. My analytical results explain why information systems literature has had conflicting arguments on the role of technology. I propose that particular dynamic events and incidents, such as employee departure, help us understand the impact of CIT more clearly. Moreover, I employ transactive memory theory to explain how individuals develop and exchange knowledge in a group and how skills and knowledge can be lost due to departure. I also explain why and how team performance benefits from CIT when departure occurs. / text

In this dissertation, I investigate predictors and consequences of transactive memory system (TMS) development. A transactive memory system is a shared system for encoding, storing, and recalling who knows what within a group. Groups with well-developed transactive memory systems typically perform better than groups lacking such memory systems. I study how communication enhances the development of TMS and how turnover disrupts both TMS and its relationship to group performance. More specifically, I examine how communication networks affect the amount of communication, how the structure of the communication network affects the extent to which the group members share a strong identity as a group, and how both of these factors affect a group’s TMS. I also analyze how turnover disrupts the relationship between transactive memory systems and group performance. In addition, I examine how the communication network and turnover interact to affect group performance. I analyze these effects in three laboratory studies. The controlled setting of the experimental laboratory permits me to make causal inferences about the relationship of turnover and the communication network to group outcomes. Results promise to advance theory about transactive memory systems and communication networks.

Distributed teams continue to emerge in response to the complex organizational environments brought about by globalization, technological advancements, and the shift toward a knowledge-based economy. These teams are comprised of members who hold the disparate knowledge necessary to take on cognitively demanding tasks. However, knowledge coordination between team members who are not co-located is a significant challenge, often resulting in process loss and decrements to the effectiveness of team level knowledge structures. The current effort explores the configuration dimension of distributed teams, and specifically how subgroup formation based on geographic location, may impact the effectiveness of a team's transactive memory system and subsequent team process. In addition, the role of task cohesion as a buffer to negative intergroup interaction is explored.

Shared mental models (SMM) and Transactive memory systems (TMS) have been advocated as the main team learning mechanisms. Despite multiple appeals for collaboration, research in both these fields has progressed in parallel and little effort has been made to integrate these theories. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between SMM and TMS in a field setting and examine their influence on various team effectiveness outcomes such as team performance, team learning, team creativity, team members' satisfaction and team viability. Contextual factors relevant to an organizational setting were tested and these included team size, tenure, country of origin, team reward and organizational support. Based on responses from 41 teams from 7 industries across two countries (US and India), results indicate that team size, country of origin and team tenure impact team performance and team learning. In addition, team reward and organizational support predicted team viability and satisfaction. Results indicated that TMS components (specialization, coordination and credibility) were better predictors of team outcomes than the omnibus TMS construct. In particular, TMS credibility predicted team performance and creativity while TMS coordination predicted team viability and satisfaction. SMM was measured in two different ways: an average deviation index and a 6-item scale. Both methods resulted in a conceptually similar interpretation although average deviation indices provided slightly better results in predicting effectiveness outcomes. TMS components moderated the relationship between SMM and team outcomes. Team performance was lowest when both SMM and TMS were low. However, contrary to expectations, high levels of SMM did not always result in effective team outcomes (performance, learning and creativity) especially when teams exhibited high TMS specialization and credibility. An interaction pattern was observed under conditions of low levels of SMM such that high TMS resulted in higher levels of team outcomes. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

During team decision-making practices information is often shared among team members as part of the decision making process. Knowledge sharing involves one team member sharing information so that other team members can encode the knowledge to make their own mental representation of the new information (Huan & Jiang, 2012). Unfortunately, the literature has shown that new information is not always shared between team members during decision making processes (Stasser & Titus, 1985). When teams make decisions without considering all the information available poor decisions can result. This research study tests a team conceptual model derived by Turner (2013) addressing attitudes toward knowledge sharing. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test a portion of Turner’s (2013) team conceptual model. The tested model included the independent variables of psychological safety, team conflict, team cohesion, and transactive memory systems. The dependent variable for the dissertation was knowledge sharing.