Existing k nowledge i s a vital prerequisite f or creativity. I t p rovides a c entral s ource of inspiration for n ew ideas and determines the p athways a vailable f or c reative p roblem solving. N otwithstanding i ts indisputable r ole, knowledge may also compromise creativity. The human mind is prone to reproduce what it is used to, and the provision of e xplicit knowledge c onstitutes a p otential inhibitor o f imagination. H ence, I T s ystems supporting creative work h ave to s upport creative individuals by e xtending their personal k nowledge while, at the same time, p reventing them f rom merely walking down beaten tracks. In t his a rticle, grounded i n t heory on human cognition a nd literature on creativity s upport, w e p ropose a d esign theory for I T s ystems that support b oth convergent and divergent thinking, that is, the central cognitive processes in creative work. We provide details on a p rototypical implementation, d iscuss an i llustrative c ase from the c reative i ndustries in or der to demonstrate the d esign's applicability, and o utline plans for a n e mpirical e valuation of t he proposed design theory.

In 1993 Couger et al. stated in an MIS Quarterly article on creativity in information systems (IS) organizations that the topic of creativity is under-researched in the IS discipline. Is the subject of creativity-despite its undisputable importance for individuals, organizations, and societies-still a neglected area in IS research? In what contexts, with what methods, and with what results have IS researchers studied the phenomenon of creativity? And what creativity-related themes warrant further investigation? In this article we analyze, based on six analytical dimensions, IS studies on creativity published in the eight top-ranked IS journals as recommended by the Association for Information Systems. The analysis provides a detailed picture of how the concept of creativity has been treated in our discipline's arguably most influential publication outlets. It becomes apparent that IS researchers have been predominantly employing a rather limited number of research designs aiming at a rather limited number of creativityrelated topics. Grounded in our analysis, we discuss the prospects of creativity research in the IS discipline and provide a future research agenda. In doing so, we propose three main research themes that can meaningfully contribute to our discipline.

Creative processes, for instance, the development of visual effects or computer games, increasingly become part of the agenda of information systems researchers and practitioners. Such processes get their managerial challenges from the fact that they comprise both well-structured, transactional parts and creative parts. The latter can often not be precisely specified in terms of control flow, required resources, and outcome. The processes' high uncertainty sets boundaries for the application of traditional business process management concepts, such as process automation, process modeling, process performance measurement, and risk management. Organizations must thus exercise caution when it comes to managing creative processes and supporting these with information technology. This, in turn, requires a profound understanding of the concept of creativity in business processes. In response to this, the present article introduces a framework for conceptualizing creativity within business processes. The conceptual framework describes three types of uncertainty and constraints as well as the interrelationships among these. The study is grounded in the findings from three case studies that were conducted in the film and visual effects industry. Moreover, we provide initial evidence for the framework's validity beyond this narrow focus. The framework is intended to serve as a sensitizing device that can guide further information systems research on creativity-related phenomena.

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