IJMB Journal – Abstracts
International Journal of Management and Business
IJMB Volume VI, Issue 2
Do or Die: Howw Exceptional IT Professionals Innovate
Salvatore Parise and Patricia J. Guinan*
Technology, Operations, and Information Management Division,
Babson College, MA.
sparise@babson.edu, guinan@babson.edu
ABSTRACT
The shift to a more innovation-driven economy is clear, and one of the single largest differentiators for our economy today is the link between technology applications and business opportunities. Paradoxically, a group within many organizations, that has substantial expertise in all types of technology applications but has not been an active part of the innovation discussion, is the Information Technology (IT) professionals group. This research study looks at the relationship among IT knowledge worker innovation traits, such as risk taking, IT transformational leadership, innovative IT culture, including methods and values embracing experimentation and openness, and IT performance. Based on survey research with 105 IT professionals across several industries, we find that an innovative IT culture mediates the relationships between both IT professional innovation traits and performance, and IT transformational leadership and performance. Implications for both the IT researcher and practitioner are also discussed.
Keywords: Information technology professional; innovation and leadership traits; innovative information technology culture
Click for full manuscript (PDF) or back to Volume 6-2, Table of Content.