Maxime Mellard

Composition of the Jury

Abstract

For several decades, research in organizational creativity (OC) has focused on identifying its antecedents. However, these antecedents have primarily been studied at the individual level, leaving a lack of investigation at the organizational level. Furthermore, this research has examined these antecedents in isolation without simultaneously analyzing multiple factors. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to identify antecedents of OC at the organizational level. Initially, to assess the theoretical relevance of the concepts used, we compared the literature on OC with that of the creative industries. Our focus was primarily on two management practices, project management and idea management, and one organizational characteristic, the work environment. To study the factors independently and simultaneously, as well as their combination, we adopted a configurational approach supported by the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) method. Our mixed-methods research approach is based on four empirical articles, resulting in three major contributions. First, we determined that the use of agile methods is a necessary condition for the occurrence of organizational creative capacity (OCC). This result allows us to assert that the use of agile methods in a creative industries context is a prerequisite for OCC. Second, while implementing an idea management system is neither necessary nor sufficient for the emergence of OCC, it is sufficient to prevent its occurrence. In other words, managing ideas does not necessarily enable an organization to be creative; however, failing to manage them systematically leads to the absence of OCC. Third, the work environment appears to moderate the effect of Organizational Creative Capacity (OCC) on OCC, and this effect varies depending on the project's progress. Thus, this effect would have repercussions on how creative ideas are managed by the organization. In addition to these contributions, thanks to the configurational approach, we identified several combinations of organizational factors that enable the occurrence of OCC. These results have led to several managerial recommendations enabling managers to develop creativity in and of their organization.