Innovative IT Use and Innovating with IT: A Study of the Motivational Antecedents of Two Different Types of Innovative Behaviors

The paper distinguishes two different types of innovative behaviors involving information technology (IT): innovative IT use (IU) and innovating with IT (IwIT). While the former focuses on changing the technology and the work process to better support one’s existing work goals, the latter focuses on using IT to develop new work-related goals and outcomes. Drawing on Parker’s theory of proactive behavior, this paper compares the motivational antecedents and consequences of these two innovative behaviors enabled by IT. Our model hypothesizes that three generic types of motivation differentially affect IwIT versus IU. The paper also explores the moderating role of slack resources on the effect of motivation on the two innovative behaviors. Data from a survey of 427 IT users from North American companies show that social motivation affects IwIT (but not IU); intrinsic motivation is positively related to IU (but not IwIT); and internalized extrinsic motivation affects both IU and IwIT. Further, the results indicate that the moderating role of slack resources on different motivational paths is not a one-size-fits-all effect, that is, slack in IS resources only moderates the relationship between intrinsic motivation and IwIT. We also differentiated the consequences of IwIT from IU. The post hoc analysis shows that IwIT is significantly related to individual mindfulness at work, but IU is not. The paper contributes to IS research by offering a rich conceptualization of IwIT and examining its motivational antecedents and consequences in comparison to IU