Organizing for High Generativity: Unraveling the Nature of Internet-based Generative Collectives

Analyzing generative group activities against the backdrop of an increasingly connected world, this paper develops the concept of "generative collectives" as a theoretical lens for explaining why some internet-based groups are more generative than others. Generative collectives are groups of people with shared interests or goals who mutually engage in rejuvenating, reconfiguring, reframing and revolutionizing acts. Although any type of collective has the capacity to be generative, some collectives are more generative than others. Using a mixedmethod approach integrating findings from 20 qualitative Q-sorting interviews as well as a quantitative Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis of 420 surveys, this study empirically disentangles the relations between three second-order dimensions of generative collectives— structure, cognition, and technology—and their levels of generative capacity. The findings show that structural ambidexterity and distributed cognition significantly predict collective generative capacity, explaining nearly two-thirds (65%) of its variance. Furthermore, the findings reveal that distributed cognition is a significant partial mediator for the effect of structure and technology on collective generative capacity, with 65% of the variance in cognition accounted for by structure and technology. Finally, implications for future research, practice, and systems design are discussed as well as important avenues for future research.