Creativity in IS usage and workgroup performance: The mediating role of ambidextrous usage

•Exploitative usage negatively influences usage ambidexterity.•Explorative usage positively influences it.•Usage ambidexterity mediates exploitative and explorative usage on group performance.•A better understanding of how the creative process influences group performance.

Creativity in the use of information systems (IS) is critical to the performance and long-term success of organizations. Building on an organizational ambidexterity perspective, we investigate ambidexterity in IS usage which is defined as the capacity to simultaneously achieve exploitative usage and explorative usage at a workgroup level. This paper seeks to test the relationships among creative process, usage ambidexterity, and group performance. Based on a sample of 55 workgroups, we found that exploitative usage negatively influences usage ambidexterity while explorative usage positively influences it, and that usage ambidexterity positively influences group performance. Moreover, the findings indicate that usage ambidexterity mediates the effect of exploitative and explorative usage on group performance. Overall, the study contributes to greater clarity and a better understanding of how the creative process influences group performance.