How to organize creative working time – An experimental evaluation of the impact of schedule autonomy on creative and routine job performance in corporate innovation programs
Companies have long used various approaches for organizing employees’ time related to creative and routine tasks as a means to improve their innovative performance. In this paper, we examine how work schedule autonomy affects individuals’ creative and routine performance. We then evaluate noncommissioned time models, which have also come to be known as corporate innovation programs. Results of a laboratory experiment reveal that while average routine performance is strongest in the absence of schedule autonomy, the effect of schedule autonomy on creative performance depends on the subject’s impulsiveness. We find an inverse relationship between schedule autonomy and creative performance among subjects of low impulsiveness, and a positive relationship between schedule autonomy and creative performance among highly impulsive subjects. Whereas highly impulsive individuals seem to enjoy schedule autonomy, non-impulsive individuals seem to dislike it. We discuss implications of these findings for optimal management practice.
