The role of knowledge sharing in raising the task innovativeness of systems analysts

This study examines the relationship between creativity and innovation at the individual level and how knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between these two constructs. A survey was conducted that measured individual creativity, innovativeness, and four types of knowledge sharing: explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge (e.g., experience, know-how, and expertise) sharing. It was postulated that the type of knowledge mediates the relationship between creativity and the innovativeness of task performance among systems analysts. The results show that creativity was positively related to task innovativeness. This relationship was mediated negatively by explicit knowledge sharing but positively mediated by tacit knowledge sharing based on know-how among project team members. These results have implications for system development and implementation projects.