Organizational mechanisms for enhancing user innovation in information technology

Fostering information technology innovation has assumed primacy in discussi ons of information systems management. Changes in the nature of available i nformation technologies and their potential applications underscore the imp ortance of creating new knowledge for deploying a technology within an orga nization rather than transferring such knowledge from external sources. Tec hnology users remain a largely untapped source for such knowledge creation. This paper argues that deliberate organizational design actions in the for m of mechanisms can enhance technology users' propensity to innovate in inf ormation technology. Specifically, a taxonomy of organizational mechanisms is developed based on the ability of various mechanisms to facilitate knowl edge acquisition and knowledge conversion. The conceptual taxonomy is popul ated with specific design actions described in the literature utilizing a D elphi study. The effects of various classes of mechanisms on three key ante cedents of user propensity to innovate in IT-technology cognizance, ability to explore a technology, and intention to explore a technology-are tested using a field study. Results provide support for the conceptual taxonomy. i mplications for theory and practice are offered.