Hamed Motaghi
University of Quebec in Outaouis

Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay
TELUQ University

A great deal is known about creativity and technology as isolated concepts, but little about how they interconnect. This paper analyzes how technology impacts creative activity within organizational settings. In the first half of the paper, two categories of impact of technology on creativity are identified, transmissive and interactive. These are supported by previous research and are produced in accordance with variance logic. In the second half of the paper, these impacts are reconsidered from a social process perspective, which suggests a third type of impact, imaginative impact. Its explanatory power is explored in an ethnographic study conducted in the organizational and creative context of a cultural festival in Quebec City. Discourse analysis of interviews and documents, as well as systematic observations (field notes and filming), were used. The results provide an improved understanding of the transmissive and interactive impacts of technology on creativity, and also support the value of a new type of impact based on virtual imaging. Orientations for further research are formulated and discussed.