Enhancing Creative Performance: The Role of Knowledge Management System Usage, Absorptive Capacity, and Motivation

Introduction

In today's competitive and dynamic environments, firms need to find ways to operate successfully, and thus achieve competitive advantage. In most sectors, to sustain competitive advantage and survive in the long run, firms also need to innovate continuously, at least to some degree. Extant research highlights the importance of knowledge as a resource that enables innovation, and thus, sustainable competitive advantage. However, the mere existence of knowledge in a portion of a firm is not sufficient. To develop new products and services, knowledge must be transferred within and across firm boundaries. In the past, remote work was viewed mainly as a change in the spatiality of work; for example, it improved the lives of long-distance commuters (Hardill & Green, 2003). However, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed both the challenges as well as the vital importance of effective, continued remote collaboration (Wang et al., 2021). Some studies show ways to improve knowledge sharing under such peculiar circumstances (Lee et al., 2020). However, knowledge sharing by itself is not sufficient to generate creative outputs. Firms need to facilitate the creative usage of available knowledge.

Therefore, how to manage internal and external knowledge effectively is highly relevant for strategic innovation management, particularly with the increasing diffusion of remote and smart work practices. Due to advancements in information technology (IT), knowledge management systems (KMSs) are effective and used extensively in corporate settings. Prior studies highlight the positive direct effect of KMS usage on firm performance, which helps to create knowledge by linking individuals and organizations. Specifically, employees provide the creative output. Up to 70 percent of initiatives fail because they do not integrate and link human resources, processes, and technology (Petter et al., 2008). Hence, investing in KMSs alone is not sufficient. Despite their relevance and the evident difficulty in implementing them effectively, the contingency factors that render KMS usage effective have been scarcely studied. Therefore, the authors investigate the effect of KMS usage on employees’ creative performance and help clarify relevant contingencies that positively affect this relationship.

The authors noted a lack of research on the moderating role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as absorptive capacity (AC), on the relationship between KMS usage and employees’ creative performance. Despite employee creativity being an essential factor in firm innovation performance, research examining the effects of AC, KMS usage, and motivation on creative performance at the employee level is scarce. In rare exceptions, employees' motivation and ability are investigated jointly to understand the effect of AC on some form of innovative output; however, this does not consider KMS usage and returns to firm-level of analysis in the dependent variable (Liao et al., 2007).

Against these backdrops, the authors endeavor to contribute to the understanding of KMS usage and the impact on creative performance, at the individual (employee) level. Further, the authors analyze the direct and moderating effects of employee motivation and AC that affect the impact of KMS usage on employee creative performance. The specific research question is as follows: How does KMS usage influence employees' creative performance, and what roles do AC and motivation play? Based on the research question, a theoretical model that links KMS usage at the individual (employee) level to creative performance and incorporates relevant contingencies, namely motivation and AC, will be developed.

This study makes several contributions. First, it provides an interdisciplinary model connecting the research on knowledge management, motivation, and creativity. Second, the authors intend to demonstrate that KMS usage supports employees’ creative performance and motivation, and that AC supports this effect. Finally, the study aims to elucidate the direct effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as AC on employees’ creative performance.