THE EFFECTS OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED INTERACTIVITY ON IDEA GENERATION - AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

The problems facing business leaders today are becoming more complex a nd unique. As such, managers can no longer rely on conventional well-e stablished solution methods-the more unique the problem, the greater t he need for creative solutions. Research suggests that the idea genera tion process can be facilitated by information technology. The paper f ocuses on the question of whether interactivity in its most elemental form (e.g., between a human and computer) is a contributing factor in the generation of divergent ideas. Interactivity, as defined by Willia ms, Rice, and Rogers, has three components: control, exchange of roles , and mutual discourse. This experiment compared idea generation betwe en three treatments of subjects with the same information, but the inf ormation was communicated with different degrees of interactivity. The information was a case about sheltered workshops, and the subjects we re asked to develop ideas about possible jobs for the clients. Idea ge neration was measured by the fluency, flexibility, and originality of the subjects' responses, consistent with divergent thinking tests. The findings indicate a possible relationship between interactivity and c reativity, but not with great significance. Interactivity in conjuncti on with other factors may have a more significant impact on ideation. These results help identify areas for future research.